Baked Yams or Sweet Potatoes

Baked Yams or Sweet Potatoes are an easy side dish recipe we love with chicken, steak or pork chops. A great healthier alternative to Sweet Potato Casserole on Thanksgiving or Christmas. This is the easiest way to make Baked Yams. 

The Yams bake so much quicker and I love the naturally sweet crust that is formed while baking all that is required for serving is a little pat of butter, some salt and pepper. If you're really looking to dress up your Baked Sweet Potatoes some chopped chives or scallions are a delicious addition to the sweet potatoes.

We make Baked Yams or Baked Sweet Potatoes at least once a week lately.

Even in the summer time we made Grilled Sweet Potatoes frequently the same way as baked by wrapping them in foil and cooking them using off set heat for about 35-40 minutes on our charcoal grill.

Technically what they call Jewel or Garnet Yams at the grocery store are actually Sweet Potatoes at least in the Pacific Northwest. But if I  sent Colt to the store to buy sweet potatoes he would pick up what they have signed Sweet Potatoes and not the brownish red jewel toned skin with orange interior signed yams. I've had several people take the time to email me or comment on my Mashed Yams recipe technically are sweet potatoes. So I thought I would save any confusion with an explanation.

We actually picked up a few of the white interior sweet potatoes on accident a few weeks back and will be trying to pick those up more often for our kids or when we are in the mood for more of a regular baked potato. They are similar enough to a baked potato I think I'll be able to pass them off to the kids. My friend Jean had said her son doesn't mind the white interior sweet potatoes because it's similar enough to a potato, so we'll see if it works on my kids too.

I do love the sweetness of these orange fleshed sweet potatoes. Just a little pat of butter on top with some black pepper maybe a little chives or green onions and I'm in heaven. These are usually a healthier option for me because I use less butter and additional add ons like I do for baked potatoes so I end up consuming less calories.

To make Baked Yams I wash the yams well. Then I  slice my yams or sweet potatoes in half to help them bake faster. I also like the crust that is formed when the potatoes are halved. We even make the kids regular baked potatoes the same way.

If you don't slice them in half I like to poke them with a fork all over and allow a good hour to make sure they are soft.

I'll usually place the halved yams on a parchment paper lined baking sheet for easier clean up. 

I then drizzle each sweet potato with about:

• 1/2 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil 
• 1 generous pinch Salt per half

I then rub the olive oil and salt all over the yams.

Sometimes I'll crack a little black pepper over the top at this point

If I'm making Grilled Sweet Potatoes we will wrap the sweet potatoes in foil to cook on the grill.

I bake the yams uncovered in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for about 35- 45 minutes depending on size or until soft.

In this photo we served Baked Yams with a Steak rubbed with my Steak Dry Rub Recipe. But they would also be delicious with Greek Chicken, Sticky Chipotle Baked Chicken Wings, or Balsamic Pork Pot Roast.

You might like these other Potato, Sweet Potato, or Yam Side Dish Recipes:

• Mashed Yams
• Twice Baked Potatoes
• Fully Loaded Baked Potatoes (These are a Main Dish but you could drop the meat for a side.)
• Roasted Beets and Sweet Potatoes from Know Your Produce
• Ginger Coconut Whipped Sweet Potatoes from We Are Not Martha
• Bourbon Sweet Potato Casserole from Champagne Tastes
• Candied Yams from Sugar & Soul 

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Sweet Potato, Yam, Recipe, Side Dish, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter,

American

Yield: 1

Author: Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch

Baked Yams or Sweet Potatoes

Baked Yams or Sweet Potatoes are an easy side dish recipe we love with chicken, steak or pork chops. A great healthier alternative to Sweet Potato Casserole on Thanksgiving or Christmas. This is the easiest way to make Baked Yams. The Yams bake so much quicker and I love the naturally sweet crust that is formed while baking all that is required for serving is a little pat of butter, some salt and pepper. If you're really looking to dress up your Baked Sweet Potatoes some chopped chives or scallions are a delicious addition to the sweet potatoes.

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 45 MinTotal time: 50 Min

Ingredients

• 1 whole Garnet Yam or Sweet Potato
• 1 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Favorite Cooking Oil
• 2 generous pinches Salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easier clean up.
3. Scrub yams or sweet potatoes clean.
4. Slice each sweet potato in half. I figure 1/2 -1 whole sweet potato per person depending on who I'm feeding.
5. Drizzle with oil and salt. Rub oil and salt all over the potatoes.
6. Bake uncovered for 35-45 minutes until fork tender.
7. If you're making grilled sweet potatoes wrap each half in foil after rubbing with oil and grill in a medium hot grill for about 35-40 minutes using off set heat or until tender.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

142.38

Fat

4.67 g

Sat. Fat

0.68 g

Carbs

23.61 g

Fiber

3.76 g

Net carbs

19.85 g

Sugar

7.39 g

Protein

2.29 g

Sodium

305.49 mg

Cholesterol

0.00 mg

Calories are estimated.

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© 2019 Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch

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