Chili Lime Sweet Potatoes

Adapted from Make it Fast, Cook it Slow

After making several rounds of slow cooked meat dishes, it occurred to me that vegetables that take a long time to cook (such as baked potatoes, which take a full hour in a very hot oven) might be ideal for the slow cooker. I love that this recipe requires minimal prep work – a minute or two to season the potatoes and wrap them in foil. That’s it! No slow cooker? Just bake the wrapped potatoes in the oven for an hour at 400 degrees F.

  • 4 large sweet potatoes
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 large lime, quartered

  • Scrub the sweet potatoes under running water, then pat them dry. Cut four pieces of foil large enough to thoroughly enclose the potatoes. Rub 1/2 teaspoon of the oil on the skin of each sweet potato. In a small bowl, combine the salt, cumin and chili powder. Lay each potato on a piece of foil, then sprinkle the spice mixture over them, rotating to distribute. The spices may not stick to the potato skin, which is fine. Wrap the potatoes tightly in the pieces of foil, taking care to seal them as tightly as possible (see tips).
  • Place the sweet potatoes in a slow cooker. Turn the slow cooker on high and cook for 6 hours. Remove the foil-covered potatoes carefully, then unpeel taking care not to burn yourself with steam.
  • Squeeze lime on the potatoes and serve.
  • Quick Tips
  • 1. I thought I’d get out of cleaning the slow cooker here since the potatoes were wrapped in foil. Unfortunately for me, I was a bit hasty in sealing the packets. The sweet, sticky juices from inside seeped out and caused quite a caked-on mess in my slow cooker. If you seal the foil tightly, you can likely avoid this problem. Better yet, consider a second layer of foil to make sure to seal in the moisture.
  • 2. The best part of the sweet potato is the spicy skin! If you don’t care to eat the skin, just be sure to rub the flavorful spices onto the inside of the potato first. Don’t let all those yummy spices go to waste!

Preparation time: 5 minute(s)

Cooking time: 6 hours

Number of servings (yield): 4

One response to “Chili Lime Sweet Potatoes”

  1. Kristen hirsch says:
    February 22, 2012 at 11:19 pm

    I’ll try these, Alicia!

    Reply

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