Food and Recipes Veggies Potatoes Sweet Potato How To Boil Sweet Potatoes Boiling is easy. But there's a better way. By Lisa Cericola Lisa Cericola Lisa Cericola has been on staff at Southern Living since 2015. As Deputy Editor, Lisa manages the food and travel departments and edits those sections of each issue, as well as digital content. Previously, she was the features editor at Food Network Magazine and has more than 15 years of experience writing, editing, and managing photo shoots for print and digital lifestyle brands. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on December 19, 2023 Reviewed by Jerlyn Jones, MS, MPA, RDN, LD, CLT Reviewed by Jerlyn Jones, MS, MPA, RDN, LD, CLT Jerlyn Jones is a registered dietitian nutritionist and owner of The Lifestyle Dietitian LLC, a nutrition private practice based in Atlanta. She has 15 years of experience in the field of nutrition and dietetics. Learn more about the Southern Living Food & Nutrition Review Board Fact checked by Jillian Dara Fact checked by Jillian Dara Jillian is a freelance writer, editor and fact-checker with 10 years of editorial experience in the lifestyle genre. In addition to fact-checking for Southern Living, Jillian works on multiple verticals across Dotdash-Meredith, including TripSavvy, The Spruce, and Travel + Leisure. brand's fact checking process Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox Boiling sweet potatoes is a great first step for any number of dishes, including mashed sweet potatoes and sweet potato casserole. You can even use boiled mashed potatoes to make sweet potato pound cake. The good news: If you can boil a white potato, you can boil a sweet potato. The process is exactly the same: How To Boil Sweet Potatoes 1. Peel and cut Peel the skin from the sweet potato and cut it into similarly sized chunks or cubes. This ensures they will cook evenly, with no tough spots. Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox 2. Place in water Place the potato pieces in a stockpot and cover the potatoes with water by a few inches. Add a generous pinch of salt. Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox 3. Boil Bring the water to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and let the potatoes cook 15 to 20 minutes, or until you can easily pierce several pieces (always test more than one) with a knife. Potatoes cut into small pieces will take less time to cook. Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox 4. Drain Drain the potatoes into a large colander and return them to the pot. Use as desired. Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox Why You Should Bake Sweet Potatoes Instead While boiling makes sweet potatoes tender, it doesn't help much with their flavor. Most dishes that call for boiled sweet potatoes would be improved if you used roasted or baked sweet potatoes. Baking whole sweet potatoes in the oven or cutting them into cubes and roasting them caramelizes the potatoes' starchy flesh, making it sweeter and giving it a silky smooth texture. Even if you are making mashed sweet potatoes, they will taste better with oven-cooked potatoes. To bake sweet potatoes in the oven, preheat the oven to 400°F. Scrub the potatoes clean and pierce each one all over with a paring knife. Bake on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet until tender, about 45 to 50 minutes. Or cut the potatoes into 1/2-inch cubes, place them on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet, and drizzle with olive oil until evenly coated. Roast until tender, about 30 to 40 minutes. Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit