Learn how to cut sweet potatoes into fries, cubes, wedges, and more in this tutorial post, including step-by-step photos and a short video. Plus, you’ll learn how to make it easier to slice sweet potatoes if needed.
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Sweet potatoes are colorful, delicious, and loaded with nutrients, making them a great addition to veggie-based meals! Before you start incorporating them into recipes, you may be wondering how to cut sweet potatoes.
Read on to learn about the best techniques for slicing sweet potatoes into fries, cubes, wedges, and rounds. There are so many ways to enjoy this tuber!
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How to Cut Sweet Potatoes Into Fries
Sweet potato fries can be served as a side or the base of a main dish. You can try them in place of regular fries as a way to mix things up!
Remove the skin with a swivel or Y peeler.
Slice the sweet potato lengthwise into planks about ½-inch thick.
Slice the sweet potato planks thinly into fries. You can stack some on top of each other to make the process easier and quicker, so long as they flat.
How to Chop Sweet Potatoes Into Cubes
Cubed sweet potatoes are great for roasting and can also be sautéed. They make an easy side dish for just about any meal. Plus, you can freeze extra sweet potato cubes for later. Check out my tutorial on freezing sweet potatoes for more information.
Repeat the above steps 1 through 3. Then, slice the sweet potato fries crosswise into cubes.
How to Slice Sweet Potatoes Into Wedges
Some recipes may call for sweet potato wedges. These are typically larger than sweet potato fries but similar in shape.
Peel the sweet potato, then cut in half lengthwise.
Cut each half into quarters.
How to Make Sweet Potato Rounds
Sweet potato rounds are another shape you can roast. I like to use thin rounds as a base for sweet potato nachos.
Peel the sweet potato. Cut crosswise into circles. Alternatively, you can use a mandolin to make thinner slices.
How do you easily cut sweet potatoes?
Sweet potatoes are a pretty firm vegetable, so you may be wondering how to soften sweet potatoes to cut them. Use a good chef’s knife, like the one I mention in the following section, to safely and easily cut sweet potatoes.
If you want to soften them slightly to make them easier to cut, poke several holes in the skin with a fork then microwave for 1 to 2 minutes to soften. Be sure to use an oven mitt to remove the potato from the microwave; it will be really hot!
Recommended Equipment
For slicing sweet potatoes and other firm vegetables, you need a good knife! I love my Shun chef’s knife and bamboo cutting boards (with rubber stoppers). To peel the sweet potato, you can use a swivel peeler or a Y peeler.
Sweet Potato Recipes
Now that you know how to cut sweet potatoes, you can make all sorts of recipes with them! Here are some of my favorites:
Watch How to Prep Sweet Potatoes
📖 Recipe
How to Cut Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 sweet potato
Instructions
- Scrub the sweet potato clean, trim the ends, and remove the skin with a vegetable peeler.
Fries
- Cut the sweet potato lengthwise into planks that are about a half-inch thick.
- Stack a few planks on top of each other (make sure they lay flat). Cut the planks lengthwise into thin fries.
Cubes
- Follow the steps for cutting sweet potato fries.
- Cut the fries crosswise into cubes of desired size.
Wedges
- Slice the sweet potato in half lengthwise.
- Cut each half into quarters to yield wedges.
Rounds
- Cut the sweet potato crosswise into circles of desired thickness. You can also use a mandolin to get thinner circles.
Video
Notes
- Use cut sweet potatoes right away in recipes.
- You can also freeze them for later use by following the instructions in this tutorial.
Patrick Paul Smith
Thanks for posting !
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
Glad it was helpful!
Glen R. Miller
Hi Lizzie: in your option regarding sweet potatoe’s should l purchase large or small for cooking ,baking etc., Thank’s Glen ( Ontario, Canada)
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
Hi Glen! You can purchase any size of sweet potatoes. However, larger sweet potatoes will take longer to cook whole than smaller ones. If you are cooking them in pieces, wedges, or fries, the initial size of the sweet potato won’t matter for cooking time.
Terri Graves
Can you use the frozen sweet potatoes to make sweet potato casserole?
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
Hi Terri, yes you should be able to! Let me know if you try it.