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These roasted sweet potatoes have a crispy caramelized exterior and a soft irresistible interior. The optional seasoning blend adds a perfect accent to these potatoes without masking their natural sweetness or flavor.
Toss these roasted sweet potatoes into this quinoa black bean salad, these sweet potato burrito bowls, or these vegetarian tacos for some delicious sweet potato recipes.
You probably won’t be surprised to hear that sweet potatoes are my favorite vegetable. With the plethora of sweet potato recipes on my site, it’s probably obvious we are eating them all.the.time. (Luckily the boys and the hubs are obsessed as well!)
Today we’re going back to the BASICS with these roasted sweet potatoes. I’ll share how to make these roasted sweet potatoes two different ways: (1) with a seasoning blend and (2) plain, which is best when using the sweet potatoes in another recipe.
But before we jump in, let’s talk about how to pick out a good sweet potato.
How to pick a good sweet potato
- Red and orange sweet potatoes are often labeled as “yams” at the grocery store which is actually inaccurate. True yams are starchier and drier than sweet potatoes with a thick and fibrous skin. (They’re also usually hard to find in American grocery stores.)
- There are lots of different varieties of sweet potatoes: Here’s an article that describes some of the different varieties and characteristics.
- I recommend skipping tan or purple skinned sweet potatoes (known as the “dry” varieties) and sticking with orange or red skinned sweet potatoes. This variety (known as “moist” varieties) are sweeter and have a creamier texture.
- My favorite sweet potatoes for roasting? Either Red Garnet or Jewel.
- When picking a sweet potato at the grocery store look for firm potatoes without growths or discolorations on their skins. Avoid soft or wet potatoes.
- For questions on freshness/how long a sweet potato lasts, check out this article.
Now that you’ve got some sweet potatoes, let’s talk cutting.
There are a lot of different ways that you can cut sweet potatoes for roasting – you can make roasted sweet potatoes wedges or crispy roasted sweet potatoes fries. You can even roast sweet potato halves! Thicker, bigger cuts will need a longer bake time, and thinner cuts will need a shorter amount of time in the oven. For this particular recipe, we’re making roasted sweet potato cubes, and I recommend cutting the sweet potato into ½ inch chunks.
While there isn’t one single way to cut a sweet potato into cubes, I’ll share my favorite way to cut them below.
How to cut a sweet potato for roasting
- Peel the sweet potato: for the best flavor and texture, I recommend peeling the sweet potato first.
- Cut off the ends and a lengthwise strip: removing a thin lengthwise strip on the bottom of the potato allows you to set the sweet potato sturdily on your cutting board. That way, when you make the other cuts, you don’t have to worry about the potato rolling or sliding around which increases the chances of cutting yourself.
- Cut into rounds: cut the sweet potato into equal 1/2 inch rounds.
- Chop into pieces: cut each sweet potato “round” into 1/2 inch equal sized pieces. On the larger rounds, you’ll cut in half lengthwise and then make 2-3 more cuts width-wise. Smaller rounds can be cut in half and then half again.
Now that we’ve got the perfect cubes for roasting, let’s talk about the rest of the process.
How to make roasted sweet potatoes
- Cut the potatoes, trying to get each cube roughly the same size. See above for cutting instructions.
- Toss the cubes with the oil and seasonings.
- Cook at 425 degrees Fahrenheit, tossing the sweet potatoes every 10-15 minutes to prevent them from burning and to get an even cook and caramelization.
Recipe tips
- Use a LARGE sheet pan: the more space the vegetables have (the less crowded they are) the better they roast. When vegetables are overlapping on a sheet pan, they end up steaming instead of roasting. This definitely affects the end taste/texture. I’ve started using this 15×21 inch sheet pan – which is practically the width of my oven. Using a huge sheet pan makes a big difference for roasting vegetables!
- Different varieties of sweet potatoes cook differently and there can be quite a lot of variance between ovens, so it is important to check the sweet potatoes rather than relying solely on a time.
- These oven roasted sweet potatoes need to be tossed every 10-15 minutes to ensure an even bake and caramelization, so just pay attention to the color and tenderness of the sweet potatoes when tossing them to check if they’re done.
Roasted Sweet Potatoes FAQs:
Should I boil sweet potatoes before roasting?
While you certainly can boil your sweet potatoes before roasting, it’s not necessary and I would discourage it. Boiling sweet potatoes creates more steps, more dirty dishes, and it affects the taste for the worse in my opinion.
Do you have to peel sweet potatoes before roasting?
This comes down to personal preference, but I highly recommend peeling the potatoes for this recipe to ensure best texture and flavor.
The skin can stay on for other types of roasted sweet potatoes such as sweet potato wedges.
How long does it take to roast sweet potatoes?
At 425 degrees, these ½-inch thick sweet potato chunks take 27-35 minutes to cook.
More Sweet Potato Recipes
- Pesto Couscous Bowls
- Wild Rice Salad
- Sweet Potato & Quinoa Salad (Reader Favorite!)
- Sweet Potato Enchiladas
Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Equipment
- large sheet pan,
Ingredients
Roasted Sweet Potatoes (Plain)
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes about 3 large, I like Red Garnet or Jewel sweet potatoes best, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt use less if using table salt
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar firmly packed
Seasoned Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes about 3 large, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt use less if using table salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground chili powder see note 1
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Plain Roasted Sweet Potatoes: Preheat oven to 425°F. Peel and cube sweet potatoes into 1/2-inch pieces. Add to your largest sheet pan and add the melted coconut oil, salt, and brown sugar on top. Toss to coat all the sweet potatoes, then spread out in an even layer. You don’t want any potatoes overlapping or you’ll end up with steamed potatoes instead of roasted potatoes. Flip every 10–15 minutes, cooking for a total of 27–35 minutes. (I flip every 10 minutes and bake around 30 minutes.)
- Seasoned Roasted Sweet Potatoes: Preheat oven to 425°F. Peel and cube sweet potatoes into 1/2-inch pieces. Add to your largest sheet pan and add the olive oil, salt, pepper, chili powder, paprika, cumin, and garlic powder on top. Toss to coat all the sweet potatoes, then spread out in an even layer. You don’t want any potatoes overlapping or you’ll end up with steamed potatoes instead of roasted potatoes. Flip every 10–15 minutes, cooking for a total of 27–35 minutes. (I flip every 10 minutes and bake around 30 minutes.)
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I love sweet potatoes. I made this recipe it is amazing. I never though of adding paprika to my sweet potatoes. Thank you
I’m soo glad you enjoyed them! The paprika is awesome with them! Thanks Evelyn! 🙂
My two year old loves this! She said they were “Licious”! Thanks so much!
I’m so happy to hear this! Thanks for your comment! 🙂
I love all the extra tips in here — they turn out perfectly every time!
Thanks Ashley! 🙂
Oh my, these are absolutely amazing!!
Thanks Katerina! 🙂
my favorite snack or side!
One of mine too! 🙂
Roasting is always the best! Delicious recipe!
Thanks Lauren! 🙂
Love how they get crispy on the outside!
Thanks Sommer! 🙂
Hi,
I made this recipe just as written, but I get the impression that my sweet potato s ended up being more “steamed” than roasted. What might I have done wrong?
Thanks,
Dan
Hey Dan, they were probably not spaced out enough; I’d recommend a larger sheet pan or less potatoes next time!
Hi Chelsea, when you say good quality olive oil, which one specifically do you use? Olive oil shopping is overwhelming.
Thank you in advance!!
Hey Kristen! So sorry for my slow response; your comment ended up in spam for some reason 🙁 When buying olive oil, I try to get one from Italy! The label on the oil will say “Made in Italy.” A lot of products are “Italian-sounding,” or “Italian-looking” but aren’t really made in Italy unless it actually says on the bottle. I’ve yet to be disappointed with a real Italian olive oil 🙂 Here’s an article too that may help: https://www.myrecipes.com/extracrispy/best-worst-olive-oil-taste-test
I do the exact opposite actually. Thanks to the mafia, Italian olive oils are much more likely to be fake than olive oil from Spain or California.
But don’t take my word for it, just do a google search. There’s plenty of info out there.
btw: loved the recipe!
Thanks Bc!
My mother, born and bred in Italy, agreed with you. She much preferred olive oil from Spain.
Greek olive oil is way better than Italian! Italy actually buys Greek olive oil and/or Greek kalamata olives!
Thanks for sharing Gia! 🙂
Try Kosterina olive oil. It’s from Greece. I made these potatoes using it and they were delicious.
Best olive oil is not from Italy but Greece!! It’s well known that Italy buys the olives from Greece (kakamata) and processes the oil in Italy
The best I’ve had was from Israel. Olives were grown there. I saw the trees!!
This looks healthy and yum!
Thank you Rose!!
These were amazing! My husband said it was the first time that he actually enjoyed eating carrots! I added a little more olive oil and salt towards the end of cooking but really yummy!
Yay! So happy to hear these were a hit! 🙂 Thanks for the comment Carla!
The sweet potatoes I’ve purchased have been so hard I could hardly (safely) cut them! Any advice?
Mine were so hard too…I cut my finger! Advice please.
I’d say the most important thing is a very sharp chef’s knife. With a sharp knife and good cutting board, sweet potatoes cut quickly and easily! So sorry you cut your finger 🙁
If you cut a lengthwise thin slice off the long side you create a flat surface. Flip the potato so it rests on your newly cut side and now you can steadily slice your sweet potatoes into the wife coins.
*wide
Good idea! If the potatoes are really hard, zap them in the microwave just enough to make them easier to cut.
To cut sweet potatoes you need a thin bladed chefs knife such as Mac brand. Traditional chefs knifes with thick blades make slicing and chopping of sweet potatoes, carrots, squash etc to difficult and somewhat dangerous.
failing to cutting raw potatoes, 🥔
Amazing achievement
🙂
This is what I do and it works wonders! After peeling I take my very sharp chef’s knife and if I want to cube them, I’ll put a small slit on top to the size cube I want (generally 3 slits) and then I call my husband into the kitchen to finish the rest! I could work with them much easier when they’re in planks.
I don’t have a husband to call into the kitchen. I have to do everything myself and I am 80 in 2 weeks. No help for the wicked.d
I was bored and tired after a long days work and figured I would roast some sweet potatoes. Since I eat them like this all the time I figured I would see how others cook them. Well your spice mix is awesome! Thank you for the recipe.
Yay! Thrilled to hear that! Thanks Mark!
Try the Cavendars greek seasoning. Nothing needs to be added besides the oil! 🙂
If the sweet potatoes are too hard, microwave them in 30 second increments until they soften slightly. Then slice away
Be more careful haha
Here’s some advice, don’t cut your finger. Just use a sharper knife and be careful. Some people should handle sharp objects
That would be me…I call it having a sharp instrument incident.
Used Japanese sweet potato. Same ingredients and cook time. Came out delicious. Lots of flavor.
Delish! Thanks Missy! 🙂
I had a similar problem. Don’t laugh but I asked my husband to cut them for me! He then proceeded to devour about a pound of the sweet potatoes. I’ve been looking for a flavorful roasted sweet potato recipe for a long time. The search is over! Thank you.
Haha!! So, so happy these were a hit! Thanks so much for the comment Viki 🙂
Pop in microwave for 30 seconds helps alot
You need a really good chef’s knife. Otherwise, you’ll end up in the ER.
These are SO insanely GOOD! We love sweet potatoes, and I was looking to get creative with them…so glad I found this recipe. The kids all even love them!
Yay! So happy to hear! Thanks Amanda! 🙂
Can you steam sweet potatoes if yes for how long and do you peel them and can you steam them with yellow golden potatoes
Chainsaw
Keep knives sharpen or have them sharpened. Super important in the kitchen.
Use a bread knife and employ a sawing action. Press down to split. Sawing and splitting.
The trick is to find them longer and thinner. At least that’s my experience. It helps to use a huge knife that is good and sharp also.
Awesome! Made 1/2 recipe of each then combined them as an ingredient to my quinoa bowl with avocado mangos radishes cucumber slices! Yum!!!!!
Delish! So glad you enjoyed! 🙂
I put the sweet potatoes in the microwave for one to two minutes and they are so much easier to cut!