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Adding sweet potatoes to your diet is an easy and delicious habit to pick up when you're trying to eat healthy—the vegetable is a total superfood, packed with vitamin C and fiber. They're also totally versatile but baking them whole in the oven is arguably the simplest way to prepare them, and they will be the perfect base for all types of toppings. We love them stuffed with barbecue chicken or as a bunless sloppy joe.

If you'rereally pressed for time, you can always microwave your sweet potato. The results won't be as perfect but it means you'll have perfectly cooked potatoes on the table in minutes.

Check out our easy instructions below for baking the perfect baked sweet potato—because in our opinion, nothing beats one topped with a big pat of butter and some salt and pepper.

1. Wash 'em clean.

The worst way to ruin a sweet potato casserole is with a gritty texture. Scrub the skins lightly to get rid of any dirt and soil.

2. Line your baking sheet with foil.

Sweet potatoes tend to get a little juicy while baking and these juices can caramelize and be a pain to clean up. Lining the baking sheet first insures an easy clean up.

3. Poke holes!

The pricking technique is always used when baking regular or sweet potatoes—the holes help to reduce baking time and ensure the potatoes won't burst by providing steam vents.

4. Bake until tender.

How can you tell when they're done? Stick a fork into the thickest part of the potato. If there's no resistance, it's good to go.

5. Keep them dry.

A lot of recipes call for rubbing the sweet potatoes in olive oil after pricking, but we find that it's not necessary—unless you intend on eating the potato with the skin on! Oil will help the skin crisp up a bit during the baking process and develop a more delicious flavor.

Love your sweet spuds? Check out our 50+ sweet potato recipes!

Made them? Let us know how it went in the comment section below!

Yields: 4

Prep Time: 0 hours 5 mins

Total Time: 0 hours 55 mins

sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean

4 tbsp.

butter

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

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Preheat oven to 425º. On a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, prick sweet potatoes all over with a fork.
Bake until tender, 45 to 50 minutes.
Let cool, then split the tops open with a knife and top with a pat of butter.
Season with salt and pepper before serving.

Ethan Calabrese

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Lindsay Funston Executive Editor Lindsay Funston is a food editor who has more than 10 years experience tasting everything from pickles to bloody marys, writing about food trends, and creating easy recipes.

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