Sweet potatoes can be reheated - The best way

The sweet potatoes. Either you love them or you hate them. We love sweet potatoes in any of their forms. Pureed, baked, fried… whatever you want.

Sweet potatoes are considered a healthy alternative to regular potatoes, plus they have an earthy, sweet flavor that’s incredibly versatile. Some people only think of sweet potatoes around Thanksgiving, when it’s common to combine them with marshmallow fluff to create a dessert-like side dish.

But we want you to know that there are many more delicious ways to use sweet potatoes. So regardless of how you cook them, once you’ve enjoyed all the ones that fit in your belly, how do you properly store and reheat them?

Can sweet potatoes be reheated? The best way to reheat sweet potatoes is in the oven or in an air fryer, depending on how they were originally cooked. Reheating sweet potatoes in the oven is the most accessible and convenient way to reheat individual sweet potatoes or any dish that contains sweet potatoes. We recommend preheating the oven to 400 degrees F and reheating the sweet potatoes for 10-15 minutes.

Read on for everything you need to know about reheating sweet potatoes. We’ll show you how to reheat almost all types of sweet potato dishes. We hope you find it useful and enjoyable!

The Ultimate Guide to Reheating Sweet Potatoes

Since there are so many ways to cook sweet potatoes, we’re going to break this list down into specific types of cooked sweet potatoes so you know exactly how to reheat them without sacrificing texture and flavor.

But first, let’s talk about how to properly store cooked sweet potatoes so you can get to the reheating part without anything getting in your way (like mold from cooling the sweet potato too slowly, yes, that can happen!).

Cool and store the sweet potatoes

Well, you have already made some sweet potatoes, you have eaten your portion, and now you are looking for a way to cool them so that they maintain their texture -crispy, spongy, soft- depending on how you have cooked them.

You will need some good storage containers. I have had this game from Amazon for years and am obsessed with it. They are airtight and suitable for the fridge, freezer and microwave.

How to store French fries (also known as sweet potatoes)

For crispy sweet potatoes , such as sweet potato fries, you will want to give them plenty of time to cool so that there is no condensation on the potatoes when they chill in the fridge or freezer.

Condensation in the freezer is tantamount to freezer burn , which will not only dull the color of your food but change the flavor, and not in a good way.

If you pop them in the fridge while they’re hot, they’ll turn into soggy slices of sadness instead of the delicious crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside fries that we all crave from time to time (or always, if we’re being honest).

Storing sweet potatoes steamed or baked

In the case of steamed or baked sweet potatoes, you can put them directly in the refrigerator immediately.

You want to quickly chill sweet potatoes , and popping them right into the fridge will allow them to chill quickly.

Interestingly, since a whole potato takes longer to cool than, say, sweet potato fries, they are more likely to grow mold inside.

That’s why it’s important to immediately put the sweet potatoes in the fridge (unless you plan to eat them, of course), rather than leaving them out on the counter to cool.

Be sure to let the whole sweet potato cool completely in the fridge before putting it in the freezer to prevent burning.

Storing sautéed sweet potatoes (or any type of chopped sweet potato)

The important difference between sautéed sweet potatoes and baked/steamed sweet potatoes is that sautéed sweet potatoes are usually cut into smaller pieces, so the cooking method does not matter as much as the size of the potato pieces.

As we’ve said before, whole potatoes take a long time to fully cool, making them the perfect breeding ground for mold and bacteria.

Sautéed sweet potatoes, on the other hand, are small enough that they cool quickly enough before mold begins to grow . This isn’t to say you can leave them on the counter all day, but you can cool them on the counter and pop them straight into the freezer if you want, and skip the fridge step.

Storing sweet potato puree

Sweet potato puree cools fairly easily if you stir it occasionally to let the hot air out. If you freeze sweet potato puree, you may sacrifice consistency and texture, so it’s best to store the sweet potato puree in the fridge for a day or two and eat it for lunch or dinner the next day . Just make sure you use a good airtight storage container like these.

Reheat sweet potatoes: the best way

Ok, now you know how to cool and store your sweet potatoes safely. Now it’s time to talk about the question of the day: how to reheat sweet potatoes!

We’ll follow our lead, and approach reheating sweet potatoes the same way we talk about chilling and storing them. Starting with our favourite, the fried sweet potatoes!

Reheat Fried Sweet Potatoes

The best way to reheat fried sweet potatoes is to bake them at 400 degrees 5 for 10-15 minutes.  This will help them retain their crispy outer texture and soft, fluffy center.

The best thing is that you can take them straight out of the freezer and put them in the preheated oven.

How to reheat frozen sweet potato fries in the oven

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Take the frozen sweet potato fries out of the freezer.
• Place them on a baking sheet (this is my favourite) lined with parchment paper (like this paper from Dioro) (make sure there is enough space between each chip so they can crisp up nicely).
• Bake the sweet potato fries for 10-15 minutes, until hot.
• Enjoy your crunchy and delicious sweet potato fries!

Another great way to reheat sweet potato fries is in an air fryer.

This will give you essentially the same results as baking them, but you have to make sure you don’t overfill the air fryer or the fries won’t turn out crispy enough.

You may need to reheat the fries in smaller batches for the best results.

That’s why we recommend baking them in the oven: you’re more likely to be able to reheat them all at once, saving time and saliva as you drool over these deliciously sweet and salty starchy slices.

Reheating steamed or baked sweet potatoes

Once again, the oven is the winner when it comes to reheating baked or steamed sweet potatoes.

To reheat frozen whole sweet potatoes baked or steamed in the oven

• Follow the same steps as for the French fries, but you will have to leave them in the oven for much longer, up to an hour.
• If you are going to reheat smaller sweet potatoes, check them after 30-45 minutes, just to be sure. Larger sweet potatoes will take longer to reheat.

Reheat the sautéed sweet potatoes

Personally, we love adding stir-fried sweet potatoes to new dishes, like soups and stews.

However, if you want to reheat them on their own, you can bake them similar to how you baked sweet potato fries, or you can sauté them again.

How to reheat sautéed sweet potatoes:

• You will want to sauté them the same way you did at the beginning, adding oil to the skillet over medium heat and sautéing until hot.
• One thing to keep in mind is that your sweet potatoes may disintegrate a bit inside the pan as they are pre-cooked and once hot they will already be soft and more likely to go mushy.
  • If you have your burner set to a high enough temperature (but no more than medium-high, depending on the smoke point of the oil you use), you can avoid this problem, but make sure you don’t burn them.

Reheat the mashed sweet potatoes

Mashed sweet potatoes take a bit more work to reheat, especially if you’ve frozen them. Hopefully, you haven’t frozen them due to our recommendations above, but if you have, you can still save your puree!

To reheat the mashed sweet potatoes, the best option is the microwave. Here’s how:

• Place the sweet potato puree in a microwave-safe bowl.
• Microwave on high for 1 minute, then in additional 30 second increments until heated through
• Thanks to the properties of the high heat component of the microwave , it should keep your puree relatively intact when reheated.

You can also reheat mashed potatoes in the oven and make a baked sweet potato mash with a crispy top.

If you want to learn how to fry mashed sweet potatoes, read our detailed article on how to fry mashed sweet potatoes .

Related questions

Now you know how to reheat sweet potatoes of all kinds! Fried, baked, steamed, sautéed or mashed, you are now equipped to properly reheat your sweet potato so you can enjoy its sweet and salty flavor.

You may have some additional questions, so we hope to answer anything else you may have in our related questions section.

What is the difference between sweet potatoes and sweet potatoes?

Fun fact: the “sweet potatoes” you buy at the supermarket are actually orange-fleshed sweet potatoes.  If you live in the United States, it’s less common to find sweet potatoes in your grocery store.

The yam actually has a starchy, less sweet interior, with an exterior that resembles a rind. It is a root vegetable native to the Caribbean and has very little beta-carotene, which is found in large amounts in sweet potatoes, especially the orange variety!

Sweet potatoes are commonly grown in the United States and are much sweeter than sweet potatoes. They are the ones you commonly see in the store falsely labeled “sweet potatoes.”

Both root vegetables are incredibly nutritious, but at the end of the day they are completely different vegetables.

What if my sweet potato is mixed into a dish, like curry or rice?

If your sweet potato is mixed into another dish, don’t worry, just reheat the dish as you normally would.

For example, if you’re reheating sweet potato chili in a pot on the stove, make sure it’s heated through and that you stir it occasionally to prevent the bottom from overcooking.

Can I keep the reheated sweet potatoes?

We do not recommend it. Like any food that has been cooked, cooled, and reheated, it is best to reheat once and consume it all at once.

If you don’t think you can eat it all at once, reheat only the portion you can eat so you don’t waste food.