How to Cut Sweet Potatoes: 4 Ways to Cut Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are sweet-tasting root vegetables with short and thick roots known as tubers. Sweet potatoes are not related to the more common white potato or to yams, for which they are often confused. Sweet potatoes have thin skin that ranges from reddish-brown to deep purple and orange, white, or purple flesh, and a sweet flavor, while yams have rough, brown skin, pale flesh, and a neutral, starchy flavor. Though related, regular potatoes and sweet potatoes look and taste a lot different. The nutritional information for sweet potatoes includes calcium, carbohydrates, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C, and dietary fiber.

Before cutting sweet potatoes, wash the potatoes in cold water and dry them. Sweet potato skin is edible, but you can use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin, if you desire. With a sharp chef's knife, you can cut sweet potatoes in the following ways:

1. 1. Rounds: Cut off both ends of the sweet potatoes. Using the sharp knife, cut the potatoes into quarter-inch slices.
2. 2. Fries: Cut the sweet potatoes into rounds, then place two to three rounds on top of each other, flat-side down. Cut the potatoes into quarter-inch matchsticks to make fries.
3. 3. Cubes: After cutting the sweet potatoes into rounds, slice the sweet potatoes into strips. Then, cut the strips into quarter inch cubes to make sweet potato cubes.
4. 4. Wedges: To cut sweet potato wedges, cut off both ends of the sweet potato and slice them in half lengthwise. Place the halves on the cutting board, cut-side down, then cut the halves lengthwise into wedge shapes.

You can make a variety of dishes with cut sweet potatoes. Some popular sweet potato recipes include:

• Sweet potato fries: You can fry the sweet potato strips in oil or an air fryer until they are crispy to make homemade sweet potato fries, a tasty alternative to regular french fries. You can also bake them on a single layer with olive oil, on a parchment paper or aluminum foil-lined sheet pan to make oven-baked sweet potato fries. To make extra-crispy baked sweet potato fries, roll the sweet potato strips in cornstarch. Some sweet potato fries recipes call for additional spices like cayenne pepper or chili powder, sea salt or kosher salt, garlic powder, and black pepper—toss the sweet potato matchsticks in the spices in a large bowl before spreading them out on the baking sheet. Dip the sweet potato fries in your favorite dipping sauce, such as ketchup.
• Roasted sweet potatoes: Season the sweet potatoes with salt and pepper and paprika, cumin, or brown sugar. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, then bake the sweet potato rounds or sweet potato cubes in olive oil on a baking sheet to make roasted sweet potatoes. You can put baked sweet potatoes in a tortilla to make vegan tacos.
• Sweet potato soup: You can simmer the sweet potato pieces in vegetable stock to make soup. You can also combine sweet potatoes and beans with tomatoes, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, brown sugar, salt, and pepper to make a vegan and gluten free sweet potato chili.

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