When you’re craving a hot baked sweet potato but don’t feel like turning on the oven, these crockpot sweet potatoes are a great alternative. They are perfectly cooked in the center and taste oven-baked.
Baking sweet potatoes in the oven and microwave have been my default, but the slow cooker is a hands-free way to prepare sweet potatoes for a healthy meal ahead of time. You can set them to cook in the morning or early afternoon, and they’ll be ready to top off and eat by the time dinner rolls around.
How to Make Sweet Potatoes in the Crockpot
Crockpot sweet potatoes are super tender and have all the flavor of the oven sweet potatoes, but the skin is a little more delicate. Nonetheless, they are no less delicious and so easy to make:
- Gently give the sweet potatoes a good scrub with warm water. This will remove any dirt and debris from the skin. No need to pat them dry; the water will provide moisture to help cook the sweet potatoes.
- Using a fork, prick the skin of each potato.
- Place the potatoes in the bottom of the baking dish. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours until the potatoes are fork-tender.
What does fork-tender mean? When it comes to potatoes, you should easily be able to insert a fork into the center of a cooked sweet potato with no resistance. If it’s still a little hard in some areas, it needs more time to cook.
More Ways to Cook a Sweet Potato
Instant Pot | Microwave | Oven-Baked | Air Fryer
Can I wrap the Sweet Potatoes with Foil
Whether you wrap the potatoes with foil before cooking them is entirely up to you. Personally, I prefer to cook my sweet potatoes without foil since wrapping them makes the skins a little soggier.
However, if you want to give it a try, here’s how to cook sweet potatoes in the crockpot with foil:
- Wash and pat dry each sweet potato.
- Gently prick the skin with a fork, then rub with olive oil and season with salt and black pepper.
- Wrap each potato with foil and place it in the slow cooker. Cover and cook as directed.
High or Low Setting?
Cooking sweet potatoes in the slow cooker on a high or low setting depends on how much time you have and the size of the sweet potato.
Medium to smaller sweet potatoes will cook in about 6 hours on low or 4 hours on high. However, larger sweet potatoes can take even longer, so I recommend cooking those on high unless you have a lot of time on your hands.
Topping Slow Cooked Sweet Potatoes
The choice of toppings for sweet potatoes are endless whether you like them sweet or savory. Below are a few delicious ways you can serve these slow-cooked sweet potatoes:
- Taco: warmed black beans + cheese + salsa + avocado + sour cream
- Broccoli & Cheddar: butter + steamed broccoli + shredded Cheddar cheese
- Classic: butter + shredded Cheddar cheese + bacon bits + sour cream + green onions
- Sweet: butter + salt + brown sugar + cinnamon
- Breakfast: sliced avocado + fried egg
- Buffalo Chicken: shredded buffalo chicken + avocado + blue cheese + ranch dressing
Crockpot Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4 medium sweet potatoes
Instructions
- Gently wash the sweet potatoes with warm water to remove any dirt and debris from the skin. Leave a little water on each potato; this will provide moisture as they cook.
- Using a fork, prick the skin of each potato.
- Place the potatoes in the bottom of the baking dish. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours until the potatoes are fork-tender.
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