Sweet Potato Skins Are A New Twist On The Classic Appetizer

Sweet potatoes are perhaps a tad more divisive than regular potatoes. Your average white potato can be transformed into nearly anything, from fries to chips to hash browns to creamy mashed potatoes, and then you can take the skins and load them up with toppings as an appetizer. Sweet potatoes, on the other hand, can be used for these, but their sweeter and less mild taste means that not everybody will be a fan. However, if you know your dinner guests have a taste for sweet potatoes, then loaded sweet potato skins are a great way to open the meal.

Sweet potato skins are prepared in much the same way you'd whip up the usual potato skins you'd find at a TGI Fridays. They go well with the typical loaded potato skin ingredients like cheddar, bacon, chives, grated parmesan, and sour cream. That slightly stronger sweet flavor also pairs well with spicier Tex-Mex fare such as salsa verde and jalapeños, alongside black beans chips and avocado. Southwest stuffed sweet potato skins, anyone?

When preparing sweet potato skins, there are ways you can help preserve and punch up that unique sweetness. Adding salt, pepper, and a liberal amount of oil can all help preserve the flavor of sweet potato peels. Sweet potatoes also have a little less starch than regular potatoes and contain a little more moisture. As a result, they bake faster than normal potatoes (specifically russet potatoes, which is the kind you'll commonly see) and don't need as much time in the oven.

And keep in mind that sweet potatoes are just a little softer than potatoes, which means it can be harder to get that crunch in a cooked sweet potato skin. But it isn't impossible. Adding cornstarch to the outside of the sweet potato can help it crisp. Boiling with baking soda can also make them much crispier, and you'll need this extra crunch to have a solid enough shell for all the other ingredients.

What else goes well with sweet potato skins? For especially "sweet" sweet potato skins, marshmallows and sweet potatoes are a surprisingly common yet satisfyingly classic mix. They're usually prepared together as a casserole, but there's no reason why mini-marshmallows wouldn't fit inside the skins alongside brown sugar or cinnamon. Something crunchy like walnuts could round out the dish, and now you have potato skins for dessert instead of as appetizers.

For a nutritious way to load up your sweet skins, chickpeas and spinach topped with either cheese or tahini might make for a popular combination in your household. A carved out sweet potato is sturdy enough to contain a handful of whole chickpeas without too much to hold them in place (although a melted cheese topping could still help do that). And sweet potatoes are a great fit for healthy recipes. Sweet potato skins have lots of vitamin A and fiber, and the fiber in particular is much more present in the skin than in the "meat" of the potato. Just make sure to check the sweet potato skins for any blemishes or cracks, as this can be a sign that the spud has spoiled.