Crispy Roasted Sweet Potatoes
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These crispy roasted sweet potatoes are creamy and tender inside with deeply golden, craggy edges. A few simple tricks make all the difference.
Have you ever tried to make perfectly crispy roasted sweet potatoes, only to end up with potatoes that are disappointingly soft? Because sweet potatoes contain more sugar and moisture than regular potatoes, they tend to soften rather than crisp in the oven. This recipe, adapted from Cooking Smarter by Jeremy Scheck, uses a few clever tricks to deliver the crispiest, most delicious roasted sweet potatoes ever.
First, the potatoes are par-boiled in salted water with a little baking soda, which softens the surface and creates rough, craggy edges that brown beautifully in the oven (the same technique I use for my crispy potato wedges). They’re then tossed with olive oil, seasonings, and potato starch, which forms a light coating that gets wonderfully crisp as they roast. The result is sweet potatoes that are creamy and tender inside with deeply golden, crispy edges.
These crispy roasted sweet potatoes make an easy side for everything from grilled chicken and baked chicken thighs to glazed pork tenderloin.
“I didn’t think that crispy sweet potatoes were possible, but here they are. I will be making these gems again and again. Thank you, Jenn.”
What You’ll Need To Make Crispy Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Baking Soda: Makes the boiling water alkaline, which helps break down the potatoes’ surface so the edges become slightly softened and rough. Those craggy edges will crisp up beautifully in the oven.
- Sweet Potatoes: Look for firm, evenly shaped sweet potatoes with smooth, unblemished skin; there is no need to peel them.
- Potato Starch: Serves as a coating that crisps up beautifully as the potatoes roast. In most stores, you can find it in the baking aisle alongside other starches and thickeners like cornstarch. It may also be in the gluten-free or international foods aisle, especially within the Kosher or Asian sections. Corn starch can be substituted if necessary.
- Olive Oil: Assists in achieving a golden, crispy texture and adds richness.
- Chopped Fresh Rosemary: Complements the sweetness of the potatoes. Feel free to experiment with your favorite herbs—fresh thyme would also work well.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Par-boil the sweet potatoes. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the baking soda, followed by the sweet potatoes. Par-boil until the potatoes are tender around the edges but still hold their shape. Drain the potatoes thoroughly.
Step 2: Season and roast. Transfer the drained sweet potatoes to a rimmed baking sheet. Add the potato starch, olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary, and gently toss to coat, roughing up the edges a bit. Spread out and roast until deeply golden and crisp. Turn off the oven and let the potatoes rest inside briefly to crisp up even more.
Step 3: Serve. Sprinkle with more rosemary, taste and adjust the seasoning if needed, and serve hot.
More Sweet Potato Recipes You’ll Love
Crispy Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- Salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2½ pounds sweet potatoes (about 3 large), unpeeled, cut into 1½-inch (4-cm) chunks
- 2 tablespoons potato starch (see note)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary, divided
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position.
- In a large pot, bring 3 quarts (3 L) of water to a boil. Stir in 1 tablespoon of salt and the baking soda. Add the potatoes and boil for 10 minutes.Drain the potatoes thoroughly.
- Directly on a rimmed baking sheet (avoid using foil as the potatoes may stick), toss the par-boiled potatoes with the potato starch, oil, ½ teaspoon of salt, half of the rosemary, and the pepper. Roast in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, stirring once midway through roasting. After roasting, turn off the oven but leave the potatoes inside for an additional 10 to 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the remaining rosemary. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, if necessary. Transfer the sweet potatoes to a platter and serve.
Notes
- In most supermarkets, you can find potato starch in the baking aisle alongside other starches and thickeners like cornstarch. It may also be in the gluten-free or international foods aisle, especially within the Kosher or Asian sections. Some stores that have distinct sections for natural or organic foods might also stock potato starch there. If you're having difficulty finding it, ask a store employee.
- The sodium content provided in the nutritional section for the potatoes is based on the assumption that about ½ teaspoon of salt is absorbed during boiling in salted water. This is just an estimate, and the actual sodium level can vary.
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Didn’t work for me. I think I might have cut them too small. They were just sad and mushy. Oh, well. On to the next recipe!
Fantastic, follow the recipe and make sure you flip as I was close to the time line and they started to stick a bit. I boiled the sweet potatoes early in the day and just let them dry out in the pot only change I made.
Tossed in the oven… perfection.
I’m dying to try potato starch on my chicken wings, I use a combo of corn starch and flour but I think potato starch and flour will be interesting. I bake them and they are so crispy with the former ,will be interesting to use the potato starch.
Use 1/2 C flour to 1/4c starch, I just toss in enough to cover wings. They come out crispy with corn starch, potato starch will be interesting.
You never mentioned the amount of baking soda for the crispy sweet potatoes
Hi Harriette, you need ½ teaspoon baking soda. Enjoy!
Tasty but it takes time and effort
I am not an experienced cook, and they turned out delicious.
I did preheat the roasting pan in the oven, so maybe that’s why they didn’t stick to the pan too badly. I also forgot to turn them halfway, but it didn’t sabotage the end result; everyone enjoyed the meal.
I did add garlic to it because I love everything garlic, especially in combination with rosemary. Also (and it may not be a big deal), I mixed the starch and oil in a bowl first, then added rosemary and garlic to it, then tossed boiled and drained potatoes in a bowl with the mix before transferring them to a pre-heated roasting pan. I feel that it allows for more even coating.
Ill be using the recipe again, for sure. Thank you!
Delicious! These are crispy on the outside, but the inside melts in your mouth. These are easy to prepare and my whole family raved about them.
They came out AMAZING! Glassy-crispy, absolutely no sticking!
Some notes:
– Cubes steamed off a bit after cooking
– I was out of potato starch and subbed for corn starch; tossed the cubes in the starch without oil!
– I preheated a roasting pan then oiled it
– carefully tossed starched cubes in the hot oil and bake
Since the pan has a hot layer of only oil, the cubes have no chance of sticking