Sweet Potato vs Normal, yellow potato

RitaSantoss

I'm thinking of trying to switch (not completly but as often as I can) from the yellow potatoes to sweet potatoes. Because I think I have heard that they are healthier for you. And the way I usually eat them is just roasted in the oven with skin and without ANY added salt. So yummy! Is this true? And if so what are other healthy and simple ways to cook sweet potato?

Iwillbeback

I cut them into chips, spray on olive oil and toss them in seasoning and roast them in the over. Sweet potato oven chips, truly yummy x

karakreature

Cut them into 1" cubes. Roast in oven for about 15 mins. Pull out add green beans (fresh), a little olive oil and some seasoning. Roast until potatoes start to brown (maybe 15 more mins). Pull out again, add dried cranberrys and pecans, roast for another 5 mins. Wonderful!

RitaSantoss

Thank you for your input!

Firefox7275

Yes sweet potatoes are more nutritious - full of betacarotene and vitamin C. Here in the UK sweet potatoes count towards your vegetable intake, white potatoes do not. The best way to eat them is with the skin, as you are, it contains compounds which slow digestion and reduce the GI.

bluemoon551

They are good cubed up in chili.

alvin0012

Sweet potato baked for 30 mins with skin. It is my main source for carbs...

jewels2727

boiled and mashed is quite nice. Add a little chilli sauce if you like your food spicy. They are also good in soups.

SparklyPinkMom

I boil and mash mine only because it's the only way my kids will eat them, so I'm good with that. We usually have them about twice per week - yummy!

maryloo2011

Sweet potatoes are good cubed in salads, soups, chili, stuffing, mash, soup.

Often I just cut them up into strips and roast them.

I love cutting them into matchstick-size pieces with diced onion to make a hash on the stove. Cook until almost done and make a few holes for each egg. Once the eggs are cooked to overeasy, scoop onto a plate and enjoy.

efirkey

I find that baked sweet potatoes are even more delicious if I rub them with olive oil before baking.

lambertj

I peel then, cut into cubes and microwave until tender (10 minutes for a large bowl of them), then i toss them in a frying pan with a little real butter and pepper, delicious and faster than the oven

AnabolicKyle

normal potatoes are nutritious also but the reason i eat sweet potatoes is because i add 30-50cals of butter and it taste heavenly where as a normal potato i would have to add 500cals of butter & sour cream to make it taste good

i steam mine in a rice cooker, mash them up, add little butter, winning.

MAKE SURE TO BUY THE ORANGE ONES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

atamrowski

I'm in love with the orange spuds myself. Never roasted them (but will try!) and usually just microwave them and add butter, salt and pepper.

The hash idea sounds HEAVENLY!

Pinkylee77

I eat my sweet potatoes cut into french fry sticks and bake. I also like a tad of orange juice in my mashed sweet potatoes

issyfit

They are good added to stews and soups in the crockpot.

ravenchick

I switched ten months ago and now I love sweet potatoes. I like them baked with either sour cream or cinnamon and butter. So good!

vytamindi

General consensus:

"Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew."

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

Normally I can't stand sweet potatoes. I always think I'm going to like it because I like sweet things and I like potatoes so it sounds like something I'd like but then I'm disappointed. EXCEPT for this one time my friend made mashed sweet potatoes and they were delicious. She put maple syrup, cinnamon, and cumin in them so I'd recommend finding a recipe that using those ingredients.

ajourney2beme

I had some sweet potato fries at a restaurant a couple weeks ago and they were cut into really small fries just crispy on the outside and mush on the inside but they used cinnamon and drizzled a tiny bit of honey over the pile. They were actually really good, the honey threw me off a little but the cinnamon brought them back to yumminess! Together it was delicious!

pigmartianpig

General consensus:

"Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew."

Love lord of the rings quote!

For a treat, I put them in the oven until they are a touch crispy then dip them in honey. It is awesome!

donnamariewilliams

I now use smoked paprika instead of brown sugar. Less calories and I found out now I can taste the potato more. If you need to add fiber to your diet, sweet potatoes have a lot of fiber.

MsKim1970

Wow!! I've been missing out! *blushes .. I've never had sweet potatoes before. Thanks for sharing all of your ideas.

bridgelene

LOL with a bunch of brown sugar and....marshmallows? Is that how it's done? And it kinda reminds me of pumpkin pie

Otherwise I can't stand them!

mem50

Baked, roasted, mashed...all good ways to eat them. I switched quite some time ago. Oh my, it has been awhile. In my profile I have a picture of my sweet potato plant that I grew by accident. i thought I had used them all but found one and it had already sprouted...so I tossed it in some dirt and dang...it grew and produced.

I normally use brown sugar and cinnamon when nukeing them. Roasted ones get olive oil tossed in. Mashed get butter and a little brown sugar.

karakreature

General consensus:

"Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew."

I say this quote all the time Sam Wise!

MizzRedskin804

I had one with dinner tonight. I baked it and added a tbsp of butter (Smart Balance) and a little cinnamon. It was delish!

icimani

I've always thought sweet potatoes were healthier, too. It turns out that they're pretty much the same - except for the taste!

I found this information from http://www.drmirkin.com/nutrition/sweet_potatoes_not_white.html

potatoes sweet potatoes
calories 220 208
protein 5 3.5
carbs 51 49
calcium 20 56
phosphorus 115 110
iron 2.8 1
sodium 16 20
potassium 844 693
fiber 4 5
thiamin 0.22 0.14
riboflavin 0.07 0.13
niacin 3.3 1.2
vitamin C 16 49
vitamin A ? 4350

"So, as you can see, sweet potatoes are a good source of vitamin A, and have a little more vitamin C and calcium (but less iron) than white potatoes; otherwise they're pretty much equal."


I like them roasted with a little butter and brown sugar!



(I tried to edit, but evidently MFP doesn't like multiple spaces or tabs.)

issyfit

I've always thought sweet potatoes were healthier, too. It turns out that they're pretty much the same - except for the taste!

I found this information from http://www.drmirkin.com/nutrition/sweet_potatoes_not_white.html

potatoes sweet potatoes
calories 220 208
protein 5 3.5
carbs 51 49
calcium 20 56
phosphorus 115 110
iron 2.8 1
sodium 16 20
potassium 844 693
fiber 4 5
thiamin 0.22 0.14
riboflavin 0.07 0.13
niacin 3.3 1.2
vitamin C 16 49
vitamin A ? 4350

"So, as you can see, sweet potatoes are a good source of vitamin A, and have a little more vitamin C and calcium (but less iron) than white potatoes; otherwise they're pretty much equal."


I like them roasted with a little butter and brown sugar!



(I tried to edit, but evidently MFP doesn't like multiple spaces or tabs.)

The South Beach Diet doesn't recommend regular potatoes but does allow sweet potatoes in limited quantities. This is due to the way they affect your blood sugar. I never realized how you prepare a sweet potato affects its GI. From Livestrong:

A baked potato has a glycemic index of 76 relative to glucose and 108 relative to white bread, the institute states. This indicates that the blood glucose increases after eating a baked potato at 76 percent of the amount it would respond when eating the same amount of carbohydrates in pure glucose and 108 percent of the identical amount in white bread. The lower a food's glycemic index, the less it affects insulin levels and blood sugar, Harvard Health Publications notes.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/287986-the-glycemic-index-of-potatoes/#ixzz2JEb8ERao

The way you prepare sweet potatoes makes a difference in their GI. The GI of a 150-g sweet potato, boiled with its skin for 30 minutes, is 46. That number rises to 94 if the same sweet potato is baked for 45 minutes. These dramatic differences come from the way the starches in sweet potatoes gelatinize during cooking. Foods that turn viscous, or jelly-like, in your digestive tract have a lower GI because the gelatinous substance slows the release of the nutrients in the food. Baking your sweet potatoes instead of boiling them changes the quality of their starches and transforms this root vegetable from a moderate-GI food to a high GI-food.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/295025-the-glycemic-index-for-sweet-potatoes/#ixzz2JEbp9kVr

watchthis1970

We have made baked spicy sweet potatoe fries. Slice in fairly thick sticks or fries, mix a few table spoons of olive oil with spices including chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder and cumin. toss the fries in this spiced oil mixture. Then bake in the oven till cooked and soft.

We also like to sautee the sweet potatoe slices with what ever protein I may be cooking. We have cooked the sweet Potatoes with pork and chicken. The small about of oil or fat used to sautee helps to carmelize the sweet potatoes.

I also use to not like sweet potatoes, now I love them.