How to Cook Purple Yams: Baked, Boiled or Roasted

Tip

Bake purple yams just as you would do with sweet potatoes. Peel and roast them in a preheated 375 degrees Fahrenheit oven with a little oil, salt and pepper.

What Are Purple Sweet Potatoes?

All sweet potatoes, including purple yams, come from the morning glory family, per the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. They differ from yams, which are edible, starchy tubers.

  • Okinawan, which is beige on the outside and lavender-colored on the inside. They have a creamy texture and are a standard ingredient in the Hawaiian pie called Haupia. Use them in this Purple Sweet Potato Hummus recipe.
  • Murasaki sweet potatoes, or Japanese sweet potatoes, are white on the inside but have purple skin.
  • Ube is, in fact, a yam that's purple inside and brown on the outside. Due to their naturally sweet flavor, they are a common ingredient in Asian desserts.

If you decide to boil purple sweet potatoes, try a Spicy Purple Potato Salad recipe for a delicious and nutritious meal.

How to Bake Purple Yams

Things You'll Need

Purple yams

Fork

Aluminum foil

Baking sheet

There are several ways to cook purple yams, and baking them is a popular one. That's because it's a no-fuss method that requires little effort — all you have to do is set the temperature on the oven, put the yams in and take them out when they're done.

Here's how to do it:

How to Boil Purple Yams

Things You'll Need

Purple yams

Large pot

Fork

Water

Boiling purple yams is yet another simple way to prepare them. Boiling them in water will help the yams turn out soft, and it takes less time than baking. Just keep in mind that boiling vegetables may result in some nutrient loss.

  1. Place purple yams in a large pot and cover completely with water.
  2. Turn the heat on your stove to high and bring the water to a boil.
  3. Cover the pot and lower the heat to medium. Allow the yams to simmer for at least 40 minutes.
  4. Check for doneness by inserting a fork into a yam. If it is fully cooked, it will easily pierce the yam.
  5. Remove the yams from the heat when they're tender, and allow them to cool before peeling.

How to Roast Purple Yams

Things You'll Need

Purple yams

Knife

Olive oil

Large bowl

Baking sheet

Salt, pepper and other seasonings, to taste

There's a slight difference between roasting and baking purple yams. When roasting, you'll cook the yams in the oven at a higher temperature, which will make them brown faster.

  1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Meanwhile, dice the purple yams into 1-inch cubes and toss with olive oil in a large bowl.
  3. Arrange the diced yams on a baking sheet and place in the oven on the middle rack. Roast for 45 minutes, or until purple yams are tender, flipping once or twice during cooking to promote even browning.
  4. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and add your salt, pepper and other seasonings as desired before serving.

Tip

Purple yams are slightly drier than standard yams. You can add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water to any baked recipe that includes purple yams.

Purple Yams Nutrition

There's great nutritional value in purple sweet potatoes. Specifically, they contain a unique phytochemical known as anthocyanin, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Pubilc Health.

A cup of cooked purple sweet potato contains about 500 milligrams of anthocyanins — close to the same amount in a cup of blueberries, according to the University of California.

Frieda's — a major brand of Stokes sweet potatoes — notes that a 3.8-ounce serving provides 130 calories, 28 grams of carbohydrates, and 2 grams of protein. You'll also get 2 percent of the daily value for vitamin A and 20 percent of the daily value for vitamin C as well as some iron and calcium.

Compare this to an average sweet potato that, according to the USDA, boasts 127 calories, 23.5 grams of carbohydrates, 2.3 grams of protein, and 3 grams of fat in a 4.1-ounce serving. These starches do have a similar nutritional value, but sweet potatoes are higher in antioxidants and other bioactive compounds.

Read more on: livestrong