Tips for the most delicious (loaded!) baked sweet potatoes

A well-baked potato is already a fantastic vehicle for delicious toppings like sharp cheddar, sour cream and a generous sprinkling of chives. But you can also go all out with a perfectly baked sweet potato. Its earthy sweetness pairs wonderfully with spicy, savory toppings, and once you realise how best to bake or roast one in the oven, you’ll never do it any other way! Except when you turn it into the crispiest sweet potato fries…

Baking them makes life really easy. Just scrub the potato clean and throw it in the oven – there’s not much more to it. It’s also super easy to make several at once; simply prepare some toppings and let everyone build their own. Easy does it, and you still get something healthy and colourful on the table!

Handy tips for baked sweet potatoes:

• Look for a nice medium-sized one. Recently, I could only find 700 g units, which were honestly a bit too big (so I boiled them for boerenkool mash instead). They’re often a little dry at that size too (once again, stamppot was the solution).
• Choose ones with the smoothest possible skin (because you’re going to eat that skin later).
• Store them outside the fridge, preferably in a cool, dark place.
• If you have the time (because you’re working from home anyway), slow roasting is a very good idea; it brings out the potato’s natural sweetness and wonderfully soft texture. Think two hours at 140 degrees. But if you think of it a little later, an hour at 200 degrees is also perfectly fine.

How to bake a sweet potato:

• Preheat the oven.
• Scrub the potatoes (with the skin on) clean under the tap to remove any dirt.
• Place them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper (or a silicone baking mat), so any dripped and caramelised juices are easy to clean up.
• Grease with a very small amount of oil and sprinkle with salt. Do this if you’re going to eat the skin, which is definitely recommended. Not if you’re going to ‘scrape it out’ and only use the filling.
• Bake them for 1 hour at 140°C or two hours at 200°C.

These are delicious toppings for baked sweet potatoes:

• Everything you would sprinkle on the best loaded nachos is also delicious on a sweet potato: spiced fried minced meat, spring onion, jalapeño, sour cream…
• Finely chopped or crumbled chorizo with goat’s cheese and plenty of fresh parsley is also fantastic on top.
• Or go for a plant-based meal with spicy roasted chickpeas and a tahini-soy sauce.

Have fun with it, it’s all so delicious!

Also read:

• Recipe: Thai sweet potato balls
• Recipe: Red lentil soup with sweet potato
• Recipe: Vietnamese chicken curry with sweet potatoes