A fun and delicious way to eat sweet potatoes! This perfectly baked sweet potato recipe is loaded with caramelized onions, fresh rosemary and crispy bacon for a tasty treat!
Loaded Baked Sweet Potato Recipe
Oh yum – this is one rustic, smoky and sexy loaded baked sweet potato recipe!
At first I thought about making a baked potato topped with the classic sour cream, bacon, chives and cheese combo. But that didn’t seem very exciting, especially since it’s already been done a thousand times.
Scrap that.
Instead, I opened The Flavor Bible, one of my favorite culinary guides, and looked at the best flavor pairings for sweet potatoes. And there it was under Flavor Affinities: sweet potatoes+bacon+onions+rosemary.
Right away I knew this was going to be my loaded baked sweet potato recipe! I could taste the dish just from reading the ingredients on the page – which is always a good sign.
This is a salty, sweet, smoky, peppery and piney tasting loaded baked sweet potato that takes five minutes to prep and about an hour to bake. It’s easy, mess-free, and you won’t believe how smoothly and effortlessly the skin comes off once out of the oven.
The trick is to let the sweet potatoes sit in the oven for an extra 30 minutes with the heat turned off. This step helps the skin separate from the flesh while still keeping the potatoes warm, until it’s time to eat them.
It’s a brilliant trick I learned from Lauren at empoweredsustenance where she shows step-by-step how to perfectly bake a sweet potato.
To stick with the healthy theme of my blog I’m only using two strips of bacon – one strip per potato. It may seem like nothing but believe me, it’s enough to add plenty of yummy, salty, smoky and crispy notes to the dish!
The bacon really comes through and compliments the sweetness of the caramelized onions and pine tree-like taste of the rosemary. Finish with a light sprinkle of coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (or peppercorns) and you have a pretty filling and satisfying side dish. YUM!
Other comforting side dishes like this loaded baked sweet potato recipe:
- Sliced baked potato with rosemary and Gruyere (Hasselback)
- Spaghetti squash alfredo
- Oven roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon, cranberries and walnuts
- Easy scalloped potatoes with caramelized fennel
- Eggplant and kabocha miso gratin
Did you like this Loaded Baked Sweet Potato Recipe? Are there changes you made that you would like to share? Share your tips and recommendations in the comments section below!
Print
Loaded Baked Sweet Potato Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 75 minutes
- Total Time: 80 minutes
- Yield: 2 people 1x
- Category: Side dish
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This perfectly baked sweet potato recipe is loaded with caramelized onions, fresh rosemary and crispy bacon for a tasty treat!
Ingredients
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 2 strips bacon (finely chopped)
- 1 tablespoon rosemary (finely chopped)
- 1 large onion (finely sliced)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- coarse sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- lemon wedges (optional)
- sour cream (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425ºF.
- Cover cooking tray with non stick aluminum foil (or parchment paper).
- Put the sweet potatoes on the cooking tray and prick them 2-3 times with a fork. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the size of your sweet potatoes.
- Turn the heat off and leave the sweet potatoes in the oven for an additional 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add olive oil and onions in a pan over medium heat and cook for 20-25 minutes, until onions are golden brown (caramelized). Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a bowl.
- Give the pan a quick rinse, dry and add bacon and rosemary. Cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, until bacon is crispy. Transfer to a plate covered with paper towel and set aside.
- Take the potatoes out of the oven and slice the skin opened in half lengthwise.
- Mash half of the middle part of each potato and top with caramelized onions, bacon and rosemary.
- Season with salt and pepper and serve with lemon wedges and sour cream.
Notes
This Loaded Baked Sweet Potato Recipe Is:
Low in cholesterol
High in potassium
High in vitamin C
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 326
- Sugar: 9.1 g
- Sodium: 260.9 mg
- Fat: 18.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 35 g
- Fiber: 6 g
- Protein: 6.5 g
- Cholesterol: 18.5 mg
