Oven Baked Yams Recipes

HOW TO BAKE A YAM

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 425°. Sweet potatoes and yams are forgiving vegetables, so you can cook them at temperatures ranging from 375-450°. This means you can place them in the oven while you cook other food.
• Line a baking pan or dish with aluminum foil. Yams tend to ooze syrupy juice, which can be difficult to clean up. Lining your pan ensures an easy clean up process. Don't wrap your yams or sweet potatoes in aluminum foil. Simply lay them on the foil.
• Wash and pierce the yams. Gently scrub the yams under cold water. Poke each yam four or five times with a fork or sharp knife. Put them in the baking dish. You can drizzle vegetable or olive oil on the yams if you choose. Rub the oil evenly over the skins. For a paleo or clean eating variation, coat the sweet potatoes or yams in coconut oil.
• Bake for approximately 1 hour. Once during cooking, turn them over. The sweet potato or yam is done when the yam is soft. Touch it with an oven mitt and test for softness. Insert a knife into the middle of the potato; it should easily glide into the potato if it's done. If it's not done, continue cooking. Another way to tell it is done is that the outside will be darker when it's done. Cooking time will vary depending upon the size of the yams. Larger yams will take longer to cook. The yams can take from 45 to 75 minutes to cook.
• Serve. Remove the yams from the pan and slice open with a knife. Serve the yam with small pats of butter. For a paleo or clean variation, cover with coconut butter and sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg. Another clean option is to top with maple syrup or honey. Add brown or granulated sugar and pumpkin pie spice for a sweeter taste. Add salt and pepper, paprika, or cumin for a more savory dish. Mix chili pepper with butter for a kick of spice.

ROASTED YAMS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet or shallow baking dish with aluminum foil.
• Arrange slices of potato in the prepared pan so they are overlapping slightly. Season with salt and pepper and then drizzle olive oil over them as evenly as possible.
• Bake in the preheated oven until potatoes are tender and have begun to wrinkle around the edges, about 30 minutes.

PLAIN BAKED WHOLE YAMS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 Farenheit. (Test oven temperature with thermometer to make sure your oven thermostat is correct.) Scrub yams with veggie brush under running cold water. This will abrade the skin enough so you don't have to make slits in them. Place in stainless pan large enough so yams fit comfortably without crowding. It's OK if they touch. Bake for 1 ½ hours. Yams are done when the flesh has pulled away from the skin and a knife goes in very easily. The skin will look somewhat charred, but the yams will not taste burned. Turn off oven and let yams sit in oven until room temperature. If that's not practical let them sit on the counter till cool. Refrigerate in their skins several hours or overnight, till cold, in a covered glass container. Peel, slice, and serve as a side dish, dessert, or snack. They are also good warm but really come into their own when chilled. If serving warm you can add a little orange juice if you like, but when eating them cold they are best on their own.

OVEN BAKED YAMS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Wash the yams and place them whole in a pot (no need to peel them). Add cold water until the yams are barely covered. It's important to start with cold water so the yams cook evenly. Bring to a boil, add 1 teaspoon of salt and reduce the heat to medium-high (if you cook the yams at a roaring boil, they might fall apart). As soon as the water reaches a boil, cook for about 12 minutes. Test, using a fork; the yams should be slightly tender but still firm (not fully cooked). Remove from the pot. Immediately drain the yams thoroughly and let them cool a little (do not rinse). Once the yams are cool enough to handle and have dried completely, cut them into halves (or thirds, depending on their size).
• Using a paring knife, create a 2''-slit in half, horizontally, making sure you don't cut all the way through the base so all of both parts remain attached. Place a yam in a piece of aluminum foil, insert a thin slice of butter into the incision and drizzle with maple syrup.
• Tightly, wrap the yams individually in aluminum foil (for easy clean-up), making sure to leave an opening towards the tip of the yam, and place all the yams onto a baking pan.
• Bake for 10 minutes at 400°F, then lower the heat to 375°F and continue baking for 20 minutes. Allow to rest a little.
• The yams should be fork-tender.
• Each person unwraps a yam, adds his or her own additional ingredients (salt and pepper, brown sugar, butter or toasted sliced almonds), scrapes the flesh and discards the skin.
• Bon appétit!

GJELINA'S ROASTED YAMS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425. Cut the yams lengthwise into 4 wedges per yam. Put them in a large bowl, and toss them with the honey, ½ tablespoon of the Espelette pepper or crushed red-pepper flakes and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Let it sit for 10 minutes or so, tossing once or twice to coat, as the oven heats.
• Transfer the yams to a foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet, season with salt and pepper and then bake until they are deeply caramelized around the edges and soft when pierced with a fork at their thickest part, approximately 30 to 35 minutes.
• As the yams roast, combine the yogurt, lime juice and remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a small bowl, and whisk to combine, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
• When the yams are done, transfer them to a serving platter, drizzle the yogurt over them and garnish with the remaining Espelette pepper or red-pepper flakes, the scallions and some flaky sea salt if you have any.

BAKED YAMS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Prick the yams and place in oven for 30 minutes or until done. Cut in half, scoop out the yams and mash with a fork. Serve with salt, pepper and butter if desired.

BAKED STUFFED YAMS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F & set out a shallow baking pan.
• Scrub yams well & pat dry.
• Rub each with butter or salad oil, then pierce skin with a fork & place in the baking pan.
• Bake until soft, about 30-40 minutes, OR bake at a lower temperature along with meat for about 1 hour. Remove from oven.
• While yams are cooling slightly, beat 2 egg whites until stiff, then set aside.
• When yams have cooled enough to handle, cut a slice off a side of each yam so that you can scoop out the pulp into a mixing bowl & leaving about a quarter-inch thick shell.
• To the pulp, add butter, salt & pepper & orange zest, beating to mix thoroughly.
• Fold in beaten & stiff egg whites.
• Stuff this filling back into the yam shells & sprinkle tops with Parmesan cheese.
• Return to a 350 degree F oven & bake another 10-15 minutes before serving.

BAKED SWEET POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees with rack in center position.
• Scrub and pat potatoes dry. Pierce potatoes all over with the tines of a fork and bake in oven, directly on rack, until soft and caramelizing, 1 1/2 hours.
• Slash the tops of potatoes open with the tip of a sharp knife and push ends of each potato toward each other to open. Divide butter, salt, and pepper among potatoes and serve.

BAKED CANDIED YAMS - SOUL FOOD STYLE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F.
• Wash the yams.
• Peel, then chop the yams ( make sure that they are about ½ inch thick.
• Place the yams into a 9x13 bake dish.
• Place the butter into a medium sized pot, then melt it over medium heat.
• Once the butter is melted, sprinkle in the white & brown sugar, ground cinnamon,ground nutmeg, ground ginger, and ground clove.
• Turn the stove off, mix the ingredients, then add in the vanilla extract.
• Next, cover the bake dish with foil, then bake the yams in the oven for 30 minutes.
• Pour the candied mixture over the yams, and try to coat all the yams with the candied mixture.
• Remove the yams from the oven, and baste them with the candied mixture.
• Cover the yams, and bake them for another 15-20 minutes.
• Remove the yams from the oven, and let them sit for about 10 minutes before serving.

ROASTED YAM HALVES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Halve yams, and place, cut side up, in a shallow baking dish just large enough to hold them in a single layer. Drizzle with oil, and sprinkle with thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Bake until golden brown and very tender, 35 to 45 minutes.

WHOLE ROASTED YAMS WITH MAPLE-ALLSPICE BUTTER

Steps:

• Mix first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before using.)
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly pierce potatoes all over with fork. Set potatoes directly on oven rack; bake until tender when pierced with skewer, about 1 hour. Cut cross in top of each potato. Using oven mitts to protect hands, squeeze potatoes gently in from sides, forcing crosses to open. Spoon 1 tablespoon butter into each potato. Serve, passing remaining butter separately.