Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Regular sweet potatoes are a far cry from these purple skinned Japanese sweet potatoes that have either a white or purple flesh. This variety of sweet potatoes, when roasted, have a flavor that’s slightly nutty…like a chestnut with a heartier and starchier taste, so they’re not overly sweet. Roasted sweet potatoes have been our latest jam!

How I made the switch from rice to sweet potatoes

A few years ago I discovered these purple skinned sweet potatoes at a couple of Asian markets here in SoCal (HMart and Seafood City) and enjoyed eating them boiled with a pat of butter. Mmmmmm…butter! Now my local Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods carries them and since I shop mostly at Trader Joe’s (hello, cheaper everything!), I started opting for a bag of Murasaki Japanese sweet potatoes over rice. Yep. You read that right. I’ve been loving these sweet potatoes more than rice. Well, it helped that Will and I were doing the Whole 30 at the time. Ha! But seriously, we are obsessed so these have been our main source of carbs, and has made the Whole 30 so much easier for us. It’s also more nutritious than rice, so that’s a no-brainer for us!

Getting the cooking technique right

I must admit I’ve always made this every meal prep Sunday, but one time Will made a batch on a weeknight because we ran out and his roasted sweet potatoes turned out so much better than mine! It was perfectly cooked with a nice golden brown and caramelized top. I was like “Whoah! From now on, you’re in charge of the sweet potatoes!”

Kidding aside, I asked him how he cooked it and told me he sprayed both sides of the cut sweet potatoes liberally with oil before placing the tray on the bottom rack in the oven, and cooked it longer than the time I gave him. Well,  this happened because he forgot to take the sweet potatoes out of the oven when the timer went off! Thankfully it worked well in his favor because the sweet potatoes were PERFECT. Best roasted sweet potatoes I’ve ever had.

If you’ve never had Japanese sweet potatoes, run to your nearest Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods or Asian market and grab a bag today. Make these roasted sweet potatoes and prepare to get hooked!

Print

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Course Side Dish

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings 4

Author Jenny Castaneda

Ingredients

• 3 pounds purple sweet potatoes scrubbed and patted dry
• cooking oil spray of your choice

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven at 375F.
2. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.
3. Cut the sweet potatoes in half and slice a sliver off the rounded side. This will prevent the halved pieces from rolling around the tray when you place it in the oven.
4. Generously spray both sides with cooking oil.
5. Place the sweet potatoes halved sided down on the lined baking sheet.

6. Place the baking sheet on the bottom rack in the oven. Bake for 35 minutes then flip and bake for 30 minutes.

7. Cool before transferring to a gladdest container. Store in the fridge for up to 5 days.