Crispy Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Candied Bacon
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Say hello to the BEST recipe for crispy roasted sweet potatoes! You’ll absolutely love it with the candied bacon pieces and served with scrambled eggs.
With my recipe you’ll get sweet potatoes with a soft and tender interior and perfectly roasted crunchy exterior. The natural sugars in the sweet potatoes caramelize during roasting, adding a sweet and savory flavor profile that’s simply irresistible. Speaking of irresistible sweet potatoes, you also need to try my sweet potato casserole, sweet potato pie, and my slow cooker sweet potatoes with hot honey and bacon.
These sweet potatoes are cut into chunks, with the skin on (because convenience 🤗) and are simply seasoned with olive oil, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper.
It’s a great recipe when you’re craving sweet potatoes for breakfast and want something ultra delicious! My stuffed breakfast sweet potato is another fun way to enjoy sweet potato in the AM hours.
Why this recipe works
- Soaking the sweet potatoes is key: have you ever roasted your sweet potatoes and ended up with a mushy mess? The trick is to soak the sweet potato chunks in cool/cold water for at least 30 minutes. This extra little step will help to reduce the starch content. This helps achieve a super crispy exterior when roasting, while the insides stay soft, creamy and tender.
- Roast with the skin on: convenient since it eliminates the time spent peeling the potatoes, the skin also contains nutrients so we don’t want to waste those, the skin gets crispy when roasting which adds great texture to this meal and the flavor is just too good to let it go to waste!
- Candied bacon: hello sweet and salty! We’re not just adding regular old bacon to these crispy roasted sweet potatoes. The candied bacon elevates this meal and is really easy to make.
Ingredient Notes
For the ingredient measurements and entire recipe, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the blog post where the recipe card is located.
- Sweet potatoes: you’ll need about 3-4 medium sweet potatoes for this recipe. You can peel them if you’d like if you don’t like the texture, but I always keep the skin on.
- Spices: you’ll need kosher salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and smoked paprika.
- Bell pepper: I love red bell pepper, but feel free to use any color you like.
- Scallions or chives: add a pop of color and I think it’s the perfect herbaceous touch to round out this recipe.
- Bacon: be sure to choose a nice thick-cut bacon.
- Brown sugar: this is used to make the candied bacon.
- Eggs: serve this meal as is, or I always love it with eggs for a protein packed breakfast or brunch! You can make them scrambled, poached, or however you love em’ best.
Step by Step Directions
For the full recipe instructions, scroll down to the bottom of the blog post to the recipe card.
- Soak the sweet potato chunks.
- Make the candied bacon.
- Toss sweet potato and bell pepper on a baking sheet with olive oil and seasonings.
- Roast until crispy.
- Serve with the candied bacon and eggs.
Expert Tips
- Cut the sweet potatoes into even-sized pieces. This ensures that they cook uniformly, preventing some pieces from becoming overcooked or undercooked.
- Preheat the oven while you prep all the ingredients. A hot oven helps achieve that crispy exterior.
- Spread everything on the sheet pan evenly and in a single layer. Overcrowding can lead to steaming instead of roasting, so make sure there is enough space between the pieces.
- Roasted sweet potatoes are best when served hot and fresh out of the oven. Their crispy texture and flavors are at their peak right after roasting.
More breakfast recipe ideas
Variations
- Feel free to use a different oil, such as avocado oil, vegetable oil or coconut oil.
- Add different spices, seasonings or herbs. You can try rosemary, thyme, chili powder, chipotle powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.
- I like to add just brown sugar and a pinch of chili flakes to the candied bacon, but feel free to add a little black pepper, cayenne, or even some everything but the bagel seasoning on top!
- Feel free to saute some additional veggies on the side and add them to your crispy roasted sweet potatoes; spinach, mushrooms, or kale.
- Top with crumbled feta cheese and season with oregano and add Kalamata olives for a Mediterranean twist.
Storage
- I love these fresh, but if you have leftovers, store in an airtight container for 3-5 days.
- Reheat in the oven, toaster oven or pop in the microwave.
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Crispy Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Candied Bacon
Ingredients
For the sweet potatoes
- 3 medium sweet potatoes, chopped into cubes or chunks (you can leave the skin on)
- 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp. smoked paprika
- freshly cracked black pepper
- scallions or chives for garnish
For the candied bacon
- 6-8 strips thick-cut bacon (find a nice good quality bacon)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar, not packed
- pinch chili flakes
Last step! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Place the cut sweet potatoes in a large bowl and pour cold water over them until all potatoes are submerged. Allow the sweet potato cubes to soak at least 30 minutes or up to overnight in the fridge. This resting time is key to getting super crispy potatoes. Drain and rinse. Then pat completely dry with paper towels.3 medium sweet potatoes, chopped into cubes or chunks (you can leave the skin on)
- While the potatoes soak, you can make the candied bacon. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a sheet pan with foil AND parchment on top (this helps for super easy clean up) and place a wire cooling rack on top. Lay the bacon strips in an even layer. Combine the brown sugar and chili flakes, sprinkle it on top of each bacon strip and then gently pat it down. Try not to get too much brown sugar everywhere because as the brown sugar melts, it can burn.6-8 strips thick-cut bacon (find a nice good quality bacon), 1/3 cup brown sugar, not packed, pinch chili flakes
- Cook the bacon on the middle or top rack in oven for about ~25-35 minutes or until bacon is rendered and browned, you can give the pan a turn half way through cooking. Allow the bacon to cool because it crisps more as it cools. Then chop the bacon into large pieces.
- Place the sweet potatoes and bell peppers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and drizzle with olive oil.1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped, 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
- Combine the seasonings in a small dish.1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, 1/2 tsp. onion powder, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1/8 tsp. smoked paprika, freshly cracked black pepper
- Toss seasonings to coat all over the sweet potato and bell peppers. Increase the oven temperature to 425°F and cook the sweet potatoes for about 25-30 minutes. I don’t like to stir them so they get super crispy bottoms.
- Sprinkle candied bacon pieces over the sweet potatoes, garnish with chives or green onions and serve with eggs.scallions or chives for garnish
Video
Notes
- I love this recipe when everything is fresh, but if you have leftovers, store in an airtight container for 3-5 days.
Nutrition Information
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is automatically calculated. It should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Kroll’s Korner can’t make any guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
