Why I love these sweet potatoes:
1. They are EASY to make.
2. They taste DELICIOUS.
3. They warm up beautifully for leftovers.
4. Did I mention they taste SOOOO good? Oh I already did didn’t I?!?!?!?!
Baked sweet potatoes are my favorite healthy carb option for meals. This method of baking them brings out the natural sugars making them quite delicious. No butter, brown sugar or marshmallows needed on these!
(However I do recommend a tsp of natural peanut butter for an added yumminess 🙂 If you’ve never tried it, you are totally missing out!)
Only 2 ingredients are needed for this recipe: sweet potatoes and extra virgin olive oil. You simply cut the sweet potatoes in half, spread olive oil on the inside and the skin, then lay face down on a parchment paper lined pan for baking. THAT’S IT!!!!!!
How long to bake?
The baking time is truly up to how soft you like your sweet potatoes. For a medium firmness, I recommend baking at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. If you like yours soft, like I do, I recommend baking at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes. These bake times may vary depending on the size of your sweet potato.
The longer you bake the sweet potatoes the softer they will become. They will also get sweeter the longer you bake because of the natural sugars being released by the heat.
I use to always bake mine for only 20-25 minutes. Then one evening I made a beautiful mistake. I had thicker than normal potatoes that I was making so they weren’t quite done at the 20 minute mark. I decided to leave them in the oven but forgot to set a timer. My family and I ate our dinner and only when I was cleaning up the kitchen did I realize the sweet potatoes were still in the oven. Oh my!
Luckily for me, it was a beautiful oops! They had been in the oven for 45 minutes. When I opened the oven door they were dripping with the sweet natural sugars that had been released. They were SO soft. They were by far, the best sweet potatoes I had ever tasted!
YES…I know what I just said and I stand by that statement!
Hope you enjoy these as much as my family and I do!
Baked Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2-3 large sweet potatoes sliced in half
- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 400 degrees
- Place parchment paper on cooking sheet/stone pan
- Slice the sweet potatoes in half long-ways
- Spread 1 tbsp of olive oil on the inside of the sweet potato
- Spread the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil on the outside skin of the sweet potato (use additional olive oil if needed to cover the skin)
- Bake for 35-40 minutes This will make them super soft and sweet.
- * If you prefer your sweet potatoes to be firmer, only bake for 20-25 minutes *
- Remove from oven and serve. If not eating immediately, allow them to cool down and refrigerate. They are easily warmed up at a later time in the microwave.