You are hungry, but you don’t have much time to cook? Or perhaps you’re just lazy to prepare the dinner and wash the dishes afterward, which quite frankly, is very normal. We all have those days when we would just rather order a pizza, kick back, and relax. That being said, did you know that you could cook sweet potatoes in the microwave? It surprisingly tastes very good if done properly.
Why are sweet potatoes super healthy?
Contrary to plain potatoes, sweet potatoes have a lot to offer in terms of vitamins and fiber. However, both types of potatoes have a similar content when it comes to carbs, calories, and proteins. Where the sweet potato really shines is in its very high vitamin A content. All in all, yes, the sweet potato is excellent for your health.
To further illustrates this, here’s a list of the nutrition facts of the sweet potato (on average):
- Calories: 86.
- Water: 77%
- Protein: 1.6 grams.
- Carbs: 20.1 grams.
- Sugar: 4.2 grams.
- Fiber: 3 grams.
- Fat: 0.1 grams.
What are the health benefits of eating sweet potatoes?
It’s incredible how fruits and veggies can bring so many health benefits to our lives. If you can manage to incorporate a few sweet potatoes into your diet, here a some of the health benefits of this amazing vegetable:
- Very nutritious, sweet potatoes can help you balance the vitamins, minerals, and fibers that you need, especially if you are working out on a regular basis.
- Good for the eyes.
- Will support the immune system.
- Can help prevent cancer.
- Better gut health.
Do you lose nutrients by cooking sweet potatoes in the microwave?
Yes, you lose some nutrients by cooking sweet potatoes in the microwave but a lot less than if you would boil them. It has actually been proven that cooking potatoes or any other vegetables in the microwave does not result in a great loss of nutrients. A lot of people think that, but this has been debunked and is even one of the best methods to keep as many nutrients as possible in your sweety veggies. On top of that, it takes a lot less time to cook, about 45 minutes less on average!
Healthy microwave sweet potatoes recipes
If you were wondering how to cook your sweet potatoes in the microwave, it’s very simple. For 1 sweet potato, you should set your microwave timer to 5 minutes. For each extra sweet potato that you had in the microwave, add 2 minutes.
Moreover, we recommend piercing your potato with a fork a few times so it will cook better. If your sweet potato is still firm after it’s done cooking (you can verify that by picking your fork into the potato), then you can cook it for one more minute.
Now that you know how to properly cook your microwaved sweet potatoes, here are our top 3 sweet potato recipes that will work well with your home microwave:
Microwave mashed sweet potatoes
Who doesn’t like mashed potatoes? Now imagine with the sweet nutrients added to the mix, and a little bit of ketchup on top. To make this recipe, follow the instructions below:
Simply cook the sweet potatoes in your microwave, and then, cut them in half. You should be able to remove the skin easily but you can keep it as well, as it has lots of nutrients.
Now, in a big bowl, add a big chunk of butter, a bit of milk, and a lot of salt, and then mash everything.
You got yourself a yummy sweet mashed potatoes dish ready to be eaten in a couple of minutes!
Microwave sweet potato chips
For this recipe, you will need not only a bunch of fresh sweet potatoes but also a lot of salt and black pepper. Here are the steps to follow:
- You can use parchment paper or simply a plate. Furthermore, you can coat the parchment paper with butter or oil.
- Now, what you’re going to do is fun and simple, but be careful to not cut your fingers! Slice the sweet potatoes into very thin slices. If you have a slicer at home (also called a mandolin) then it’s time to use it!
- Thereafter, you will gently place the thin slices of sweet potatoes on your plate (or parchment paper) and place the latter in the microwave. Make sure that the slices are not over each other because they won’t cook properly that way.
- Cook the sweet potato slices in the microwave for 4 minutes at maximum intensity.
- Once it’s done, taste one chip to see if it’s good. You can put it back from 30 seconds until perfect.
- Finally, repeat the same process all over again for the next batch of sweet potato chips. Try to not eat all the chips from the first batch while you’re cooking the next one!
Microwave jacket sweet potatoes
To finish our list, we couldn’t forget this delicious microwave jacket sweet potato recipe. What’s fun with that one is that you can fill your sweet potatoes with different things and therefore, be very creative. Here are the different ingredients you will need depending on what you want to use to stuff your microwaved jacket potato:
Smoked mackerel for Sweet Potato filling
- 75g smoked mackerel, skinned and roughly mashed with a fork
- 3 tbsp half-fat crème fraîche or soured cream
- 2 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
- ½ unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest only
- freshly grounded black pepper
Pea and feta for Sweet Potato filling
- 100g/3½oz frozen peas
- 100g/3½oz feta
- 2 tbsp plain yogurt
- 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint
- freshly grounded black pepper
Veggie chili for Sweet Potato filling
- ½ red pepper, deseeded and diced
- 400g kidney beans in chili sauce
- 198g tin sweetcorn in water
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 50g of Cheddar, coarsely grated
- 4 tbsp soured cream
- fresh coriander garnish
- 1 lime cut into wedges, to serve
To make this recipe, you only need 2 sweet potatoes. You can follow the instructions of the mashed potatoes, but this time around, you won’t mash nor cut your sweet potatoes. Instead, you will just make a cross in their center to open them and fill them with the filling choices illustrated above. If there is cheese in the ingredients, for example, you want the cheese to melt to make this nice melting texture that we all know and love.
On that note, be creative, and don’t be afraid to use your microwave for cooking your sweet potatoes. Enjoy!
