Sweet potatoes?

vtemp2013
vtemp2013 Posts: 33 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've never been much of a fan, but my local store was having a pretty good sale on them, so I bought a few. However, I have no idea what's the best way to make them. I'd prefer something pretty simple--I'm in college, after all, so my budget is sort of limited. Google keeps turning up these hugely elaborate and calorie filled recipes, and I just want a more 'tried and true' way to fix them. All of that to say: What's your favorite ways to prepare them?
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Replies

  • IGbnat24
    IGbnat24 Posts: 520 Member
    I microwave them, then mash with a little butter, cinnamon, and sugar free maple syrup. Heaven! No joke, it's like dessert.
  • sentaruu
    sentaruu Posts: 2,206 Member
    if you have access to a grill or oven: slice, lightly coat with olive oil(optional) and bake(grill)
  • cuckoo_jenibeth
    cuckoo_jenibeth Posts: 1,434 Member
    I don't like all the sweet stuff on mine....microwave, add some butter & sprinkle with salt. Ta-da. Doesn't get much easier or yummier!
  • TrinNZ
    TrinNZ Posts: 65 Member
    Mmmm, roasted in the oven. Doesn't need anything on it. Also you can cut it into slices and cook it with some other vegies (peppers, zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes etc) and you have a tasty, healthy side dish.

    Love my sweet potatoes...nom nom
  • wellnessjunkie
    wellnessjunkie Posts: 27
    Wrap in tin foil, bake on 350 until soft. Gobble up!
  • squirrelzzrule22
    squirrelzzrule22 Posts: 640 Member
    chop em up and bake into fries with just a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. so yummy! but you really can't go wrong with sweet potatoes, they are the best!
  • GertrudeHorse
    GertrudeHorse Posts: 646 Member
    I usually make them into chips and then slow bake them with a spray of oil and some salt or other seasoning. AMAZE.

    Theoretically you can do with them whatever you can do with a potato (I mean that with no creepy undertones btw!!)
  • Ang108
    Ang108 Posts: 1,711 Member
    I steam mine, bake or nuke them and eat them as is. No extra sugar, no butter....no nothing. They are plenty flavorful as they are.
    I also make a lot of Indian food based on leafy vegetables and add sweet potato cubes for variety, nourishment and extra calories. On rare occasions I also make oven baked french fries with them.
  • StrawberryJam40
    StrawberryJam40 Posts: 274 Member
    I agree with everyone. They are great any way you slice and dice them.

    Fast...peel, microwave and put whatever you prefer on top. I usually sprinkle 1 to 1 1/2 tsp of br. sugar on mine. Or a little butter and salt.

    I like slicing them and putting them on a baking sheet and then put a pinch of brown sugar on each slice to melt and glaze over the top. Or with just a little olive oil to make home fries. Easier to slice than cut into fries for me.

    Slice them extremely thin and toss with a little olive oil and course salt and put them in the oven for a potato chip 450 for around 25-30 minutes.
  • NoMoreBlameGame
    NoMoreBlameGame Posts: 236 Member
    I microwave them, then mash with a little butter, cinnamon, and sugar free maple syrup. Heaven! No joke, it's like dessert.

    This ^ yup
  • kspexet
    kspexet Posts: 27 Member
    I make them in the microwave and put cinnamon and a little brown sugar on them. Sometimes, I leave off the brown sugar since they are so good!
  • sympha01
    sympha01 Posts: 942 Member
    Simplest thing in the world is to just toss the cubes with a LITTLE BIT of olive oil and bake.

    Also, you can shred them and stir-fry them with onions or scallions and little bit of oil, soy sauce, and lime juice. Easy peasy.

    Cut into thick slices and boil them in miso soup. Add a bit of spinach, scallions, and some noodles for a complete soup, maybe even add sausage. Also super easy.

    I get frustrated when I try to google sweet potato recipes too, but mostly because so many people post those NASTY sweet deals that are full of maple syrup and/or cinnamon. Sweet potatoes should be prepared in savory fashion!!!
  • miss_vdb
    miss_vdb Posts: 755 Member
    I microwave mine for 4 mins while the oven heats up - then put them in the oven for 20 mins and mash it up with a glug of almond milk.

    Usually eat it with some tuna or chicken to get my protein intake up.
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,002 Member
    Wrap in tin foil, bake on 350 until soft. Gobble up!

    That's my go to as well... depending on the size it takes between an hour to an hour and a half.
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    Boil/bake in canned coconut milk or..
    Bake, then add some butter,cinnamon and brown sugar.

    Both are heavenly.
  • StrawberryJam40
    StrawberryJam40 Posts: 274 Member
    Boil/bake in canned coconut milk or..
    Bake, then add some butter,cinnamon and brown sugar.

    Both are heavenly.

    Your profile pic cracks me up. My daughter recognized it immediately. Ah...Finn and Jake.
  • 365andstillalive
    365andstillalive Posts: 663 Member
    For the most part, I just bake mine and then add margarine/butter and some garlic seasoning. They're also great to prepare sweet for a treat like mentioned above (cinnamon/brown sugar typically).

    I also will cube them, toss them with a bit of olive oil and rosemary and bake them in a pan in the oven until they're just starting to carmelize a little.

    Sweet potato fries are a great too; just slice them and add a little sea salt.

    Or google around for a simple sweet potato and lentil curry. Sweet potatos are often the base of a lot of vegetarian meals. Try key words like "5 ingredient sweet potato recipe" and stuff like that.

    But honestly, if you prepare them a few different ways and decide you don't like them, don't bother buying them again. We've all got some tastes we love and some we hate, and food doesn't need to be torture :)

    Edit: Home-made sweet potato perogies or ravioli are also delicious; not a ton of ingredients, but a fair bit of work.
  • GeorgieS1983
    GeorgieS1983 Posts: 13
    Roasted, steamed, mashed. I use them as alternatives on a healthy shepherds pie instead of normal potato. Also got a spiral slicer and that makes cool sweet potato spirals, which can be added raw to salad.
  • lisabinco
    lisabinco Posts: 1,016 Member
    Mmmm, roasted in the oven. Doesn't need anything on it.
    Oven roasted is the best. They can be sliced like french fries and oven roasted. I don't put anything on mine, either. They're so good just plain. In the summer I don't use the oven much so I wrap them in foil and pop them on the grill like a potato. Microwave "roasted" is okay in a pinch. Add chunks of 'em to slow-cooked chili for a thickener. Check out Forks Over Knives for a delicious chili with sweet potatoes.
  • lisabinco
    lisabinco Posts: 1,016 Member
    Cut into thick slices and boil them in miso soup. Add a bit of spinach, scallions, and some noodles for a complete soup, maybe even add sausage. Also super easy.
    Mmmm, good idea!
  • TiberiusClaudis
    TiberiusClaudis Posts: 423 Member
    They are my #1 go to carb source when I'm cutting. Because to me, they taste like candy. I peel them, slice them like fries, add a bit of brown sugar and butter or olive oil. Nuke for 7 min, then put in oven at 200 c for 25 min turning twice.

    Yummy!
  • 2BeHappy2
    2BeHappy2 Posts: 811 Member
    I make a bunch up at 1 time...in the oven with foil covering the pan.
    I don't add anything because its already a "sweet" potato (for me)
    Then as I want throughout the week all I have to do is get a little heat from the microwave to warm it up!
  • JoshLikesBeer
    JoshLikesBeer Posts: 88 Member
    I love sweet potatoes, but then again I'm from the south and I have yet to meet a vegetable that I don't like.

    My favorite way to eat sweet potatoes is to cut them into thick strips and then fry them and salt them like thick-cut french fries. My favorite low-cal way to eat them is to wrap them in foil and bake them at 425F, and then eat it with a tablespoon of cream cheese, Neufchatel cheese, or even blue cheese crumbles. I eat the skins either way.

    I also like them diced and roasted with other diced root vegetables, such as beets, rutabagas, carrots, garlic, turnips, potatoes, and onions. I'll toss all of the veggies in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and whatever herbs I feel like throwing in, and bake at 350F until everything is tender.

    Edited to add: oh, yeah, and parsnips are good in that mix also. And shallots.
  • JoshLikesBeer
    JoshLikesBeer Posts: 88 Member
    But honestly, if you prepare them a few different ways and decide you don't like them, don't bother buying them again. We've all got some tastes we love and some we hate, and food doesn't need to be torture :)
    I'm going to disagree with this a little bit. Tastes change and tastes can be acquired. If you try something that you don't like enough times, you can acquire a taste for it. I absolutely hated the taste of grapefruit for like 40 years of my life, but I kept trying it, and now all of a sudden I freaking love grapefruit and eat one just about every day.
  • DesertStar86
    DesertStar86 Posts: 41 Member
    LOVE sweet potatoes - I never eat them as a dessert though (I think that's an "only in America" thing).

    Super lazy: Mircowave for 8-10 mins & serve with cream cheese or sour cream etc. Quick and easy for lunch or dinner.

    Also sweet potato fries or wedges (baked), sweet potato and roasted red pepper soup, add them to vegetable curries, sweet potato and chickpea stew, chicken & sweet potato curry. Pretty much anywhere you'd use a regular potato I will use sweet potatoes or butternut squash (if you find you like sweet potatoes, butternut squash is similar enough and super low calorie which can be a life saver if you're short on cals but need carbs). Sometimes I just roast them along with beetroot, parsnips, whatever other root vegetable and just eat those for dinner with yoghurt dip. I don't eat a lot of meat and luckily ADORE veggies.

    I think I know what I'm having for dinner tonight...
  • PrizePopple
    PrizePopple Posts: 3,133 Member
    Bake until soft. Eat.

    *adds sweet potato to the grocery list for tomorrow* Mmmm
  • sympha01
    sympha01 Posts: 942 Member
    But honestly, if you prepare them a few different ways and decide you don't like them, don't bother buying them again. We've all got some tastes we love and some we hate, and food doesn't need to be torture :)
    I'm going to disagree with this a little bit. Tastes change and tastes can be acquired. If you try something that you don't like enough times, you can acquire a taste for it. I absolutely hated the taste of grapefruit for like 40 years of my life, but I kept trying it, and now all of a sudden I freaking love grapefruit and eat one just about every day.

    This is a good point. At the age of 44 I have quite suddenly become an eggplant-liker. I disliked cilantro until my mid-30s and now it's something I buy every week.

    Though there are some people who simply don't like to try new things. Or for that matter, people (like me) who will give something like eggplant a chance, but simply aren't feeling it at this time. ("Nope, still slimy and weird. See you again in about 5 years, eggplant!"). You do have to honor your tastes, I think.

    Yay for OP for giving sweet potatoes a chance!
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    I also agree, it's good to be open to trying things once in a while even if you think you don't like them. I used to HATE bell peppers - couldn't even stand the smell of them being chopped. Now I include them in several recipes and even snack on raw ones now and then. My husband claimed to hate beets but tried them recently and realized they're not that bad.

    Anyway, I digress. Sweet potatoes... Easiest is, as said many times, microwaved. Cut off any bad parts of the peel, poke a few times with a fork or knife and microwave until done. I think in my machine it only took 4-6 minutes but depends on size of potato and strength of microwave. Then I'd wrap it in foil and thow it in my purse. Got to work, pulled it out, still a bit warm and ate it like an apple, peel and all (that's where a lot of nutrients are). If you've got a bit more time to eat at home, cut it up into bite sized pieces and add a little butter and cinnamon.

    My other favorite is adding it to my oatmeal batches along with apples, pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg and ground ginger. Yum!
  • vtemp2013
    vtemp2013 Posts: 33 Member
    Thank you guys so much! I ended up roasting it and adding a little bit of butter and light brown sugar once it was done. It was actually soooo good. Much better than the sweet potato casserole (complete with marshmallows--bleh!) that we have every holiday. I'm glad I finally gave them a chance! Looks like they'll definitely be going on my weekly list, and for .49 cents a piece, I can't say anyone would blame me.
  • DSFfit
    DSFfit Posts: 133 Member
    Bake or microwave, remove from skin. Open a can of refried black beans. Place a few spoons of beans and a few spoonfuls of the cooked sweet potato in a flour tortilla. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Microwave until the cheese melts and enjoy.

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