This baked purple sweet potato recipe is so simple! You can make it just as I do or you can top it with whatever it is that you like. It takes just a few minutes to put together and place in the oven. Baked purple sweet potato is an amazing side dish or a meal on its own!
I’ve been growing purple sweet potatoes for years now and I’ve tried cooking them many different ways, but I have to admit that baking purple sweet potatoes is my absolute favorite way to prepare these potatoes!
The purple sweet potato is not as sweet as the more common orange sweet potato. It’s also denser and creamier. When you bake a purple sweet potato, it turns a bit sweeter, it’s still dense and filling, and it as creamy as you can get a baked potato to be.
It’s a delicious side dish but I often make it for myself for dinner on its own. It’s healthy and beautiful and very easy to make.
Baked Purple Sweet Potato Recipe…
Before we go over how to bake purple sweet potatoes let’s learn a little bit about this amazing, yet not so common vegetable…
3 Kinds of Purple Sweet Potatoes…
You might come across three different kinds of purple sweet potatoes. In this post, I am baking the Stokes purple sweet potatoes, however, you can use this recipe to bake any type of purple sweet potato.
Okinawan Purple Sweet Potato – has a whitish skin and purple flesh. It is believed to have come to the Philippines and China area from South America around 1490. The plant reached Japan around 1600 and was initially planted in the island of Okinawa before farmers all over Japan started growing the crop.
Somehow, this potato ended up in Hawaii and became an important part of Hawaiian culture. This is where it is cultivated today for the American market and therefore it’s known today as Hawaiian Purple Sweet Potato.
Molokai Purple Sweet Potato – these are purple on the outside and purple on the inside and were developed on the island of Hawaii. I’ve never tried them but it sounds like they are very similar in shape and taste to the Stokes potato.
Stokes Purple Sweet Potato – this variety has purple skin and a deep purple flesh. They are dense, a little dry, very very healthy, and a little less sweet than the orange potato we know.
They are an American made potato, originated in Stoke County, NC, but are now grown mainly in central California. As far as I understand, a mysterious woman gave a farmer from NC some potato slips many years ago. He planted them and ended up with purple sweet potatoes.
He liked them so much that he kept growing them and eventually they were registered under the name Stokes potatoes. These are the ones that I am growing and cooking.
Where to Buy Purple Sweet Potatoes…
You might find purple sweet potatoes in Asian supermarkets or sometimes in Whole Foods or other organic supermarkets or specialty stores. If you’d like to order them online I recommend a company called Frieda’s.
In my post, Growing Purple Sweet Potato, I shared with you some information on how I grow my own purple sweet potatoes. This is a very easy crop to grow! It’s not so easy to find slips to buy (slips are basically the baby sweet potato vines that we plant), but you can easily sprout your own potatoes.
Purple Sweet Potato Health Benefits…
These tubers are very healthy! Purple sweet potatoes are low in carbohydrates and fat and are a great source of vitamins like vitamin A and C and fiber.
They are also a great source for calcium and potassium, but maybe the greatest health benefit of purple sweet potato is their richness in antioxidants. This is a common benefit that all the purple vegetables share.
Ingredients For Baked Purple Sweet Potato…
All that you really need are your sweet potatoes and a little bit of salt. They are seriously good with just a sprinkle of salt but you can top them with anything you’d like.
I usually add butter right on top of the hot potato and I like herbs so I use chives and sage and rosemary. Green onions are another great addition.
You can top them with sour cream, bacon, cheese, or anything else that you like, the possibilities are endless.
How Long to Bake Purple Sweet Potatoes…
The length of time to bake a purple sweet potato will depend on the size of your potato. I usually bake medium to large potatoes for about an hour at 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
How to Bake a Purple Sweet Potato…
First, wash your potatoes well and dry them with a kitchen towel…
Next, take a fork and stab the potato all over, this makes it easier for the potato to bake.
Wrap the potato in tin foil shiny side in…
Preheat your oven to 425 Fehranhite, place the wrapped potatoes on a baking sheet and bake them for about an hour.
How to Serve Baked Purple Sweet Potato…
Once your potato is baked, there are no limits to what you can top it with. I like to keep it very simple… While my potato was in the oven I got a couple of sage leaves, a couple of young green onions (chives will work great too!), and a couple of stems of rosemary. All fresh from the garden.
I chopped them all really fine…
I unwrapped the sweet potatoes carefully and checked with a fork that they were soft (if your potato is not soft yet just return it to the oven for a few more minutes.).
An hour was just enough for my potatoes so I cut the two ends off and sliced the potatoes along the center lengthwise.
Then, while it’s still steaming hot, I add a couple of tablespoons of butter (do me a favor and don’t hold back on the butter please!), salt and black pepper to taste and add the herbs. I just sprinkle all of the green onions, rosemary, and sage on top of the potato.
I give the butter a minute to melt and then I dig in! Oh goodness, it is so good.
I usually add a few fresh vegetables next to my potato, like sweet peppers and sweet peas and that was it. It’s a healthy and filling dinner for sure.
But, of course, it doesn’t have to be the main dish! It’s an amazing side to many main dishes.
Other Purple Sweet Potato Recipes…
Aside from baking purple sweet potatoes you can also roast them or take this baked purple sweet potato recipe one step further and mash your potatoes to make mashed purple sweet potatoes. I also make these oven baked sweet potatoes fries, you can make purple sweet potato fries exactly the same way or make purple sweet potato chips.
But there is so much more! Make sure to check out my Purple Sweet Potato Recipe Roundup for 42 amazing purple sweet potato recipes including amazing dessert recipes that you won’t believe that you can make with this potato! There are so many dishes that I want to try.
Here is the handy printable…
Baked Purple Sweet Potato
A delicious baked purple sweet potato that can be topped with a million different things! A very healthy and filling dish.
Ingredients
- 2 purple sweet potato
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 2 sage leaves, finely chopped
- 2 stems of rosemary, finely chopped
- 2 young green onions, finely chopped
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 425 F.
- Wash potatoes well and dry them with a kitchen towel.
- Stab potatoes all over a few times with a fork.
- Wrap potatoes in tin foil (I placed the shiny side in).
- Place potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for about an hour or until they are soft.
- Once the potatoes are done, remove from the oven and remove the foil carefully.
- Cut both ends off and slice the potato in the middle lengthwise.
- Add the butter, herbs, and salt and pepper on top. Give the butter a minute to melt and serve!
Notes
Baking time may change according to the size of your sweet potato. If you are baking a smaller potato it's a good idea to check if it's soft after 30 or 40 minutes.
You can top your potato with anything you'll top a regular sweet potato with bacon, cream cheese, sour cream, chives... There are so many different combinations!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 228Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 426mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 5gSugar: 9gProtein: 3g
Hi! I’m Lady Lee. I help homesteaders simplify their homesteading journey while still producing a ton of food! I am a single mother of four, I was born in Israel and raised in an agricultural commune called a Kibbutz. Now I homestead in central NC.
I baked the sweet potatoes and chopped the herbs but forgot the green onions but added parsley. In spite of the absence of the onions the purple sweet potato was delicious and nutritious. Adding herbs is always a winner with the additional of flavor.
Oh, definitely! They are good with just butter but herbs always kick everything to the next level!
Your can also eat the vine tips and the youngest five leaves on it. Possibly more nutritious than the potato itself but eating both is the best option.
Yes, I use the leaves sometimes.