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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These are like “healthy” sweet potato fries. They had a really good crisp and I loved that once you parboil, they’re a nice hands-off side dish. Since I only used 2 potatoes, next time I’ll use the air fryer.
I used them with carne asada for carne asade and sweet potato tacos (because why not?). These gave the tacos sweetness and crunch. Yum!
I won’t go back to regular roasted sweet potatoes again, and I’ll definitely try with butternut squash.
Hi Jenn,
I bought already peeled sweet potatoes. Will this still work? Should I shorten parboil time or roasting time?
It will work but you’ll lose that wonderfully crispy skin. If you go ahead with the recipe, the timing should be the same. Please LMK how they turn out if you try them!
I love your recipes! I do find some of them hard to make, BECAUSE I live alone. My neighbors really enjoy this fact. My freezer is small and so is my spending account. Do you ever make recipes for 4? Love to just read recipes. Rosie. (Age 82)
Hi Rosemary, so glad you like the recipes! I definitely have a fair number of recipes for four. A couple that you may want to check out are egg roll in a bowl, skillet turkey burgers, and this spinach frittata. You can also cut some recipes like this one in half (although it requires a little math). 😊 And I’d encourage you to browse through the recipes to see if you come across others as there are definitely a number of them.
You don’t need to peel the sweet potatoes?
Nope – the skin is delicious 🙂
Jen,
I can’t wait to try this recipe as I think that is the age old issue with roasted sweet potatoes – not getting them crispy enough without charring them. Two questions – can we do this method with sweet potato steak fries? Also, could would this recipe work as well for butternut squash? Thanks!
P.S. Your new photo with those gorgeous chocolate labs is fantastic! Are they your pups?
I do think it’d work well for steak fries. I haven’t tried it with butternut squash but I wondered the same thing! I’ll report back once I have a chance to try it; please let me know if you try it first. 🙂 And thank you for the kind words about my sweet pups!
My husband is a potato lover so I wanted to give this a whirl, always needing a new side dish. Sweet Potatoes are roots and Yams are tubers from my research. Do you know if they would cook the same? I tend to find Yams in our local organic store rather than sweet potatoes. Thanks so Very much.
Hi Wendy, Many grocery stores use the names “sweet potato” and “yam” interchangeably. This can be confusing since yams aren’t sweet potatoes at all, but rather thick white tubers with dark brown skin. Chances are you won’t find real yams at the supermarket, so if you see “yams,” you’re probably looking at sweet potatoes.
How do the potatoes not turn to mush with this much cooking? When I roast sweet potatoes they usually only take about 20 minutes. Can’t imagine parboiling and then roasting for another 35 minutes. Can you explain?
Hi Linda, Honestly I wondered the exact same thing when I first read the recipe, but they aren’t mushy at all. They’re definitely soft on the inside, but the outside is so crispy that it all just works. Promise!
Just to add confusion to the mix, in Canada, the root vegetable you have pictured here is most definitely a ‘yam’. It has deep orange flesh (we can get purple yams too). “Sweet potatoes” here have yellow flesh on the inside, and tend to be rounder and fatter, with less pointy ends.
I’m looking forward to trying this recipe!
Interesting, Naomi (another Canadian here). I’ve lived in a number of Canadian cities and always called these sweet potatoes. Maybe it’s regional in another way?
Can you use cornstarch instead of the potato starch?
Hi Virginia, Potato starch will give you a better and crispier result.
Surely if you wish to rough up the edges after draining the potatoes just shake in the saucepan with the lid on and this will do the same without the need for the cornstarch. This method I use all the time for roast potatoes.
I LOVE sweet potatoes and this recipe looks fabulous(and I will be trying it). I noticed you left the skins on the potatoes, which I have never seen before, but love the idea, such a time saver. Is this a newer “thing”?
Hi Karen, I don’t know if it’s new but I always leave the skin on when I roast potatoes. Please come back and let me know how they turn out!
This recipe is surprisingly similar to the “Serious Eats” recipe for “The Best Crispy Roast Potatoes Ever”, originally published in 2016. The link to that recipe is: “https://www.seriouseats.com/the-best-roast-potatoes-ever-recipe”
There are a few minor differences but the methods are almost identical. That recipe is amazing and I’m going to try this one (sweet potatoes) in the next day or two. Should be delicious.
Hi John, Yes Jeremy actually mentions that he was inspired by the Serious Eats baking soda method in his book – but it’s the addition of potato starch that truly makes these special. Hope you enjoy them!
Could you use parchment paper on the sheet pan? Would it affect the crispiness if the final product?
Hi Karen, I don’t recommend it because of the high heat; the parchment will burn.