Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Smoked Paprika Recipe (2024)

Question: If I cover the potatoes with foil, won't they steam and not get crisp?

I have made a similar dish for years. I cut the sweet potatoes into spears, toss in olive oil with paprika or cayenne or both, roast at 425 for 20-25 minutes. Do not cover with foil! Delicious and great cold leftover snack too.

I put the parchment on the pan as it helps to brown vegetables better than foil. I did not cover and it was delicious!

Martin, I was actually thinking the very same thing. The high temperature will likely help the potatoes to crisp. However, my plan is to cover the dish with foil for about 15 minutes and then assess how they are cooking. If I feel they are steaming too much, I'll leave the foil off until they are cooked the way I like them.

I make a breakfast version of this on weekends. Cube a sweet potato and spread on a plate. Microwave for 4-5 mins while heating up a frying pan on medium. Add some olive oil. After the oil heats up, toss in the nuked potato cubes and stir to coat. While those cook (i.e. start browning on bottoms), dice up an onion and mix into the pan with the potatoes. Stir every now and then to let the potatoes get a bit browned on most sides. When almost done, season with some salt, pepper and paprika.

Due to their moisture content, sweet potatoes, especially the red garnet variety, don't crisp-up like Idaho or Russet potatoes when roasted in the oven. Smoked paprika doesn't add "heat" in my experience, and I've purchased many brands, finally settling on Penzey's. Unless there is a variety labeled as hot smoked paprika. Paprika of all types should be stored in the refrigerator.

Suspect an error in this recipe. Since you are roasting, it would make sense to cover the pan with foil (to make it easier for cleanup and THEN add sweet potatoes. Otherwise the potatoes won't crisp

How do you cube an onion?

The flavor is wonderful - but don’t cover with foil! It turns the potatoes into steamed mush. Bake these uncovered until they crisp and they are fantastic.

I lower the heat to 400 and cook them uncovered. If I'm short on time, then I cook them covered for 15 minutes, then uncover and turn up the heat to 450.

Sounds like your question is on target, not sure how they will brown, under foil. I think I would remove foil after a bit, and finish that way. But hey, he’s Sam and I’m not.

I've been making roasted cubed sweet potatoes for years and never cover them. Make sure they are well-coated with oil and stirred around a couple of times so the bottoms don't burn. My family's favorite flavoring is skip the paprika, instead toss in copious amounts of fresh minced garlic and fresh rosemary leaves in the last 10 minutes of roasting, then after removing from oven add salt and pepper. They all disappear in 5 minutes, no matter how many potatoes I make.

Topped with a fried egg for breakfast on a rainy Saturday morning--delicious. I'm not normally a fan of Sam Sifton's recipes, but this one is the bomb. Smoked paprika makes everything taste better--learned that from Mark Bittman years ago. Didn't have an onion, but it was just fine without it.

I put it under the broiler for five minutes to get it a little more crisp.

Not sure how big the potatoes were in this recipe, but I had to triple the seasonings for my 3 whopper sweet potatoes. I actually used more paprika and less black pepper (but I always use less black pepper) and did not cover. Vegetables roast much nicer, if left uncovered.

I left out the onion and garlic. It didn’t matter. So simple, so good.

This was excellent. I used 6 large sweets and 2 onions, more garlic, about 2 TB smoked paprika, on 1 large and 1 smaller sheet pan, for big Thanksgiving crowd. Covered with foil only 10 minutes, then uncovered till done (only took about 35 minutes at 425). Great for Thanksgiving and relief from oversweet sweet potato dishes. It has a mild, nice bite and great texture.

If left covered, the potatoes steam instead of roast. Uncover after 15-20 minutes and turn the heat down to 375-400. Stir every 8-10 minutes thereafter, And use more salt than this calls for.

These sweet potatoes were fantastic! Will definitely make them again, both as a side dish and as an add to a vegetarian curry. Yum.

Roast without foil. 3 red onions. Very good.

Made this again today, with PURPLE sweet potatoes, just as delicious and wildly beautiful. Paired with Melissa Clark's roast chicken and creamed braising greens. What a meal.By the way, I don't cover the baking sheet. Better texture without it.

Cooked in shallow Le Creuset, uncovered. Used “oriental sweet potatoes “. Followed recipe, came out fantastic! Smoked paprika is the key!

Who washes the dishes in the Sifton household? Why don’t you toss the potatoes in oil in the pan?

Very good, and I didn't cover them with foil either. They can't crisp up like that

I didn't bother stirring because it was unwieldy to do so, but the recipe turned out just fine without doing so.

Smoked paprika makes everything better--I first learned about it through Mark Bittman in these pages many years ago.

In hindsight, I should have blanched a bunch of broccoli rabe and tossed that in as well, which I think would have complemented the smoked-paprika sweet potatoes beautifully.

Even though I love this recipe and smoked paprika, covering a sheet pan with foil and "tossing occasionally" isn't the least practical with a sheet pan, because you'll never ger the foil back on, so as usual, I have absolutely no idea what universe Sifton and the NYT so-called "editors" are thinking,,thinking being the key word here. Made with butternut squash and topped with a fried egg by Kay Chun on a cool, rainy, post-Thanksgiving weekend morning.

I did this without foil. I was cooking it with a turkey breast that was at a lower temp so I did 30 minutes at 350 and then about 10 minutes at 425. They were delicious.

This rocked for an easy pantry staple sweet potato dish for those who don't want to add more sweetness to the root veg. I'm a savory guy myself. I followed the advice of previous commenters and didn't cover it with foil. Spread it out on a sheetpan lined with parchment. Delicious and easy. I served it with roast chicken.