Can you eat sweetpotato skin?

It’s a common kitchen query that sparks curiosity for many home cooks: Can you eat sweetpotato skin? The simple answer is yes, and not just that, it’s highly recommended! While some might instinctively peel away this vibrant layer, sweetpotato’s skin is a nutritional powerhouse, packed with beneficial fibre, vitamins, and a surprisingly rich flavour that truly enhances the overall eating experience. 

From crispy air-fryer sweetpotato fries to hearty stuffed sweetpotatoes, these versatile tubers are a staple in healthy cooking. As you prepare them, embracing the skin adds an extra layer of goodness, ensuring you get the most out of every delicious bite. So, next time you’re wondering, “Can you eat the skin of a sweetpotato?”, get ready to discover why keeping it on is one of the best culinary decisions you can make. 

Not only is sweetpotato skin perfectly edible, but it’s a significant contributor to the vegetable’s overall nutritional profile. In fact, a large portion of its valuable nutrients are concentrated in, or just beneath, the skin. Eating a medium sweetpotato with its skin on can provide your recommended daily amount of Vitamin A, an essential nutrient vital for vision, strong bone development, and robust immune function. 

Sweetpotato skin is also an excellent source of: 

Crucial for digestive health, sweetpotatoes provide around 3.7g of fibre per 111g portion. This aids digestion, promotes a healthy gut microbiome, helps regulate blood sugar levels, and contributes significantly to a feeling of fullness, which can be beneficial for weight management. 

Beyond the impressive Vitamin A, sweetpotato skin also contributes to your intake of Vitamin C (important for immune support and skin health) and Vitamin B6 (which plays a key role in nervous and immune system function, and can help reduce tiredness). 

Sweetpotatoes, especially their skins, are rich in powerful antioxidants like beta-carotene (which your body converts to Vitamin A) and anthocyanins (particularly in purple varieties). These compounds help protect your body from cell damage caused by free radicals, potentially lowering your risk for chronic illnesses like certain cancers and heart disease. 

The skin contributes to essential minerals such as potassium (important for blood pressure regulation), manganese, and copper. 

Eating the whole sweetpotato, including its skin, provides a more complete nutritional package. It’s a simple yet powerful way to maximise the health benefits of this incredible vegetable, providing complex carbohydrates for sustained energy while being naturally low in fat and calories. Embrace the skin wherever you can! 

Once you’re convinced of the benefits, the next step is proper preparation. Since sweetpotatoes are tubers that grow directly in the soil, their outer skin can carry dirt and debris. To enjoy sweetpotato skin safely and deliciously, thorough washing is essential. 

To effectively clean your sweetpotato, simply place it under running water and scrub it thoroughly with a vegetable brush. Don’t worry about damaging the skin or the flesh -sweetpotato skins are quite robust! This quick step ensures you’re ready to enjoy all the goodness they offer, confirming that you can eat sweetpotato skin without concerns after proper cleaning.  

Beyond cleanliness, sweetpotato skin adds a wonderful texture to your dishes, and how you cook it significantly impacts that texture. For that delightfully crispy texture, perfect for many recipes, baking or roasting your sweetpotatoes with the skin on is the ideal method. Think crispy sweetpotato fries or a perfectly baked hasselback sweetpotato! If you prefer a softer, more yielding skin that blends seamlessly into dishes, boiling or steaming will achieve that result.

Roasting and baking truly allow the skin to shine. You can use it as a base for delicious meals like crispy sweetpotato skins with cheese and bacon or vibrant salsa and guacamole stuffed sweetpotatoes. Keeping the skin on during cooking not only adds a valuable textural component and extra nutrients but also saves you precious prep time!

So, to answer the burning question: Yes, you absolutely can eat sweetpotato skin! Far from just a peel to be discarded, sweetpotato skin is a true nutritional powerhouse. As we’ve explored, leaving the skin on significantly boosts the vegetable’s fibre, vitamins (especially A and C), and antioxidant content, providing a more complete and beneficial nutritional package for your body.  

Beyond the impressive health benefits, the skin also adds a delightful textural component to your dishes, transforming from crispy when roasted to soft when steamed. If you’re looking to get the most nutrition, flavour, and even save a little prep time, our advice is clear; keep the skin on! 

Embracing the whole sweetpotato means enjoying every bit of its goodness. So, the next time you reach for this versatile vegetable, remember that you can eat the skin of a sweetpotato with confidence, knowing you’re adding a wealth of health benefits and enhancing your meal. Don’t throw away the goodness – enjoy the full, delicious potential of the sweetpotato!