How to Boil Sweet Potatoes

Boiled sweet potatoes on a cutting board 2 ways: whole and cubed.

5 from 57 votes

Learn how to boil sweet potatoes, whole or cubed, to bring out their natural sweetness. Serve as a side dish or use in other recipes.

Course Tutorial

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 40

Total Time 45

Servings potato

Calories 194kcal

Author Yumna Jawad

Equipment

Ingredients

1 sweet potato peeled if desired

Instructions

Scrub and wash the sweet potatoes. Leave the potato whole or trim the root ends and cut into either 2-inch cubes or 1-inch cubes.
Place the potatoes with cold water in a large pot. Add salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and continue cooking the sweet potatoes until fork tender: 40 minutes for whole, 25 minutes for 2-inch cubes and 15 minutes for 1-inch cubes.
Drain carefully in a colander. Enjoy warm on its own as a side dish or use as desired in a recipe of choice.

Video

Notes

Storage: Allow the sweet potatoes to cool completely. Then, transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator. For cubed sweet potatoes, consider lining the bottom of your container with a paper towel to absorb any moisture.

Tips:

Consistent size. If boiling sweet potatoes whole, try to find potatoes that are all similar in size. And if you're cutting sweet potatoes in cubes for faster cooking, keep them as uniform as possible to ensure even cooking. Check out this quick guide for tips and tricks on how to cut sweet potatoes.

Cold water start. Always start with cold water. This helps the sweet potatoes cook from the inside out without overcooking the outer layers.

Simmer, not boil.After bringing the water to a boil, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Boiling too vigorously can cause the sweet potatoes to break apart or cook unevenly.

Don't overcrowd. If you need to boil a lot of sweet potatoes, consider cooking them in batches, so they have enough space in the pot with water to cook evenly.

Nutrition