Baked Sweet Potatoes Recipe

When you are looking for a nutritious, starchy side dish, simple baked sweet potatoes are the easiest go-to option. According to Healthline, sweet potatoes are packed with fiber, potassium, magnesium, incredible amounts of vitamin A. They're little nutrient-dense bundles of joy and wonderful flavor, and we don't know about you, but that's reason enough to choose sweet potatoes more often.

Recipe developer and health coach Miriam Hahn brings us this recipe for simple baked sweet potatoes with perfectly fluffy inside flesh. Hahn says, "I love serving these as a side dish to any type of meat, chicken or fish." She also suggests serving these along with a hearty fall salad or creamy mushroom barley soup. You can dress the sweet potatoes up as much or as little as you'd like, but for the sake of this easy recipe, Hahn keeps things classic and walks us through the basic steps of baking the perfect plain sweet potato. Once they're baked, there's no stopping what you can top them off with!

To make these baked sweet potatoes, you will need a couple of sweet potatoes, avocado oil, and sea salt. Hahn suggests choosing organic sweet potatoes. She says, "I love eating the skin of vegetables since that is where a high volume of the vitamins and minerals are concentrated. So, if we are eating the skin it is important to avoid pesticides if possible."

Those sweet potatoes will be fairly dirty since they are root vegetables, grown in the ground. Give them a good wash, scrubbing gently to remove the dirt. Then, dry them off with a paper towel or a tea towel.

Using a fork, poke the sweet potatoes several times. This will allow the steam, which will build up in the oven, to escape. If you don't poke your sweet potatoes, you run the risk of the steam building up too much, causing the sweet potatoes to burst. Once they have been poked, use a pastry brush to coat the sweet potatoes with oil and a sprinkle of salt. Hahn notes that "this will make the outsides crispy and so tasty to eat. If you were to wrap them in foil while baking the skins will remain soft."

Place the sweet potatoes on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake in a 400 F preheated oven for 45 to 55 minutes. "The trick to getting the insides of a baked sweet potato perfectly fluffy is really just the cook time," Hahn explains. "Sweet potatoes vary in size so much so you really have to keep checking to make sure they are fully soft in the center." She suggests squeezing the cooked potato (with a pot holder, as it'll be hot) and, if it's very soft, then you'll know it's ready to go. Otherwise, you may need to tack on additional time in the oven if the sweet potatoes aren't yet soft.

Once the potatoes are thoroughly cooked, the only thing left to do is slice them open and serve as desired. Keep it simple with some butter and a sprinkle of salt, or get creative with herbs, dressings, and other delicious toppings.