The Fast, Easy Hack For The Absolute Best Baked Sweet Potatoes You've Ever Made

Sweet potatoes aren't all that hard to cook, but when you're short on time or have a big meal to prepare with lots of moving parts (hint: Thanksgiving is always a big one!), a time-saving hack is worth its weight in gold. Especially if it that hack makes your food come out tasting irresistibly good.

You undoubtedly know better than to try roasting whole sweet potatoes without poking holes in them first. It helps keep your sweet potatoes from exploding as the steam builds up inside, making an epic mess that you'll have to use some elbow grease to clean up. While skipping this may be one of the many mistakes you want to avoid when cooking sweet potatoes, there is actually a better, faster way.

Scoring is an effective and efficient way to release the steam from sweet potatoes while they bake without creating an unnecessary mess. Poking holes can bruise the flesh inside the potato, leave the insides prone to uneven cooking, and can still lead to explosive messes. When you score the flesh by slashing it lengthwise and several times crosswise, the steam has more surface area to escape from. That means a more even cook and more moisture retention, which keeps the insides tender and flavorful instead of dried out and bland. It also means a more even cook, less discoloring from bruised sweet potato flesh, and a lot of saved time cleaning up.

Sweet potatoes, which are native to South America, have been part of the human diet for more than 5,000 years. Their great flavor may have something to do with their longevity in human culture and in our culinary repertoire, but they also have myriad health benefits ranging from an abundance of nutrients and antioxidants to their ability to aid in digestion. 

With a lengthy history and incredible reputation as a superfood, it's not surprising that sweet potatoes are a part of many different cuisines. It's also no surprise that there are practically endless ways to prepare them, and even more ways to flavor them. We eat them fried, pureed, mashed, and, of course, roasted to perfection. They are well-known for their role as part of a traditional Thanksgiving meal, where they are simply roasted and mixed with butter, brown sugar, and often topped with marshmallows. You can upgrade this classic dish by topping them with your own three-ingredient homemade marshmallows, adding toasted pecan bits, or you can play with the flavors by adding hot honey to the mix for a sweet and spicy kick.

But the versatility of these nutritious potatoes is a moot point if they aren't cooked right. Once you've got your scoring technique down, you'll want to give them the time they need to cook through. Raw or undercooked sweet potatoes are safe to eat, but they'll be crunchy, fibrous, and not nearly as sweet as cooked sweet potatoes. Cooked evenly and seasoned to perfection, however, roasted sweet potatoes will be the perfect addition to any meal.