The sweetest sweet potato is the one that bakes itself.
Slow cookers. Is there anything they can’t do? I mean, we all know they’re great for delicious soups and stews. And some more ambitious crockpot cooks may have delved into slightly more exotic territory, like meatballs, candied pecans or pumpkin spice latte. But how many people would ever think of using one to bake sweet potatoes?
Well, you can.
I’ve already written about making regular baked potatoes in the crockpot, and sweet potatoes are even easier. You don’t even need to wrap them in foil. Just scrub them and pop them in the crock, with nothing on them except the water you rinsed them with. Then let the crockpot do all the work,and presto: perfect sweet potatoes, ready when you are.
The wonderful thing about these is that they’re so versatile.Some of our favorite toppers are butter, brown sugar, chili, and shredded bbq chicken, but that’s really just the tip of the iceberg (er, sweet potato). You could go for black beans and peppers…mushroom ragout…heck, even peanut butter if you like them that way. (Trust me, I know it sounds crazy-weird, but PB & sweet potatoes are deeeelish!)
There are no limits!
How to make Crockpot Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients:
4-5 Large sweet potatoes
optional toppings
- Scrub sweet potatoes and rinse ( do not dry off, this is all the moisture the potatoes will need in the crockpot)
- Place rinsed potatoes into the crockpot. Cover and cook on on LOW for 6-7 hours or HIGH for 3.5-4 hours. Potatoes are done when a fork have easily be inserted into the potato.
BOOM! Perfect potatoes every time! What will you be topping your sweet potatoes with?
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How to make Crockpot Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4 Large sweet potatoes
- optional toppings
Instructions
- Scrub sweet potatoes and rinse ( do not dry off, this is all the moisture the potatoes will need in the crockpot)
- Place rinsed potatoes into the crockpot. Cover and cook on on LOW for 6-7 hours or HIGH for 3.5-4 hours. Potatoes are done when a fork have easily be inserted into the potato.
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Nutrition Information:
Nutrition Disclaimer
Family Fresh Meals is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Post updated September 2020
Liz says
Nice and easy. Thank you Corey.
Amy Huntley@theidearoom.net says
These looks amazing!
Corey says
Thanks Amy!
Jennielyn says
Peanut butter topped sweet potatoes sounds like a fantastic breakfast!!! I never thought to cook my sweet potatoes in the slow cooker. That’s a great tip for summer time, when heating up the oven just doesn’t appeal.
Katharine in Brussels says
Hi Corey, glad this works so well for you! It may be something I’m doing wrong, but every time I try to slow cook sweet taters they turn out mushy. Too much condensation in my crock, I think. Oh well!
Hannah F. says
I’ve tried cooking sweet potatoes in a crockpot twice. Both times, the crock cracked! The first time I had them wrapped in foil. The second time I added water, thinking maybe that would help, but nope, I ruined another crockpot. 🙁 Maybe I cooked them too long? I want to cook some tomorrow, but I’m scared of ruining another crockpot!
Heather says
I just loaded up my crock pot and turned it on and then came to read the comments to see if anyone said whether or not we should poke holes in the potatoes and then I see this about a cracked crock pot. Please tell me no one else had this happen. I will be so sad if I crack my crock pot. My old one is slightly cracked too, but I don’t remember how that happened. Anyway, other than the possibility of a cracked crock pot, I am looking forward to trying this tonight. Thanks!
Hannah F. says
I tried this one more time, and it turned out beautifully. The first two cracked pots must have been just a weird coincidence.
Kathy says
I’ve done this several times without a problem. Perhaps the potatoes create hot spots where they are in direct contact with the container–and without liquids to disperse the temperature. One slow cooker is a Teflon-coated metal pan and the other is all aluminum. Soooo, I’m guessing it must be a pottery or glass problem?
Joanne Enriquez says
I cracked a crockpot by placing a cold roast into a room temperature crockpot. Perhaps you had your sweet potatoes in the refrigerator where they do not necessarily have to be stored. Put room temperature potatoes in and you probably have less chance of cracking your crock.
Kristina says
This is by far the best sweet potatoes I’ve made. Simple and and potatoes and the peels stay soft. Washing and putting the potatoes in wet I think is the key.
Nicole says
They come out perfect every time!
robin says
my turn out great.
Sheryl says
Can you stack the sweet potatoes if they don’t fit on the bottom?
Corey says
Yes, that is totally fine 🙂
Debbie Wilson says
Can you cook sweet potatoes along with regular potatoes in the same crock pot?
Susie Douang says
Why not?
Joanne Enriquez says
Yes but put the sweats on the bottom. They create a sweet syrupy sauce.
Darla says
This wa wonderful! I was wondering how we were going to cook our sweet potatoes for thanksgiving as the turkey was in the oven and looked up cooking them in the crockpot and found this. Yay! They turned out Great! Thanks for posting!
Donna M Calhoun says
Every Monday night in our ER we have a collective buffet of food based on a theme, such as taco night, or Italian night, etc. We’re having a baked potato bar and salad night this coming Monday. I thought some sweet potatoes would change things up a bit. So far the response on our communication page there is much interest. Monday night are notorious for being wild, over run, extremely busy nights in our ED so we get to eat healthy meals around 2-3am. This will cook just right in time.
Dana says
Do you poke holes in the potatoes?
ELIZABETH CLEMENT says
Cooked mine from 4am to 1130am and they were still hard…wonder what I did wrong 🙁 they are in the oven now
Corey says
That is strange. Did you use low or high setting?
Amanda Webb says
I’m hoping to hear the temperature they used as I’m planning on making them tomorrow for Thanksgiving. Can you set them on high? And at the risk of being stoned, I’ll need to stack sweet potatoes on top of each other in 2 layers. So should I rotate them top to bottom 1/2 way through? I know it’s a sin to take the lid off?
Kim says
Can I cook these as wedges
Brenda Ching says
Do I need to poke holes in sweet potatoes??
Getting ready to put in crock pot now , just wasn’t sure if holes needed… Thanks
Corey says
You can if you want, but it isn’t needed
Theresa S says
The sweet potatoes cooked in 3.5 hours on high. Were super soft & delicious. Thanks.
Laurie Abendroth says
How do I cook these without them being so mushy? I did 6 hours on low. Maybe 3 hours?
Corey says
I haven’t had this issue, maybe because I am using larger potatoes? Yes, I would check your potatoes to you liking at 3 hours and then just add time until they are done they way you like 🙂
Amanda says
I was nervous about not adding any extra water to the cooker as I wasn’t going to be home to monitor things. I did leave the potatoes wet after scrubbing them, plus I added 1/3 c of water for peace of mind.
They were good & it was so nice to come home to a prepared side dish after a summer day trip into the city. I can’t remember ever having had a sweet potato that suffered from being over-cooked, so I took a chance and left them in on LOW the full 9 hr we were gone.
After 9 hr the bottoms of the potatoes were perfectly cooked, but the tops were still a little rare. I turned them over, raised the temp to MED and cooked them for another hour before serving. They came out well.
I was using the Slow Cook setting on my instant pot, so timing on other machines may vary, I guess. However, I generally find things cooked on this setting are finished within the time stated in the recipe.
Linda chandler says
Has anybody tried a roast w/ sweet potatoes?
Elizabeth Frantes says
I like to put Five Spice powder on sweet potatoes. Love this method, so easy, perfect every time.