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Sweet potatoes are a favorite at the dinner table at our house, with their sweet taste and rich color. Sweet potato season is in the mid to late fall, but I love to have that freshly baked sweet potato taste all year long. So, can sweet potatoes be frozen to eat when you’re ready? Yes!

Freezing sweet potatoes to use later is incredibly easy and makes this healthy vegetable ready in a flash.

Why Freeze Sweet Potatoes

Some of us have the best of intentions when we buy that bag of sweet potatoes at the store or get a 40 lb box from our local farm. However, if you don’t have a cool, dark place (thanks to life in the south), then storing sweet potatoes for extended periods can get dicey.

Having the option to freeze sweet potatoes solves several problems. First, potatoes won’t go bad waiting to be eaten. Secondly, a frozen pre-cooked potato will be ready to eat in just three minutes. A quick side dish, especially one that is packed full of nutrients, is always a winner here. For a full article on the health benefits of sweet potatoes, read this article from Food Revolution.

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How to cook sweet potatoes

There are multiple options when it comes to cooking sweet potatoes in preparation for freezing. I prefer to cook them with the skins on and freeze them whole. There are options for peeling and dicing sweet potatoes before freezing, or even freezing sweet potato puree, but for the purposes of this tutorial, I’ll be freezing them whole. This is simply how my family likes to eat them.

There are three options for cooking sweet potatoes for freezing that I’ll highlight. Choose any option you’d like and run with it!

• Bake– Baking sweet potatoes produces delicious flavor as some of the sugars caramelize during the baking process. Simply place clean sweet potatoes on a sheet pan and bake at 400 degrees for one hour or until a fork inserted into potatoes goes in easily.
• Instant Pot– So great in a pinch! Place one cup of water in the bottom of the Instant Pot, then add rack that came with your pot. Pierce potatoes a few times with a fork, then place on top of rack. Use manual setting and set timer for 12-14 minutes. Use the quick or natural release when timer is done.
• Air Fryer– We have an Instant Pot Vortex Air Fryer so I can easily have several racks of sweet potatoes “cooking” at one time. For smaller air fryers, try these instructions from The Chunky Chef on how to “bake” sweet potatoes in the air fryer.

Freezing Sweet Potatoes

What you’ll need:

• 6 to 8 fresh sweet potatoes
• Aluminum Foil
• Gallon Freezer Bags
• Large Sheet Pan (like this Nordic Ware half sheet pan)

1. Begin by cooking sweet potatoes whole using whichever method suits you.

2. Allow sweet potatoes to cool completely.

3. Take sheets of foil and wrap each sweet potato individually. Place wrapped sweet potatoes in a gallon freezer bag and place in freezer.

4. When ready to use potatoes, remove foil wrapped potato or potatoes from freezer. For microwaving, unwrap foil cover, place on a microwave safe plate and heat for 3-4 minutes. (Microwaves vary.)

5. For oven re-heating, place foil wrapped, frozen sweet potato directly in a preheated oven (at any temp from 325 to 425) and heat for 15-20 minutes.

6. Serve warm.

Being able to have fresh (frozen!) vegetables ready for recipes and side dishes is so helpful on those busy weeknights. And these frozen sweet potatoes taste just as good as freshly baked potatoes. My granny loves them, and I know you will too!

How to freeze other vegetables

• How to Freeze Zucchini
• How to Freeze Okra
• How to Freeze Green Beans
• How to Freeze Tomatoes