recipes:
The Basics
The Basics: How to Make Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Good for Thanksgiving, or anytime
From the store to the kitchen to the table: We outline the steps that get you from raw ingredients to your dinner tonight, free of measurements and complicated techniques. It’s a method you’ll remember and whip out whenever you like. It is the most basic way to make the thing you’re making.
- WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
- - a large bowl
- - a baking sheet
- - two pounds of sweet potatoes
- - vegetable oil
- - salt and pepper
- - brown sugar
WHAT YOU’LL DO:
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1. Heat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (it will take at least 20 minutes to warm up) and arrange a rack in the upper third.
2. Scrub the sweet potatoes and cut them into large, even pieces.
3. Place the sweet potatoes in the bowl, add a generous amount of vegetable oil, two large pinches of salt, a generous pinch of black pepper, and two generous pinches of brown sugar. Mix until the sweet potatoes are evenly coated.
4. Dump the sweet potatoes onto the baking sheet and spread them in an even layer. Place them in the oven.
5. Bake for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sweet potatoes are lightly browned and roasty looking. See more Thanksgiving Basics.
Illustrations by Bill Russell
That's way too complicated. Just throw them in the oven at 400 degrees for one hour and 15 minutes. The skins fall off the when they're done.
I have substituted curry powder for the brown sugar to rave reviews.
Agree with Paul-- plus if you roast them until they naturally carmelize (they start to seep brown juice) they'll have an amazing sweetness, and no need for added brown sugar.
that's making a mountian out of a molehill !! Stick it in a hot oven (400-450) for about an hour until a wooden skewer shows little or no resistance. what's the big deal? A little butter is all they need.