Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Smoked Paprika

Question: If I cover the potatoes with foil, won't they steam and not get crisp?

I have made a similar dish for years. I cut the sweet potatoes into spears, toss in olive oil with paprika or cayenne or both, roast at 425 for 20-25 minutes. Do not cover with foil! Delicious and great cold leftover snack too.

I put the parchment on the pan as it helps to brown vegetables better than foil. I did not cover and it was delicious!

Martin, I was actually thinking the very same thing. The high temperature will likely help the potatoes to crisp. However, my plan is to cover the dish with foil for about 15 minutes and then assess how they are cooking. If I feel they are steaming too much, I'll leave the foil off until they are cooked the way I like them.

I make a breakfast version of this on weekends. Cube a sweet potato and spread on a plate. Microwave for 4-5 mins while heating up a frying pan on medium. Add some olive oil. After the oil heats up, toss in the nuked potato cubes and stir to coat. While those cook (i.e. start browning on bottoms), dice up an onion and mix into the pan with the potatoes. Stir every now and then to let the potatoes get a bit browned on most sides. When almost done, season with some salt, pepper and paprika.

Due to their moisture content, sweet potatoes, especially the red garnet variety, don't crisp-up like Idaho or Russet potatoes when roasted in the oven. Smoked paprika doesn't add "heat" in my experience, and I've purchased many brands, finally settling on Penzey's. Unless there is a variety labeled as hot smoked paprika. Paprika of all types should be stored in the refrigerator.

Suspect an error in this recipe. Since you are roasting, it would make sense to cover the pan with foil (to make it easier for cleanup and THEN add sweet potatoes. Otherwise the potatoes won't crisp

How do you cube an onion?

The flavor is wonderful - but don’t cover with foil! It turns the potatoes into steamed mush. Bake these uncovered until they crisp and they are fantastic.

I lower the heat to 400 and cook them uncovered. If I'm short on time, then I cook them covered for 15 minutes, then uncover and turn up the heat to 450.

Sounds like your question is on target, not sure how they will brown, under foil. I think I would remove foil after a bit, and finish that way. But hey, he’s Sam and I’m not.

I've been making roasted cubed sweet potatoes for years and never cover them. Make sure they are well-coated with oil and stirred around a couple of times so the bottoms don't burn. My family's favorite flavoring is skip the paprika, instead toss in copious amounts of fresh minced garlic and fresh rosemary leaves in the last 10 minutes of roasting, then after removing from oven add salt and pepper. They all disappear in 5 minutes, no matter how many potatoes I make.

Topped with a fried egg for breakfast on a rainy Saturday morning--delicious. I'm not normally a fan of Sam Sifton's recipes, but this one is the bomb. Smoked paprika makes everything taste better--learned that from Mark Bittman years ago. Didn't have an onion, but it was just fine without it.

I put it under the broiler for five minutes to get it a little more crisp.

Not sure how big the potatoes were in this recipe, but I had to triple the seasonings for my 3 whopper sweet potatoes. I actually used more paprika and less black pepper (but I always use less black pepper) and did not cover. Vegetables roast much nicer, if left uncovered.