Bring on the toppings – It’s time for some Oven Baked Sweet Potato Toast 4 Ways
Do you SPT?
SPT… that’s short for Sweet Potato Toast. Also known as my new breakfast obsession.
Our dear friend Kelsey from Little Bits Of deserves the credit for this amazing tuber meets toaster invention. It’s true, she’s the legit inventor of sweet potato toast made in the toaster. And Stacie and I have had the pleasure of feasting on slabs of gussied up sweet potato with her in her kitchen. It’s pretty much what I imagine hanging out with a rockstar would be like. I mean, she did make SPT on the Dr. Oz Show after all.
Updated: I also want to show a little love and R-E-S-P-E-C-T to Kendra over at Paleo Paparazzi who, as early as 2015, has been sharing her oven broiled SPT method over on Instagram and her blog unbeknownst to me at the time this post originally went live. Another SPT goddess and role model, for sure.
Anyways, I won’t belabor the history of or the principles behind sweet potato toast because it’s relatively simple and we all just want to get to the recipe.
Slice sweet potato. Toast slices in the toaster until toasty brown. Top them with whatever your heart desires.
Pretty easy, eh? It is. Unless you’re like me and your chances of being able to actually stand in front of your toaster long enough to allow the sweet potato toast to run through a few toasting cycles in the morning is like, um, zero. Absolutely not gonna happen. Not when I’ve got kids to get ready and out the door. Or kids to pull off the trampoline or out of the mud so they can actually get dressed and be somewhat presentable for school. An adult-friendly breakfast that takes more than 10 minutes to make from start to finish is so. not. happening at this stage in my life.
So that’s why I’ve tapped into the SPT genius of Kelsey and Kendra and put my own meal prep-friendly spin on things. Now I can prep a big batch of sweet potato toast during my weekend meal prep so all I have to do it give them a quick toasting before I top them. Here’s how I do it:
I choose a nice big, fat sweet potato or yam (whichever’s on sale). Look for ones that are relatively tube-shaped so they’re easier to slice. I then scrub it under water, pat it dry and trim the ends off with a big knife (this is the knife I have – we’re about to celebrate our 20th anniversary together). I don’t remove the skin because fiber is good and I find that it helps the slices hold up better during storage.
Okay, from the point on, no more ‘I’ statements. This is all about you now and how YOU can make Oven Baked SPT Toast 4 Ways too.
Oven Baked Sweet Potato Toast 4 Ways! @whole30 #realfood #SPTweek Click To Tweet
Slice your sweet potato lengthwise using a big knife or mandolin slicer to create slices that are about 1/4-inch thick. I prefer the mandolin slicer for two reasons:
- My Type A self likes the slices to be very uniform, and
- I find it to be easier and safer than using a I have no desire to cut my finger off.
Arrange the slices on a wire rack set on a large baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 15-25 minutes or until potatoes are tender but not cooked all the way through. You can rotate the pan and flip them over halfway through if you want. Or not.
Once they’re tender but not cooked all the way through, remove pan from the oven and allow the slices to cool completely before storing them in a lidded container in the fridge. It’s important that you allow them to cool completely before stacking them in a container or they’re get sweaty and take longer to toast when you’re ready to eat.
When it’s go-time simply add the desired number of slices to the toaster or toaster oven and toast away. I set mine on the highest setting and it takes only one toasting cycle to get them how I like them (warm, bubbly and crispy on the edges) – but yours may need more or less depending on your toaster.
Now the fun starts. You get to add toppings! The possibilities are pretty much endless but these four are my absolute faves for breakfast.
Smoked Salmon Everything ‘Bagel’ Sweet Potato Toast
Admittedly, this is my numero uno fave when it comes to SPT. Everything bagels with lox, cream cheese, red onion and capers (and tomatoes when they’re in season) are the things my dreams are made of – and they’re the inspiration for this Whole30-friendly version that finds itself on my plate at least twice a week.
In the photo I used cold-smoked nova lox with does have brown sugar in the brine – a Whole30 no-no. So if you want to keep this compliant you’ll need to use a no-sugar smoked salmon like this one from Vital Choice foods. Under the salmon there’s smashed avo then it’s topped with thinly sliced red onion a few capers and his life-changing ‘Everything But the Bagel’ seasoning from Trader Joe’s.
The ‘Elvis 2.0’ Sweet Potato Toast
Because peanut butter isn’t Whole30-compliant and I don’t actually care for it, I’ve dubbed this one the ‘Elvis 2.0′ – an homage to the hip-shakin’ rock-n-roller’s favorite Peanut Butter, Banana and Bacon sandwiches.
What makes it 2.0 is the cashew butter that stands in for the PB – which you then top with thinly sliced bananas and a liberal sprinkle of crisp-cooked bacon (I use uncured no-sugar bacon from Pederson’s Natural Farms).
‘South of the Border’ Sweet Potato Toast
I love all things Mexican food. In fact, I often (half) joke that my diet is what you might call ‘Paleo + Tacos’ (or ‘Paleo + Tacos + Beer’ if I’m gonna be really honest here). So this one is a salute to all the things I love about really great Mexican food – avocado for all the obvious reasons, crisp radishes for bite, red chili flakes for heat and lime for a little zing. If I had to pick a ‘last meal’ this would be neck in neck with the Everything Bagel Sweet Potato toast above.
‘Blueberry Pie’ Sweet Potato Toast
Pie is my jam. Being deathly allergic to eggs, my birthday ‘cake’ is usually pie (like this Paleo Black and Blueberry Pie) so topping a thick slab of sweet potato with creamy almond butter, ground cinnamon and fresh blueberries seemed like a no-brainer. Everyday should feel like a birthday, right?
In case you’re wondering how I choose when there are so. many. great. options for toppings, I usually make 2 slices of savory SPT and one ‘sweet’ slice for breakfast – and 9 times out of 10 this is the sweet one I choose. Because pie.
Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Toast 4 Ways
There you have it – my big-batch method for sweet potato toast and how I top ’em. Now it’s your turn to get your SPT on!
- 1 large sweet potato, washed and dried
- Avocado
- Smoked salmon (Vital Choice is made without sugar)
- Red Onion
- Capers
- 'Everything But the Bagel' Seasoning (optional but awesome!)
- Sliced Radishes
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Lime wedges
- Cashew Butter
- Almond Butter
- Banana Slices
- Crumbled Bacon
- Blueberries
- Ground cinnamon
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Place a wire rack on a large rimmed baking sheet.
- Trim both ends from the sweet potato using a knife.
- Slice sweet potato lengthwise into ¼-inch thick slabs using a knife or mandolin slicer.
- Arrange slabs in a single layer on the wire rack.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender but not fully cooked (watch to be sure they don't burn!)
- Remove pan from oven and allow potatoes to cool on wire rack completely before transferring to a lidded container storage container. Store in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Place desired number of sweet potato slices into a toaster or toaster oven. Toast until hot and edges are crispy. Amount of time required will depend on your toaster.
It’s time to get creative – how will you be topping your next plate of sweet potato toast?
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I’m so excited about this! 🙂 I really really….need to get this into “breakfast prep”. Thank you!
Hey Candace!
So glad this recipe got you excited to start doing some breakfast prep. I often find that if I have only an hour to prep on the weekends that it’s breakfast foods that I focus on – Sweet Potato Toast or a veggie/meat hash (like this Tex Mex Sweet Potato Hash) and some grain-free waffles, muffins or smoothie packs (zip-top bags filled with fruit, greens, nut butters, etc. then frozen until ready to add to the blender with liquid and protein powder) for the family.
Good luck and enjoy – I’d love to hear what kind of combos you come up with!
Can these be frozen for longer storage?
Hi Toni,
My experience with freezing sweet potatoes has been that they are very soft and ‘weepy’ when thawed. However, that’s not to say that you couldn’t freeze them. I’d recommend cooking them less so that are they firmer before popping them in the freezer. You may need to toast them longer to dry them out a bit (or if you’re attempting to cook them from frozen).
If you try it, I’d love to hear how it works for you!
Can you finish these puppies up in the oven, say broiling? I’ve got no toaster oven, and I may have a toaster, somewhere?
Hey Kelly,
You can definitely toast them up under the broiler. I even do mine over the campfire when I’m camping – either by placing them in a fish cooking basket or by threading them on a stick and holding them near the hot coals. I’ve also done them on the barbecue grill, too.
Does the SP stick to the toaster irons?
Hi Michelle.
I’ve not had any issues with the sweet potato sticking to the toaster. Once you pre-bake it it’s fairly dry and doesn’t fall apart easily.