Quick Baked Sweet Potatoes

A quicker method for baking sweet potatoes that are tender, sweet, and creamy. Serve as a simple dinner side dish or piled high with toppings for a healthy breakfast.

Big fan of sweet potatoes? Try these Addictive Roasted Sweet Potato Rounds or this Sweet Potato Veggie Wrap next.

Cooked sweet potato halves on a quarter sheet pan.

Guess what? There’s a quicker way to bake sweet potatoes and it doesn’t involve the microwave!

We made this life-changing discovery during our mountain cabin trip in July when I was trying to cook a big sweet potato in our little toaster oven. I sliced the sweet potato in half, popped it in the toaster oven, and hoped for the best.

To my surprise, the halves cooked up in half the time of whole toaster oven baked sweet potatoes and were perfectly sweet and creamy.

After extensive…um…research, I’m happy to report this method will work in your big oven, toaster oven, or countertop oven. And you can use it to make quicker baked potatoes too!

Also, if you’ve got room on the pan, feel free to bake extras.

The leftovers store well in the fridge and make a great fall breakfast. We topped ours with almond butter, blackberries, and a sprinkle of toasted coconut it’s basically sweet potato breakfast bliss.

Baked sweet potato halves topped with almond butter and blackberries.

How to Make Quick Baked Sweet Potatoes

Start by adjusting the cooking rack in your toaster oven, traditional oven, or countertop oven to the lowest position and preheat to 400°F on the “Bake” setting.

Next, brush a sheet pan with oil or line with a silicone baking mat.

Hands slicing a sweet potato in half on a cutting board.

Now that you’ve got your pan set, carefully slice 2 raw sweet potatoes in half lengthwise.

Place the sweet potato halves on your prepared pan and brush (or rub) the flesh with oil.

We like to season them with salt too, but that’s up to you.

Baked sweet potatoes on a baking sheet brushed with oil.

Flip the sweet potatoes over so their interiors are facing the pan and brush or rub the skins lightly with oil. This helps the skins get crispy and taste yummy.

If you’re not planning on eating the skins you can skip the oil if you want, it won’t affect how they bake.

Bake your sweet potatoes until they are fork-tender. About 25 to 35 minutes depending on the size of your potatoes.

The sweet potatoes used for the pictures weighed around 13 ounces each (before slicing) and were cooked through after 30 minutes.

A quarter sheet pan of sweet potatoes inside a Breville Smart Oven Pro.

Quick Toaster Oven Tip

Our Breville Smart Oven Pro (BOV845BSS) shuts off when the timer ends. It’s a handy feature so long as you know EXACTLY how long your item will take to cook.

When I’m making a recipe for the first time or just aren’t sure how long something will take to cook I set the timer for a few minutes more than I need, that way it won’t turn off.

Then I use the timer on the microwave or my phone to actually keep track of the cook time and remind me to check on the food.

Baked sweet potato halves on a baking sheet.

Let the cooked sweet potatoes cool for a few minutes. Then add your favorite toppings and dig in!

Breakfast-style sweet potatoes are kind of our jam. Have you seen these cottage cheese sweet potatoes or vegan twice-baked ones?

So in addition to the almond butter and berries, we also topped these quick baked sweet potatoes with Greek yogurt, a little pumpkin butter, and chopped pecans.

But you can definitely take them in a more savory direction. Check out these Quick and Easy Sweet Potato Toppings for lots of delicious ideas.

Baked sweet potato half topped with Greek yogurt, pumpkin butter and chopped pecans.

Hey, do you like your sweet potatoes extra sweet and extra creamy?

A reader named Kimberly M. shared a cool tip that brings out their natural sweetness even more. She said that once your sweet potatoes are ready, turn off the toaster oven but leave the sweet potatoes inside and let them cool down.

We gave it a try and it really does work. The sweet potatoes become super creamy with a more pronounced flavor. Thanks for the tip, Kimberly!

Cooked sweet potato halves on a quarter sheet pan.

Quick Baked Sweet Potatoes

Yield: 4 Baked Sweet Potato Halves
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

A quicker method for baking sweet potatoes that are tender, sweet, and creamy.

Ingredients

  • 2 raw medium Sweet Potato (about 13 oz each), washed and dried
  • 1/2 teaspoon oil, plus more for the pan
  • Salt

Instructions

1. Adjust your toaster oven (or oven) cooking rack to the lowest position and preheat to 400°F on the “Bake” setting.

2. Brush a sheet pan with oil or line with a silicone baking mat.

3. Slice sweet potatoes in half lengthwise. Brush flesh with oil and season with salt.

4. Place sweet potatoes on the prepared pan with the interiors facing the pan. Brush or rub the skins lightly with oil.

5. Bake sweet potatoes until they are fork tender, about 25 to 35 minutes depending on the size of your sweet potatoes.

6. Cool sweet potatoes slightly on the pan before using a spatula to loosen them if necessary.

7. Fluff the flesh with a fork and add your favorite toppings.

Notes

Convection Adjustments: Keep the temperature at 400°F and begin checking for doneness after 20 minutes, adding more time as needed. The 13 oz ones we cooked with convection took almost 30 minutes.

Oil-Free: Omit the oil and line your pan with a silicone baking mat. The sweet potatoes will be dry and browned on the flesh side but still tender and creamy inside.

Storing Leftovers: Cooked sweet potatoes can be stored refrigerated in a covered container for 3 to 4 days.

Reheating With a Toaster Oven: Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and reheat in a 325°F toaster oven (with the convection on if you have it) until warmed through, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Reheating In A Microwave: Place sweet potatoes on a microwave-safe plate and heat for 1 to 3 minutes until warmed through.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: Half a Sweet Potato
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 189Total Fat: 0.6gSaturated Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 64mgCarbohydrates: 46.8gFiber: 5.7gSugar: 9.9gProtein: 2.8g

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25 Comments

  1. Wow! So easy, so quick and so delicious! We were gifted a very nice toaster oven a few years ago, but habitually kept only using our microwave. Then recently our microwave died, we turned to the dusty toaster oven and now it is a new favorite! Now this will be our go to recipe for sweet potatoes! Thank you for figuring this out, and making it so welcoming!

    1. Yay, I’m so glad to hear it worked well for you and that you’re enjoying your little oven so much, Margaret! Thanks for stopping by and for taking the time to leave a comment – it means a lot to us 🙂

      Happy Baking!
      ~ Brie

  2. Do I boil the sweet potato first and the let it cool off first.then slice the potatoes then put it in the oven first timer doing this please help me.

    1. Hi Monica,

      You start with raw sweet potatoes. Sorry if that was unclear, I’ve updated the post and the recipe card to avoid any confusion.

      Thanks for asking that question, I’m sure others have had it before. 🙂

      P.S. If you’re finding it difficult at all to slice the raw sweet potato, pop it in the microwave for a minute. It will soften slightly and be easier to chop in half.

  3. I Lost my favorite sweet potatoe recipe. I found this one and its identical. They come out perfectly every time. I just ajust time for bigger potatoes we tend to use. My Husband wont eat sweet potatoes until this recipe and this is the only way he’ll eat them. Says He loves them. Thank you

    1. Hi Lou,

      You don’t need to puncture the sweet potatoes before cooking. The marks you see on the pan of cooked sweet potatoes are from our testing that they were fork-tender after baking.

      Hope that helps and happy baking!
      Brie

  4. This is now my go to recipe for cooking sweet potatoes, they come out perfect every time and so tender! Thank you for posting this!

  5. I tried this last night with no oil. Just cut a small one in half. It was still hard and inedible after an hour. It was 400* on bake. I don’t know what I did wrong 🙁

    1. Hi Elacross,

      I don’t think you did anything wrong. It sounds like there might be an issue with the oven’s temperature. After a full hour of cooking, a small sweet potato left whole should be completely cooked through and tender, not to mention one sliced in half.

      If you have an oven thermometer available you might want to try using it to see how accurate the temperature is. We have a post with tips to help with temperature troubleshooting, you can read it here: https://toasterovenlove.com/toaster-oven-temperature-and-heating-tests/

  6. Can I wrap the sweet potatoes in tin foil when cooking in my toaster over. And does the cooking time take longer with 4 or 5 potatoes?

    1. Hi Pete,

      The number of sweet potatoes doesn’t usually change the cooking time but the size of them will. If your sweet potatoes are bigger they will probably take longer.

      For the foil, it’s best to refer to your manual as some manufacturers have specific instructions and/or cautions for the use of foil in their toaster ovens.

  7. These are so yummy and so quick. I made them in the oven and I don’t know why I’ve ever spent an hour making baked sweet potatoes actually I don’t know why anyone would if this option exists. Trust me you won’t be disappointed

  8. Hi, I have a Breville too. So, should I turn on the convection (super?) option when I preheat the oven? Would tin foil be a no-no? I love my toy, it’s over a year old and I am still learning how to play with it. Thanks!

    1. Hi Bobbie!

      Our Breville is an older version that only has one convection option. The super convection on the newer ovens is more of an air-fry which we haven’t tried with this recipe yet.

      My concern with the super convection is that the outsides could get over browned before the insides are cooked through depending on how large the sweet potato is. I’d start with just the regular (non-super) convection directions and then go from there.

      Re the foil, we haven’t used it to make this recipe since it’s easy to lightly oil the pan and the sweet potatoes aren’t very messy.

      Happy Cooking!
      ~Brie

  9. I work late. If it takes too long to cook, I don’t cook it. Which included sweet potatoes that take an hour to cook. This puts sweet potatoes on the list of items I’m willing to cook after work. Thank You!

  10. Thank you so much for the help. We always microwaved them and yes it’s faster but the flavor and the all around goodness is the best! in the oven. Toaster oven that is.

    1. Glad we could help, Tim. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment and letting us know 🙂

      Happy Holidays!

  11. Totally new to toaster oven cooking. We have down-sized to a studio apartment. It came with a toaster/convection oven and a cook top. And no instructions for using said oven. Also no microwave. Anyway. I went looking for recipes, and here you are.

    It is fall, and I have been considering sweet potatoes. Well, now I have the incentive to dig in. I have an amazing recipe for sweet potato biscuits from the old days. I am going to roast my potatoes by your instructions, with the addition of jus leaving them to cool in the oven. Perfect to do while lounging in front of TV or doing paper work. Leave them over night. Make my biscuits the next day. That will also be a new experiment.

    This is a great little oven so far, and I can’t wait for additional fall experiments from grilled cheese with apples, to brownies to pumpkin pie. All my faves downsized. Thanks for your wonderful site. I already have a number of recipes saved.

    1. Hi Jiwa,

      I’m so glad you’re enjoying the site and getting excited about cooking with your little oven – they can help you do so much.

      Your sweet potato biscuits sound delish and perfect for fall!

      Happy Baking,
      Brie

  12. Oh my stars!! Who knew that a toaster oven could produce such magic. We are fighting over these right now. Cool thing about it is that I can make another batch super quickly. So good!!!