This might just be the year of the sweet potato. On social media, creators are stuffing them with cheese and dunking them in ice baths to make them more custardy. And at restaurants, chefs are making them the main character, sourcing the best quality potatoes, roasting them to perfection, and topping them with unexpected ingredients.
You can microwave a sweet potato in five minutes and call it a day, but with just a few simple upgrades, this humble side dish can become iconic. Here are six chef tips for making the ultimate baked sweet potato.
Pick the right sweet potato
Paul Carmichael, executive chef of Kabawa in New York City, says that the best roasted sweet potato starts with the spud itself. He prefers using ones with a white flesh. “If you can find Japanese sweet potatoes, they are great,” says Carmichael. Beni Haruka, with its purple skin and yellow-hued interior, is one of the sweetest varieties, with a natural, nutty flavor.
Rather than serving them whole, Carmichael likes to peel his baked sweet potatoes, mix them with pineapple chunks and juice, then bake them again in a casserole dish.
Bake it until caramelized
“For me, it starts with a super roasted, deeply caramelized sweet potato,” says Kaitlin Guerin, owner of Lagniappe Bakehouse in New Orleans. She covers her sweet potatoes with foil, then places them on a pan with 1/2-inch of water. Then she bakes them at 400°F for 30 minutes to an hour, until they’re completely soft and sticky on the bottom. “From there, I love working the sweet potato into enriched doughs, using them as a spread for sandwiches, or as a filling for Danishes. They’re incredibly versatile and can bring a little extra depth to so many applications.”
Related: 51 Sweet Potato Recipes That Go Way Beyond a Simple Side
Mix in miso
To incorporate savory balance, several chefs recommend adding miso to sweet potatoes. “My favorite way to ‘church’ up a baked sweet potato is by using something funky and salty, like red miso,” says David Jackman, chef and co-owner of Wildweed in Cincinnati. “Any starchy vegetable simply baked is begging to be covered in salt, so miso acts as the perfect topping.” After mixing red miso into the flesh, he rounds out the baked potato with maple syrup and whipped butter.
At Rory’s Place in Ojai, California, chef and co-owner Meave McAuliffe tops sweet potatoes with miso butter, bonito flakes, finger lime, and scallions. “If you want to get more decadent, then add a generous dollop of coconut yogurt and a sprinkle of Maldon salt, too,” she says.
Add some dairy
Just as sour cream and cheese can upgrade a regular baked potato, a dollop of something creamy can elevate your sweet potato. Dano Heinze, executive chef and co-owner of Vern’s in Charleston, gently smashes his housemade labneh into baked sweet potatoes, then finishes them with extra-virgin olive oil, flaky salt, and black pepper.
Similarly, Adam McFarland and Tom Rogers, chef-owners of John’s Food & Wine in Chicago, like to add crème fraîche to their baked sweet potatoes, as well as brown butter and Aleppo pepper.
Credit: Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle
Use a sweetener
Just because a sweet potato is naturally sweet doesn’t mean it can’t benefit from a little extra sugar. “As a kid, I only ate sweet potatoes mixed with about half brown sugar, half butter, and a pinch of salt. I used to beg for them,” says Kyle Christy, chef-owner of Street Disco in Portland, Oregon. “These days, my more grown-up approach is to whip room-temperature brown butter with some brown sugar, maple syrup, Jacobsen flake salt, and some spice. Chile flakes work, but I usually opt for some of the many fermented chiles we have in house.”
Brûlée it
An easy way to make your roasted sweet potato look like it came out of a professional kitchen is with a brûléed topping, which you can create with a kitchen torch. “After baking the sweet potato fully, split it, open it up, and sprinkle it with brown sugar and a touch of butter. Then torch the sugared surface to caramelize the sugar, turning it slightly crisp,” says Mike Satinover, chef-owner of Akahoshi Ramen in Chicago. “This is basically dessert. And I love dessert.”
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