We Tested 6 Ways to Bake Sweet Potatoes — the Winner Was a Creamy, Caramelized Standout

A surprisingly simple technique delivered the best flavor and texture.

Ann Taylor Pittman

Thu, September 3, 2026 at 3:29 PM UTC

9 min read

*Credit: Food & Wine / Photo by Morgan Hunt Ward/ Food Styling by Jennifer Wendorf / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless*

Key points

We tested six methods for cooking sweet potatoes, comparing their flavor and texture while also considering overall difficulty.
Low-and-slow cooking produced very sweet potatoes, while faster methods came with trade-offs in flavor and texture.
Cutting sweet potatoes in half before baking created an ideal combination of creamy flesh, crisp skin, and deep caramelization.

A baked sweet potato seems simple enough: Put one in the oven and cook it until it's tender. But there are plenty of opinions about the best way to get there. Some cooks swear by a long, slow roast to maximize sweetness, while others wrap sweet potatoes in foil to trap moisture. You can microwave them when speed is the priority or even freeze them before baking in pursuit of a custardy interior.

We wanted to know which of these techniques actually produces the best sweet potato, so we put six popular methods to the test in the Food & Wine Test Kitchen. We compared not only how evenly the potatoes cooked but also the texture of the flesh, the sweetness and depth of flavor, the quality of the skin, and the time and effort each method required. Read on to learn our key findings and see which method earned a 10/10 rating.

Julia Levy Freeman tested all of the sweet potato methods.

A word about our method

We tested each method with two sweet potatoes to ensure the results were consistent across both potatoes. We used standard orange-fleshed potatoes weighing 8 to 10 ounces each. Depending on the method, some potatoes were rubbed with oil and seasoned with salt and pepper before cooking; others were cooked with no oil or seasonings. We allowed all of the sweet potatoes to stand for a few minutes after cooking before we tried them.

Frozen

Active time:10 minutes
Total time:8 hours 50 minutes
Rating:2/10

Method:This technique starts with freezing sweet potatoes solid — for at least 6 hours. We then wrapped the potatoes individually in aluminum foil and placed them on a foil-lined baking sheet. They went into the oven frozen and baked at 300°F until a skewer could pierce the potatoes with no resistance (2 hours for us). At this point, we unwrapped the potatoes and roasted them at 450°F until slightly caramelized, about 40 minutes.

Results:The method is touted to deliver baked sweet potatoes with exceptionally sweet flesh because the potatoes are held in a temperature range that allows an enzyme called amylase to convert more of the starches into sugars. They did taste sweet, but the texture suffered. Our potatoes were waterlogged — a forkful actually dripped. And the potatoes leached out sugary liquid from where we poked them with a skewer, which burned onto the (thankfully foil-lined) pan.

Pros:This is a hands-off method, and the potatoes held their shape nicely despite having a watery texture.

Cons:The texture was a letdown. This method also takes the longest by far: 6 hours to freeze, then at least 2 hours 40 minutes to bake.

Microwaved

Active time:8 minutes
Total time:20 minutes
Rating:3/10

Method:First, we poked holes all over the sweet potatoes with a fork. We then wrapped each individually in a damp paper towel, placed them on a microwave-safe plate, and microwaved on HIGH for about 8 minutes, turning them over after 4 minutes.

Results:The potatoes cooked this way were starchy and fibrous, and the flavor seemed underdeveloped. Microwaves notoriously cook unevenly, and that was the case here; there were some firmer spots in the middle and near the ends of the potatoes. And if you love to eat the skin, this is a method to avoid — the skin was very leathery.

Pros:This is a low-lift method that gets the job done quickly. If you just need cooked sweet potatoes that will go into a dish (such as a casserole or pie), this technique will suffice.

Cons:The textures were not ideal; the skin was tough and the flesh was fibrous and unevenly cooked. Also, these spuds tasted the least sweet of all.

Slow-roasted

Active time:10 minutes
Total time:2 hours 10 minutes
Rating:6/10

Method:For this test, we rubbed the sweet potatoes with olive oil and sprinkled them with salt and pepper. We arranged them on a foil-lined baking sheet and baked them at 275°F until very soft and caramelized on the bottom — just shy of 2 hours. We then increased the oven temperature to broil and toasted the tops of the sweet potatoes for about 5 minutes, until the skin was lightly charred.

Results:These potatoes tasted incredibly sweet, as the long, slow cooking helped to convert more starches to sugars. The skin was deliciously caramelized and slightly crisp. This method is touted to create a custardy interior texture, but our sweet potatoes were slightly watery instead. Overall, the lengthy process didn't seem worth it because the texture wasn't ideal.

Pros:The sweet potatoes were evenly cooked and very sweet and the skin was toasted and crispy.

Cons:The process takes a long time and the interior texture was watery.

Wrapped

Active time:5 minutes
Total time:1 hour
Rating:7/10

Method:Here, we poked holes all over the sweet potatoes, rubbed them with olive oil, and sprinkled them with salt and pepper. We wrapped them separately in foil and baked them on the oven rack at 400°F until they were tender, about 50 minutes.

Results:The foil acted like a steamer for the whole potato, keeping the moisture inside. As a result, the skin was not crisp and turned a bit tough. The flesh was tender but not as uniformly creamy as we had hoped, and the flavor was moderately sweet.

Pros:This technique allows you to cook a lot of potatoes at once. This would be a good method if you want sweet potato puree and have no intention of eating the skin.

Cons:The skin lacks caramelization and is slightly leathery. The flavor wasn't as sweet or concentrated as with the top two methods.

Unwrapped

Active time:5 minutes
Total time:55 minutes
Rating:9/10

Method:This method started with poking holes all over the sweet potatoes with a fork. We then rubbed them with olive oil, sprinkled them with salt and pepper, and placed them on a foil-lined baking sheet. We baked them at 400°F until tender, about 45 minutes.

Results:These potatoes were delightful inside and out, with creamy, tender flesh and crispy, well-seasoned skin. They cooked evenly and gained sweet depth as they cooked. These would be great as jacket potatoes, where you intend to eat the skin and might serve the potatoes with fillings or toppings.

Pros:This method is an easy lift and produces evenly cooked sweet potatoes that you can use in a variety of ways. The skin was crisp and delicious.

Cons:Though the potatoes were tender, tasty, and well cooked, their flavor wasn't quite as rich as that of the winning method.

Halved

Active time:5 minutes
Total time:55 minutes
Rating:10/10

Method:With this technique, we first cut each sweet potato in half lengthwise. We rubbed the halves all over with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, then arranged them cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. We baked the sweet potatoes at 375°F until tender when pierced, 40 to 45 minutes. Finally, we let them cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before removing them from the pan.

Results:This method was the overwhelming favorite among all tasters. If 100/10 was a legit rating, we'd give it that. Everyone loved the balanced seasoning, the supremely creamy flesh, and the crispy skin. Best of all was the caramelized crust that formed on the flat part of the flesh, which stayed in contact with the pan during cooking. As the sweet potatoes cooked, the sugars concentrated here to form a sweet crust like a brûlée. It's important to rest the sweet potatoes on the pan for 10 minutes after cooking; this allows that crust to set. The potato halves were easy to pick up and enjoy out of hand, and they tasted similar to sweet potato fries.

Pros:The flavor and texture were superb, with a great balance between caramelized and creamy parts. The potatoes were exceptionally sweet and evenly seasoned and the method was easy to execute.

Cons:Sometimes you need a whole jacket potato, and this method won't do in those cases. Also, if you're looking for cooked sweet potato flesh for use in pies or casseroles, this isn't the best technique.

Final takeaways

For the best balance of flavor and texture, cut your sweet potatoes in half before baking them. The exposed flesh caramelizes against the hot pan, creating a deeply browned crust almost like brûlée while the interior stays exceptionally creamy. As a bonus, the skin turns crisp and the potatoes cook evenly with very little effort.

If you need to keep your sweet potatoes whole, baking them unwrapped at 400°F is the next-best choice. You'll get tender, creamy flesh and crisp, well-seasoned skin, making this the better method for jacket potatoes or stuffed sweet potatoes. We'd skip the more time-consuming frozen and slow-roasted techniques: Despite both producing plenty of sweetness, neither delivered a texture good enough to justify the extra time.

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