How to Make Sweet Potato Toast

Have you seen the latest food trend taking over Instagram? I’m talking about sweet potato toast!

Unlike avocado toast, you don’t simply slather mashed sweet potato on a slice of organic sprouted multigrain. The sweet potato IS the toast. Kinda trippy, huh? But I’m a skeptic, and the idea of popping a slice of raw sweet potato directly into a toaster or toaster oven and ending up with something remotely good sounds like wishful thinking.

But damn, I was wrong.

After trying it out with pretty low expectations, I was pleasantly surprised—and now I can’t stop thinking about all the crazy combos I’m going to make next. If you’re following a Paleo diet, cutting out refined carbs, or simply wanting to up your veggie intake, this is a pretty genius idea. Want to give it a whirl? Follow these steps…

1. Clean your spud

Wash your sweet potato, then cut it into ¼” slices with a sharp knife. Both regular sweet potatoes and Japanese sweet potatoes (with purple skin and a lighter, sweeter flesh) work well.

2. Heat things up

If you’re using a toaster oven, lightly coat both sides of your sweet potato slices with olive oil, then toast at 450F for about 10 minutes. (The slice on the right has olive oil and cooked up faster than the oil-free slice on the left.) Using a regular toaster? Kelsey of the blog Little Bits Of recommends toasting your (oil-free) sweet potato slices twice on high.

Your “toast” won’t be crunchy, but it will be soft enough to bite through easily and sturdy enough to hold lots of toppings.

3. Get creative

Load on your favorite toppings! This is the fun part. I slathered on some chunky peanut butter then layered on granny smith apple slices and a sprinkle of cinnamon. So. Freakin. Good.

4. Get REALLY creative

Once you get the toasting method down, you can pretty much top these bad boys with anything you want. Take a cue from Nancy at Urban Kitchen Apothecary and load ’em up with lox, a combo of strawberries, avocados, and mint, or simply avocado slices, sea salt, and spices.

5. Try some fruit

Get a little crazy, like Christine from This Is How I Mom, and experiment with combos like grapefruit, pomegranate, and coconut, yogurt, blueberries, and chia, or almond butter, nuts, chia, and cacao.

6. Put an egg on it

Or go full-on brunch with this recipe by Katie at Honestly Nourished and top with avocado, loads of veggies, and poached eggs.