How to Cook Sweet Potatoes 10 Ways

Now that it's sweater season and pumpkin spice is everywhere, it's time for sweet potatoes to get some spotlight. How you cook them determines whether they emerge silky-soft for a classic casserole, crispy-crunchy as chips, or somewhere in between. Beneath their humble skins, sweet potatoes reveal delicious flesh that’s earthy, sweet, and endlessly versatile. Here are 10 stellar ways to cook sweet potatoes. Be sure to try them all.

When You're Cooking for Color and Crunch

Broil

Broiling applies high, direct heat from above, quickly browning surfaces. Think of it as like upside-down grilling. Thin slices caramelize fast, as in Broiled Bacon-Wrapped Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Watercress, where the potatoes brown while the bacon sizzles and crisps.

Grill

Firm and sturdy, sweet potatoes develop smoky char and deep flavor when sliced into thick 1/4-inch planks that won’t slip through the grates.

Sear and Sauté

A hot skillet delivers quick browning and caramelization to cut, exposed surfaces. Recipes for hashes and Sweet Potato Home Fries often roast them first to jump-start the cooking process, then finish the sweet potatoes with aromatics in a skillet for beautiful browning and crisp texture.

Pan-Fry and Deep-Fry

Pan-frying uses more oil and lower heat than sautéing, crisping the exterior while keeping the inside moist—perfect for Sweet Potato Pancakes. Deep-frying takes it a step further, creating the crunchiest sweet potato chips and fries, but it's oil-heavy and notably messier.

Air-Fry

The air fryer creates top-speed magic with sweet potato fries or chips: the skins quickly turn crisp while the flesh remains light and silky.

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When You're Seeking a Smooth, Silky Texture

Simmer

Simmering peeled chunks keeps them moist and tender, ideal for puréeing into silky Smoky Sweet-Potato Soup, Sweet-Potato Biscuits, or Brown-Butter Sweet-Potato Gnocchi. Simmering also lets sweet potatoes absorb flavor in Cauliflower-Sweet Potato Curry and Vegan Sweet Potato Chili, while adding body with their starches.

Microwave

Pressed for time? The microwave cooks a whole potato in minutes instead of an hour. Pierce the skin first to allow steam to escape. Cut into chunks, it cooks even faster—just 3 to 5 minutes. Since there's no caramelization, this method is best for quick mashes and purées, or use it to parcook thick wedges before grilling.

Sous Vide

Sous vide cooks vacuum-sealed food in a precisely heated water bath. The gentle, controlled heat locks in moisture and enhances sweetness and aroma without any browning, making this method ideal for mashes and purées. 

Unlike roasting, sous vide uses lower temperatures to achieve results that aren’t accessible with traditional cooking. At 135 to 170 degrees Fahrenheit, sweet potatoes break down and convert more starches into maltose (a sugar made of two glucose molecules), intensifying their natural sweetness in a way ovens can't compete with.

Want the Best of Both Worlds?

Roast or Bake

Roasting sits at the crossroads of crispy and creamy. Whole, unpeeled sweet potatoes roast into tender flesh with crisped skins, ready to be transformed into Loaded Baked Sweet Potatoes.

Peeled and cut sweet potatoes, exposed to more surface heat, caramelized beautifully in recipes like Honey-Roasted Vegetables and Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Buttermilk. For extra crunch, baked chips and Sweet Potato–Parmesan Fries maximize crisp edges without the heavy oil of deep-frying.

Even when browning isn’t the goal, as in a root vegetable gratin layered with butter, cheese, and wine, roasting develops nutty depth that balances natural sweetness. The flesh from a whole-roasted sweet potato can be scooped from the skin and puréed into a velvety base for Sweet Potato Pie or Spiced Sweet-Potato Cake with Meringue Frosting.

Use the Multi-Cooker

For a hands-off method that's faster than baking or simmering, use a multicooker or Instant Pot. It turns sweet potatoes creamy and velvety in minutes. It's also capable of searing and sautéeing to develop color and caramelized flavor before steaming—perfect for saucy curries and silky sides with a golden brown hue and all the flavors that come with that.