Regular potatoes are one of those things that make life a little bit more beautiful to live. You can enjoy potatoes in so many different ways, from boiled to fries, to chips… there’s no shortage of ways you can cook these delightful vegetables.
But if there’s one thing that’s better than potatoes, then it’s definitely sweet potatoes. They take all the beautiful flavors of regular potatoes and amplify them by ten!
If you’ve found your way to this article, you are probably wondering how to freeze them. There are three standard ways you can freeze them, depending on what form they are in.
We’ll be going over each of them here, so you don’t have to worry about them spoiling. So let’s get started.
What Are Sweet Potatoes?
If you’ve somehow never had sweet potatoes before, we’re going to give you a very quick introduction to what you’re actually missing out on.
Though many people will tell you that they are a member of the potato family, this isn’t actually true!
Potatoes are edible tubers that belong to the nightshade family, but sweet potatoes are actually large edible roots that belong to the morning glory family. They are very similar in texture to regular potatoes, but don’t be fooled!
Sweet potatoes are distinguishable by their very vibrant orange flesh and copper-colored skin.
It should be noted, however, that there are many varieties of sweet potato, some of which exhibit different colors, such as white, cream, yellow, reddish-purple, and deep purple.
As their name would suggest, sweet potatoes are rather sweet in the way they taste, and this sweetness can be enhanced depending on how you cook them. One of the best ways to enhance their sweet flavor is by roasting them.
Sweet potatoes are also a food with one of the best sources of beta-carotene, which is a precursor to vitamin A.
Can You Freeze Sweet Potatoes?
If you really enjoy sweet potatoes and you’re concerned that you can’t freeze them, then you can put that worry to bed. You can 100% freeze them, and they will last quite a while.
You can cook a batch of sweet potatoes in practically all their forms, including mashed, baked, and boiled. When you freeze them, they will last for about 10 to 12 months, so you will be set for the entire year!
One of the main reasons people opt to freeze their sweet potatoes is because they take so long to cook.
If you have a batch of them that is already frozen, you can be sure that when it comes round to making a meal, the hard part of cooking them will be taken out of the equation.
How To Freeze Sweet Potatoes
Once you know how to freeze sweet potatoes, you will be using this option multiple times.
We’ll be going over how to freeze sweet potatoes in their mashed, baked, and boiled forms, so you can be sure that they are frozen properly. So, let’s take a look!
Mashed
Let’s start off with how to freeze mashed sweet potatoes. You can enjoy this form of potatoes in all the same ways you’d enjoy regular mashed potatoes.
If you really want to mix things up a little bit, mashed sweet potatoes also work really well in sweet treats, such as cakes!
Follow these steps to cook and freeze mashed sweet potatoes correctly:
- Cook your potatoes in the same way you’d cook boiled sweet potatoes.
- Once they have cooled to room temperature, peel off the skins. This shouldn’t be too difficult once they have been boiled.
- Put the sweet potatoes in a bowl and beat/blend them until they are smooth.
- Once the potatoes have been mashed, put the mixture into a freezer-safe bag. You can put the whole batch in one bag, or portion it off into a few bags.
- Flatten the bags out as much as you can to remove any access air.
Baked
Now let’s take a look at how to freeze baked sweet potatoes. Baking sweet potatoes is a very long process, so freezing them after you’ve baked them means that you’ll cut the cooking time down in half the next time you need to use them.
Follow these steps to cook and freeze baked sweet potatoes correctly:
- Wash your potatoes and make sure that they are clean.
- Poke the whole area of the potatoes with a fork and place them onto a large baking pan.
- Place the pan into the oven and bake the potatoes at 375F for 1 to 1.5 hours.
- Once they are baked, leave them to cool down to room temperature in the oven for roughly 30 minutes.
- As soon as they are cool, wrap each sweet potato in foil and place them into freezer-safe bags.
- In this form, they can be kept frozen for up to 12 months.
Boiled
And finally, let’s take a look at how you freeze boiled sweet potatoes.
It doesn’t matter how you have prepared them, be it cubed, diced, whole, or sliced, as long as you follow the instructions below, you will be able to cook and freeze them without any issues at all.
- First, you will need to scrub and wash the potatoes and make sure that they are clean.
- Slice them depending on what your preference is and don’t worry about peeling them. Once they are cooked, the skin will fall off by itself.
- Put all of your potatoes into a pot of boiling water and let them cook for about 10 to 15 minutes. You can check they are done by piercing them with a fork. If they are easy to pierce with a little bit of firmness, then they are done.
- Once they are done, take them out of the pot and let them cool down to room temperature.
- Finally, as soon as they have cooled down, you can transfer them to freezer-safe bags. Make sure that you remember to squeeze out any excess air from the bag.
Tips & Tricks You Should Know
- Freezing sweet potatoes doesn’t decrease their nutritional value. If you need to freeze them, you can be sure that all their health benefits will remain.
- If your frozen sweet potatoes get freezer burn, they are still safe to eat. They won’t taste as great as they initially did, but they are still edible with freezer burn.
- If you are considering keeping raw potatoes in the fridge or freezer, this is your sign to avoid it. Raw potatoes do not keep well in the fridge or freezer. They end up developing a much tougher core and they won’t taste very nice once they are cooked.
- In some cases, sweet potatoes can be frozen for much longer than a year. It depends on how well know sweet potatoes and if you know the signs when they go bad. If you don’t trust them after a year though, don’t risk it.
- If you want to save time preparing your potatoes, a popular way to prep them is by blanching them. We’ll get into blanching your sweet potatoes later.
How To Blanch Sweet Potatoes
If you’d like to learn how to blanch your sweet potatoes, then follow these steps in order to do it successfully:
- First, add your sweet potatoes to a pot of boiling water, and do so carefully.
- Let them cook for about 3 to 5 minutes. Check they are done by piercing them with a fork.
- Now, get a slotted spoon to remove them from the boiling water quickly, and put them in a bowl of ice water.
- Your potatoes will now be blanched and you can put them into a freezer-friendly bag.
Can You Freeze Raw Sweet Potatoes?
It’s strongly recommended that you don’t freeze raw sweet potatoes.
This is because when they are raw, they have high water content. Putting them in the freezer raw can increase the chances and risk of your potatoes getting freezer burn, as well as risking them turning mushy once they are thawed.
Conclusion
Freezing your sweet potatoes after you’ve cooked them will save you lots of time and hassle in the future, then you definitely need to start freezing them once they are cooked!
Whether you want them boiled, mashed, or baked, you can freeze each variation ready to use the next time you fancy some sweet potatoes. Try some of these methods today and see how much time you save.
Cooking is great for your mental, physical, and emotional health. What’s the worst that could happen? Find a recipe that you like the sound of and cook it along with me. You might even unlock a new passion!
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