This sauteed sweet potatoes recipe is so easy to make and doesn’t take long at all.

It makes a perfect side dish to just about anything ranging from a grilled burger to a roasted chicken.

Sweet potatoes are absolutely one of my favorite foods. We eat them every way that we can possibly dream up.

✔ How to Cook Sweet Potatoes in Air Fryer

✔ Savory Mashed Sweet Potatoes that will blow your mind

✔ Baked sweet potato fries that everyone will beg for

So of course, we would saute sweet potatoes.

One of the nice things about cooking with sweet potatoes is that they are super filling.

A little bit of sweet potato goes a long way.

I could go on and on but I will spare you.

My dream is to become a farmer. Just a Bohemian guy pulling up his own sweet potatoes for dinner.

~Lenny Kravitz

One of the decisions that you will need to make when sauteing sweet potatoes are where you want to saute dices or saute slices.

I personally prefer to saute slices because I feel like they present well next to a chicken breast or steak.

Also, I struggle a bit forking little diced pieces of food but that is probably just me.

Sauteed diced sweet potatoes are nice if you want to mix them into a hash or add them in with other vegetables.

So my advice is to consider how you want to serve the potatoes before you start sauteing them.

The method for sauteing them is the same no matter how you cut them up.

Table of Contents

Check out these articles:

Can you prepare sauteed sweet potatoes in advance?

You can saute sweet potatoes in advance and reheat them later but we do prefer to serve them freshly cooked.

However, what is a great time-saver is to pre-cut the potatoes in advance. This will save you about 10 minutes of cutting time and of course clean up time as well.

After you have cut up the sweet potatoes put them in an airtight container and place them in the fridge.

You can do this up to 24 hours in advance.

How to reheat sauteed sweet potatoes?

It is pretty simple to reheat sauteed sweet potatoes. Our preferred method for the best taste is to warm them up in a skillet over medium heat.

Allow the sweet potatoes to come to room temperature.

Heat the skillet up and then add the potatoes to the hot pan. Stir the potatoes frequently until they are thoroughly reheated.

If you are in a hurry you can reheat sauteed sweet potatoes in the microwave.

This isn’t our preferred method because it may change the texture.

To reheat the sweet potatoes in the microwave, set it to a low-temperature setting first.

Reheat the potatoes in 30-second intervals. Stir in between the heatings and continue to check for doneness.

Do you peel sweet potatoes before sauteing them?

You don’t need to peel sweet potatoes before you saute them. This is a purely optional step.

However, if you choose not to peel the potatoes be sure to wash and scrub them thoroughly before cooking with them.

Ingredients needed for sauteed sweet potatoes

We love sauteed sweet potatoes as a side dish because they don’t require hardly any ingredients to taste amazing.

The flavor is all in the potatoes and the technique used. In truth, you only need three ingredients.

Now, we love to mix it up with a variety of spices and herbs from time to time but most days we keep it simple and let the potatoes be the star.

Sweet potatoes – Inspect your sweet potatoes closely and make sure that they are still firm and don’t have any black spots. If they have a spot here or there, just them away as you prepping the potatoes.

Olive oil – We saute our vegetables with olive oil instead of butter because the oil handles higher heats better than butter.

Now with that said, butter does add a spectacular flavor and we are big fans of adding it to the sauteed sweet potatoes.

If you want to add butter, just add 1 tablespoon per potato during the last 2 minutes of cooking.

Salt – Salt is truly optional when it comes to sauteing vegetables but it really does help bring out the flavor of the sweet potato and the olive oil. It only takes a pinch of salt.

Optional ingredients for sauteing sweet potatoes

Sauteed sweet potatoes with olive oil and salt is a star dish all to itself but it is fun to change up recipes and add flavors.

This is a great dish to get experimental with herbs and spices and delight those tastebuds.

We are sharing a few options that you may not consider but are worth trying.

Try mixing two of them together such as whiskey and chili pepper. Your tastebuds will be delighted.

Bacon
Chili peppers
Ginger
Garlic
Maple syrup
Pineapple
Whiskey
Walnuts

What kind of pan is best for sauteing sweet potatoes?

We prefer to use a large nonstick skillet with curved sides. Our favorite skillet these days is the Le Creuset large frying pan.

You can saute sweet potatoes in a cast-iron skillet and it does add a nice flavor but if you do pay close attention to not burn the potatoes or allow them to stick.

Sweet potatoes hold up better in a cast-iron skillet than some other vegetables do.

How to saute sweet potatoes

This is an overview of how to saute carrots. Down below you will find the detailed instructions with temperature and measurements.

Step 1: Wash and scrub the potatoes. If you are going to peel potatoes this is your moment. Go ahead and peel the sweet potatoes.

Step 2: Slice the potatoes into coin shapes that are about ½” thick. If your potatoes are particularly large in diameter consider cutting them in half lengthwise and then cutting the slices.

Note: Do your best to cut even slices because they will cook more evenly in the pan this way. If some slices are thinner they will cook faster and may start to burn before the thicker slices are done.

Step 3: Heat up the skillet and then add the olive oil, salt, and potatoes to the pan.

Step 4: Cook the potatoes, stirring occasionally. Be sure to spread the potatoes out in the pan. They will cook better if they aren’t bunched up. They are done when they are soft and starting to crisp on the edges.

How to Saute Sweet Potatoes (Simple & Tasty)

How to saute sweet potatoes easily. This recipe only requires sweet potatoes, olive oil, and salt. Feel free to add to them with herbs and spices for additional flavor.

Ingredients

2 sweet potatoes
3 T olive oil
Dash of salt

Instructions

Wash and dry the sweet potatoes. Cut them into ½” thick round slices. (Note: You don’t have to peel sweet potatoes to saute them but you can if you prefer. It is up to you. Be sure to wash and scrub the sweet potatoes if you don’t plan to peel them.)
Place a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat.
Add the olive oil, salt, and sweet potatoes to the hot pan.
Spread the potatoes evenly in the pan and allow them to cook.
Stir occasionally until the sweet potatoes are lightly caramelized. This should take about 10-15 minutes but cook times do vary. (Note: Cook them until they are softened and have crispy edges. Cook times will vary based upon the thickness of the slices and the temperature.)