Content

• Ingredients
• For simple steamed sweet potatoes
• For optional variations
• To step
• Method 1 of 2: Steam sweet potatoes
• Method 2 of 2: Recipe variations
• Tips

Sweet potatoes, with their wonderfully smooth flavor and high nutritional value, are perfect as both a meal food and an occasional snack. While some cooking styles can increase the fat and sugar content of sweet potatoes, the steaming method uses 0 calorie water so you can enjoy the potatoes without feeling guilty. Best of all, it's easy - all you need is heat, water, and a few pieces of cooking utensils.

Ingredients

For simple steamed sweet potatoes

• 500g sweet potatoes (about 3-5)
• 500ml of water

For optional variations

• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds, ground
• 2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1/2 white onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

To step

Method 1 of 2: Steam sweet potatoes

1. Peel the sweet potatoes. This is usually easiest to do with a normal potato peeler. You can also use a sharp knife.
   • Dispose of the husks in a compost bin to avoid excessive waste. Or even better; cut the skins into long strips, leave some potato flesh on them, and make sweet potato skins.
2. Cut the potatoes into pieces. The exact size is not important - it is usually fine to cut each potato into three or four pieces. Most importantly, all pieces are roughly the same size so they cook evenly.
3. Place the sweet potatoes in a steamer basket. Steaming the sweet potatoes means exposing them to hot steam without submerging them in the boiling water beneath them. To do this, first put your potato pieces in a steamer basket; a metal instrument placed in a pan over boiling water. Place the entire steamer basket in a large saucepan with about 500 ml of water at the bottom.
   • If you don't have a steamer basket, you can improvise with a small metal colander or strainer. You can even place a clean baking rack at the bottom of your pan.
4. Boil the water. Place the pan with the steamer basket on the stove over high heat. Cover the pan. Reduce the heat to medium when the water is boiling. Let the potatoes cook in this way until they are completely soft.
   • Depending on the size of the potato pieces, the cooking time will be between about 15 and 20 minutes. It is good to check the sweet potatoes for doneness after about 12 minutes. You can do this by poking them with a fork. If the fork goes in easily, the potato is done. If they still feel hard, cook them for another 5 minutes.
   • Be careful when you remove the lid from the pan - you could burn yourself from the escaping steam.
5. Serve and enjoy. When the sweet potatoes are soft they are ready to eat. Turn off the stove and place the sweet potatoes on a plate to serve. Serve immediately and season as you wish.
   • Sweet potatoes are naturally (obviously) sweet, so you can enjoy them as they are if you wish. In the next section, however, we've outlined some easy serving suggestions if you don't want to eat them on their own.

Method 2 of 2: Recipe variations

1. Eat your sweet potatoes with butter, salt, and pepper. This classic combination tastes just as good with sweet potatoes as it tastes with normal potatoes. It's nothing special, but it's always a great choice.
   • If you wish, you can simply top the potatoes with butter, salt and pepper when they are steamed. However, if you're dining with picky eaters, you may want to serve the potatoes on their own, with butter, salt and pepper on the side so that everyone can have as much as they want.
2. Try savory sweet potatoes with garlic. Garlic may not seem like a good accompaniment to sweet potatoes, but its spicy flavor does complement the smoothness of the potatoes. Don't overuse, though, as it can easily overpower the mild flavors of sweet potatoes. Here's one way to make a sweet potato and garlic dish:
   • Steam the potatoes as usual.
   • Add olive oil, sliced ​​garlic, and rosemary to a serving bowl with the potatoes. Stir the ingredients well to combine and evenly cover the potatoes.
   • Garnish with ground pumpkin seeds for presentation.
3. Boil the potatoes with onion. Onion is another savory vegetable that works well with sweet potatoes. Like garlic, you won't want to add too much of it to avoid the risk of overpowering the potatoes. For best results, use white yellow, or sweet onions - red onions contain less sugar and are therefore less sweet.
   • It's easy to add onions to a sweet potato dish; simply cut half of an onion into small cubes and steam it together with the potatoes in the pan.
4. Season the sweet potatoes with your favorite spices. By adding just the right spices to sweet potatoes, you can make them taste like dessert without adding extra calories. Sweet, intense spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves generally go best with sweet potatoes.
   • Drizzle the potatoes very lightly with the spices at first - you can always add more, but you can't remove the spices if you've already added them.

Tips

• Brown sugar icings are another common accompaniment for sweet potatoes, but they're a little more difficult to perform when you're steaming them. Your best bet is to make the icing from brown sugar and melted butter, baste the steamed potatoes with it, and then place them in a preheated oven. Take the potatoes out of the oven after about 10 minutes as they are already steamed.
• Sweet potatoes come in a variety of colors and flavors. They are all cooked in much the same way, so try a few different ones for a multi-colored presentation.