Baked Sweet Potatoes with Easy Toppings
By The Gracious Vegan
Easy baked sweet potatoes can make for a quick lunch or dinner. Combine them with leftover soup or salad, and you’ve got a meal.
Makes: Adjustable
Bake the sweet potatoes in the oven, microwave, or Instant Pot. Wash, dry, and pierce each sweet potato in several places with a fork or pointed knife.
Sweet potatoes (as many as you want)
For oven-baking, place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper. Bake until tender, about 45 minutes. Baking times can vary depending on potato size.
For microwave-baking, wrap each sweet potato in a paper towel (it doesn’t need to be moist). Microwave for 3 minutes, check it, then cook for a minute at a time until just tender (they will continue softening). Baking times will vary depending on your oven, how many potatoes you bake together, and the size of the potatoes.
For Instant Pot, put 1 cup cold water in the pot, insert the steamer rack that came with your Instant Pot. Slice each sweet potato in half the long way. Pile the sweet potato halves on the rack, putting the fattest halves on the bottom and facing all the cut sides up. Set on “Steam” for 4 minutes. Use natural release method (10 minutes).
Suggestions for toppings
Black beans and salsa (Gracious Vegan Guacamole optional)
Chili beans and Vegan Crema (ditto on Gracious Vegan Guacamole)
Cowboy caviar (a mixture of black-eyed peas, corn, avocado, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, a little vinegar and salt)
Chickpeas, chopped tomatoes and cucumber with Tahini Sauce
Leftover chili
Cooked vegetables with leftover sauce (peanut sauce, creamy tomato sauce, Alfredo sauce, creamy pesto sauce, gravy)
Vegan Crema, pomegranate molasses, and an interesting dried spice like urfa biber, za’atar, or Aleppo pepper
Timing: Hands-on time 10 minutes; Total time 10-60 minutes
Nutritional information per serving (one 8-ounce sweet potato without toppings: 192 calories, 0g fat, 0g sat. fat, 46g carbs, 128mg sodium, 7mg fiber, 3g protein
Gluten-free