A Restaurant Style Baked Sweet Potato is the perfect side to so many recipes! Sweet potatoes are so loaded with antioxidants, fiber, and, of course, that trademark sweet flavor. As a side dish, they are easy to make and very versatile. For a clean eating diet, they are one of the best and most popular foods to keep in your kitchen.

Restaurant Style Baked Sweet Potato

If you are like us, you get really excited when you see that a restaurant offers sweet potatoes. What you may not be excited about is how they prepare them. The fake butter, shortening, brown sugar, etc. are ingredients that just don’t fit into a clean eating lifestyle or diet.

I wanted to achieve the same consistency of a restaurant-style baked sweet potato but without all the added unnecessary ingredients. After trial and error, I found the perfect cooking method and additions to give you the flavorful crisp skin you want, without the guilt you have at restaurants.

What are the benefits of sweet potatoes?

As I already mentioned, sweet potatoes are full of antioxidants. This alone is enough for me to add to my diet and meal plan. Alongside this, we automatically know that they are loaded with fiber and the obvious beta carotene. They have practically no fat, and actually have around 2 grams of protein per serving.

My favorite benefits of sweet potatoes are the high levels of Vitamin C and the B vitamins in this root vegetable. As these are so important to my overall health, I know that I can get a good amount every time I cook up a sweet potato for a side dish at dinner.

Can I wrap the sweet potatoes to bake?

Wrapping potatoes before baking has long been a popular method. It is my opinion that it is simply a waste of time and of aluminum foil. Over the years, I have come to believe that this method was made popular by restaurants. The reason being you could easily bake a multitude of potatoes at the same time, and keep them warm longer by wrapping them.

What can I do with leftover sweet potatoes?

Leftovers? What are those?! While we rarely have leftovers, I do typically make a few extra potatoes when baking them to use in meals throughout the week. If and when I have leftovers, I usually reheat to have as a simple baked sweet potato a second meal.

You can also mash them like you would regular potatoes. Another popular option is to make a twice-baked sweet potato. Scoop out the insides and mix with your choice of spices and then put back into the skins to bake again. This works well if you are going for a sweeter dessert-style sweet potato.

What should I serve sweet potatoes with?

In my opinion, sweet potatoes go great with any meal. They are great as both sweet and savory options at any meal. This even includes breakfast! Below are some of my favorite recipes to add this baked sweet potato to for dinner.

Ingredients for the best baked sweet potato

Sweet potatoes
Olive oil
Sea salt

This was originally published on September 16, 2013, and updated on November 12, 2019.

Restaurant-Style Baked Sweet Potato

Author: Whitney Carlson
Total Time: 55 minutes
Yield: 4 servings 1x

Print Recipe

Description

A Restaurant Style Baked Sweet Potato is the perfect side to so many recipes! Sweet potatoes are so loaded with antioxidants, fiber, and, of course, that trademark sweet flavor.

Ingredients

Scale

3–4 medium size sweet potatoes
Sprinkle of sea salt
Olive Oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
Poke holes in the sweet potatoes using a fork
Drizzle the outside of each potato with olive oil & sprinkle with sea salt
Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the sweet potato is easy to cut and the inside is soft enough to eat with a fork
Top with butter and/or cinnamon or enjoy plain

Notes

You can line a baking sheet (with raised edges) or pan with foil but do not wrap the potatoes in foil
Macros below based on one sweet potato (approx 5″ long – 133 grams). I always weigh my serving.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Category: Side Dish
Method: Baked
Cuisine: American