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How to Cut Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are great in so many ways. They are good for you, great in all shapes and sizes, and pair well with many other foods.

I am going to show you how to cut sweet potatoes in a few different ways depending on what you are making with them. Cutting them into cubes, fries, and rounds.

Hot to cut sweet potatoes video

How to cut sweet potatoes

It can be intimidating to cut sweet potatoes for some. They are hard to get through sometimes even with a sharp knife.

I am going to go over a few ways to cut them so that you can start incorporating them into your meals without feeling timid.

Follow along to learn how to cut rounds, French fries, and cubes with sweet potatoes. It is important to make sure that your potatoes are good. If you want a few tips, check out my post on how to tell when potatoes are bad.

1. wash

Start by washing your potatoes under cold water. If you have a vegetable spray that you like to use you can use that also.

Spud brushes are also great for washing sweet potatoes because they help to get them washed well.

I like to use a little bit of Dr. Bronner’s soap and wash my hands. If you don’t have a good soap or brush, that is totally fine.

Use your hands to rub off the dirt under cold running water the best you can.

This will make sure that you get all of the dirt and bacteria off of the potatoes before you start to cut into them.

2. peel

Holding the sweet potato in one hand and the hand peeler in the other you want to use a sweeping motion going from your body outward.

Make sure to keep your fingers out of the way so that you don’t cut yourself. Peel from one tip of the sweet potato to the other until there isn’t any more brown skin left.

You may notice a few small back spots once your potato is peeled.

You can use the top of your peeler and carve those out or use a pairing knife and stick the tip of the knife in and work your way around the spot cutting it out.

3. How to cut Sweet potato rounds

Now that you have washed and peeled sweet potatoes we are going to cut them up into rounds.

Cut a thin slice on the side of the potato to help keep it from rolling. Lay each potato on its flat side and one at a time using a sharp chef’s knife, cut off the ends.

Cut the potato all the way through making 1/4-1/2 inch round slices.

Add some seasoning and some olive oil and bake them in the oven and you have a great side to go with your chicken, steak, or whatever you’d like to pair them with.

4. how to cut Sweet potato French fries

Much like cutting sweet potato rounds, you want to cut off the ends and then cut the sweet potatoes into rounds that are 1/4 inch thick.

Then you want to lay the rounds flat with 2 or 3 stacked together and cut them across vertically in 1/4 inch slices. Repeat this until you have all of your potatoes cut.

It is really important to cut them as close to the same size as you can so that when you cook them they cook evenly.

After you cut them it is also a good idea to freeze sweet potatoes for a later date.

5. How to cut Cubed Sweet potatoes

If you follow all of the previous steps above, wash, peel, cut into rounds, and then into strips, then you are already just about done.

Now all you have to do is cut them horizontally and voila! You have cubed sweet potatoes.

These are great for sweet potato home fries, seasoned and baked as a side dish or this is also a great way to cut them for making mashed sweet potatoes as well.

All you have to do now is boil them, mash them, and then add your seasoning.

I recommend using a mandolin if you want to get evenly sliced thin sweet potatoes. Always wash your potatoes before you start cutting them. You can leave the peel on or peel them first.

Cut off one of the tips of the sweet potato for a more even base to start out with. This way it isn’t wobbling while you are trying to get it flat and end up cutting yourself.

This would be great for making sweet potato chips.

Sweet potatoes are a lot denser than say a russet or Yukon potato which makes them tougher to get through.

Similar to carrots they have smaller more tightly packed molecules which make them hard to cut through.

I recommend using a large sharp chef’s knife to cut through them. Put your pressure at the tip and push down and then you can move the pressure down and back toward the handle of the knife.

Cutting a thin slice on the side will help create stability so that the sweet potato isn’t rolling around while you are cutting.


sweet potatoes cut on a board

How To Cut Sweet Potatoes (Cubes and Fries)

Bob
A few great ways to cut your sweet potatoes into rounds, fries, or cubes. I'll go over how to achieve these step by step.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 10 mins
Total Time 10 mins
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 1
Calories 194 kcal

Equipment

  • Cutting board
  • Vegetable Peeler
  • Chef knife

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Sweet potato

Instructions
 

  • Wash sweet potatoes under cold water using a spud brush or your hands to scrub them. Vegetable sprays are great for washing as well.
  • Peel the potatoes using a hand vegetable peeler. Holding the sweet potato in one hand use a sweeping motion going away from yourself until all of the brown skin is off.
    If you find that you have brown or black spots you can carve them out using the top of your hand peeler.
    If your peeler doesn't have one then you can use a pairing knife by sticking the tip into the spot and working your way around the spot until it comes out.

How to cut sweet potato rounds

  • Slice a thin slice down the side of your sweet potato so that it lays flat on its side and does not roll around.
  • Cut through across the sweet potato every 1/4 inch making round slices.

How to cut sweet potato fries

  • Just like above, you want to cut your sweet potato into rounds. Then stack 2-3 slices on top of each other and cut 1/4 inch strips going vertical.
    You want to make sure that the strips or fries are relatively the same thickness and size so that they cook evenly.

How to cut sweet potato cubes

  • Follow the last two steps by cutting the sweet potato into rounds and then into strips cut vertically. Then you want to cut the stack horizontally about every 1/4 inch making them into cubes.
    Note that the size can vary depending on how big or small you would like your cubes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 194kcalCarbohydrates: 45gProtein: 4gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 124mgPotassium: 762mgFiber: 7gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 32063IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 68mgIron: 1mg
Keyword how to cube sweet potatoes, how to cut sweet potato fries, How to cut sweet potatoes, how to cut sweet potatoes rounds
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