The Roasted Sweet Potato Mistake That Leads To Soggy Results

Perfectly roasted sweet potatoes are crisp on the outside, nicely browned, with a velvety interior. However, there's one mistake many people make that can easily turn a good thing into a soggy situation: placing sweet potatoes too close together or overcrowding the pan. In contrast to baking, roasting requires higher temperatures, usually at or above 400 degrees Fahrenheit, to distribute dry heat to cook and crisp the veggies. No matter how you slice them — whether it's in cubes, wedges, fries, or you keep them whole — it's crucial to give sweet potatoes a little breathing room while roasting. Otherwise, the tasty root vegetable will steam instead and absorb excess moisture.

This rule of thumb is true for roasting sweet potatoes and other veggies so they don't become mushy. If you overcrowd the pan by piling on too many potatoes, there's not much room for the vegetable's moisture to evaporate — and instead steam gets stuck within and cooks the potatoes. While sharing their tips for the best roasted sweet potatoes, Jessica Randhawa, chef and recipe developer behind The Forked Spoon, told Tasting Table that "Spacing them out allows the heat to circulate evenly around each piece, ensuring they crisp up nicely." Instead of overloading the pan, roast the sweet potatoes in batches or on separate pans — or simply choose a larger one that retains and evenly distributes heat, such as an aluminum baking sheet.

Roasting sweet potatoes is all about even cooking via dry heat for optimal browning and crispness. Therefore, giving sweet potatoes ample space while they roast prevents trapping steam that could make them soggy. But how much room, exactly, do sweet potatoes need? In the same aforementioned interview, the long-time chef-instructor at the Natural Gourmet Institute, chef Richard LaMarita, told Tasting Table, "Do not bunch them together so they are touching or too close to each other." It may seem like a good idea to fit as many potato wedges on one pan, but LaMarita said to "Let them sit a good ½ to 1 inch apart and toss them occasionally as you are roasting to ensure even cooking."

In addition to spacing sweet potatoes out on a large pan, you can chop them in even sizes and toss or rotate them halfway through the cooking process to ensure they cook evenly and crisp on all sides. Coating the root veggies in a generous drizzle of oil prior to roasting also helps to achieve a satisfying crunchy exterior, while there's an unassuming pantry staple that will give your sweet potatoes extra crispy results. Once you learn to avoid overcrowding your pan, along with the many other mistakes people make when roasting veggies, you'll be well on your way to roasting up creative and crisp takes on sweet potatoes as well as all your other favorite veggies.