How To Peel Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potato season is upon us, and Southerners can’t get enough of this wholesome vegetable. It stands at the forefront of most of our seasonal dishes like Classic Sweet Potato Casserole and Southern Sweet Potato Cake. And these delicious, hearty, and classic recipes all require one ingredient: cooked sweet potatoes. For homemade recipes like these, it would be a sin to opt for the canned varieties. Ivy Odom, Southern Living Test Kitchen guru, gives us advice and tips on how to properly peel a sweet potato without a peeler. This innovative hack is a lot easier than you would think.

There is a right and wrong way to cook sweet potatoes. Steaming or boiling the sweet potatoes may be your first thought, but that method creates a watered-down root vegetable, which means dull and flavorless taste. We suggest baking them in the oven. With a fork, poke holes in the raw sweet potatoes, and then bake them at 425 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes or until very tender. Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel the skin off. The skin will magically slide right off. Our easy trick is mess-free and bursting with sweet flavor. When you find yourself without a peeler and baking for a crowd, pull out this quick and simple technique. Guests will want to know the secret to your extraordinarily flavorful sweet potatoes. Not to say your sweet potato dish has to be the best of the best, but Mama does have some high standards when it comes to her holiday spread. Keep this simple tip in mind before getting started on this year's holiday casserole.