Food and Recipes Veggies Potatoes Sweet Potato How to Cook a Sweet Potato in the Microwave The sweet potato has deep Southern roots, and can be enjoyed easily with this method. By Lisa Cericola Lisa Cericola Lisa is the Deputy Editor at Southern Living and joined the team in 2015. She works with the Southern Living Test Kitchen to create recipes for the site and print magazine, edits the magazine's food section, and writes digital food stories as well. Previously, she was the features editor at Food Network Magazine and has more than 15 years of experience writing, editing, and managing photo shoots for print and digital lifestyle brands. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on September 19, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email A steaming hot sweet potato topped with a pat of butter and a sprinkling of flaky salt is one of the best and easiest side dishes you can make. I've been known to eat them for snacks too. Bite Into A Wholesome Snack The health benefits of a sweet potato are surprising, and worth mentioning. These sweet tubers are high in fiber, and rich in the antioxidant beta carotene. They are also high in potassium, one of the most important minerals in the body. It helps regulate fluid balance, muscle contractions and nerve signals. A high-potassium diet has been reported to help reduce blood pressure and water retention, protect against stroke and prevent osteoporosis and kidney stones. Microwave Method It's easy to say yes when the sweet potato is part of a larger recipe, but enjoying the earthy sweet flavor all on its own also has merit, and might even have you eating more. While an oven-baked potato is a truly delicious thing, it can take more than an hour for the flesh to fully cook through. You can get great results in much less time by cooking the potato in the microwave. (Just don't bother boiling it!) Here's how to do it: 1. Wash and scrub the potato skin clean, then dry it. 2. Prick the potato all over with a paring knife. (The holes allow steam to escape.) 3. Place the potato on a microwave-safe plate (sugar may leak out as it cooks) and cook on HIGH for five to six minutes. Halfway through the cook time, rotate the potato—be careful, it will be hot. Check the potato for doneness. If it is still a little too firm, continue microwaving one minute as a time. Tips for Success If you are cooking multiple sweet potatoes in the microwave, increase the cook time by two to three minutes per potato. My favorite way to cook sweet potatoes is to soften them in the microwave for two to three minutes, then bake them in a 425˚F oven for 15 to 20 minutes on an aluminum-foil lined baking sheet. (This prevents sugar from leaking out and making a mess of your pan.) Microwaving jumpstarts the cooking process and cuts down the total cook time by almost an hour, but you will still get the sweet, caramelized flesh and crisp skin that only comes from oven baking. It's the best of both worlds. Sweet Potato Recipes to Try 01 of 05 Oven Baked Sweet Potatoes Jennifer Causey; Food Stylist: Torie Cox; Prop Stylist: Claire Spollen Recipe: Oven-Baked Sweet Potatoes 02 of 05 Instant Pot Mashed Sweet Potatoes Photography: Caitlin Bensel, Food Styling: Rishon Hanners Recipe: Instant Pot Mashed Sweet Potatoes 03 of 05 Slow-Cooker Sweet Potatoes with Bacon Photo: Alison Miksch; Styling: Buffy Hargett Miller Recipe: Slow-Cooker Sweet Potatoes with Bacon 04 of 05 Hasselback Sweet Potato Casserole Photo: Linda Pugliese; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Torie Cox Recipe: Hasselback Sweet Potato Casserole 05 of 05 Sweet Potato Stacks Greg Dupree; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer; Prop Styling: Ginny Branch Recipe: Sweet Potato Stacks Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit