Breakfast Sweet Potatoes with Yogurt and Fruit

Breakfast sweet potatoes are roasted sweet potatoes split open and filled like a yogurt bowl: Greek yogurt, sliced banana, blueberries, strawberries, chopped pecans, and a drizzle of honey or maple syrup. The recipe serves 4, with one whole sweet potato per person. It takes about 55 minutes, and almost all of that is the oven doing the work.

The warm, soft potato goes almost creamy under cold yogurt, and the pecans add the crunch. It fills you up for hours, and it is a good use for the sweet potatoes you roasted on Sunday. Roast them ahead and breakfast takes 5 minutes on a weekday.

What You Need

For 4 servings: 4 medium sweet potatoes, 1 teaspoon olive oil if you want the skins a little crisp, 1 cup plain Greek yogurt or vanilla yogurt, 1 sliced banana, 1 cup fresh blueberries, 1 cup sliced strawberries, ½ cup chopped pecans, and 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup. Chia seeds and a pinch of cinnamon are optional.

Plain Greek yogurt keeps it a real breakfast, with more protein and less sugar. Vanilla yogurt makes it taste closer to dessert, so go lighter on the honey if you use it.

Picking and Roasting the Sweet Potatoes

Choose medium sweet potatoes of a similar size, about 8 ounces each, so they finish together. Orange fleshed varieties roast the softest and sweetest. Long, even potatoes split and fill more neatly than knobby ones.

Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Wash and dry the potatoes, then pierce each one several times with a fork so steam can escape. Line the baking sheet with foil or parchment. Sweet potatoes leak a sticky syrup as they roast, and it burns onto a bare pan. Brush them with oil if you like and roast for 40 to 45 minutes.

They are ready when a knife slides into the thickest part with no resistance and the skins look a little wrinkled. Bigger potatoes can need up to an hour. Do not pull them early. A firm center will not open up or fluff.

Sweet Potatoes or Yams?

In most US stores, the orange “yams” are really orange fleshed sweet potatoes, and either label works here. True yams are a different, starchier root with rough bark like skin; they roast dry and do not fluff, so skip them. White or purple sweet potatoes work too. They are a little drier and less sweet, so add an extra spoon of honey.

Splitting and Filling

Let them rest for about 5 minutes, so they are still warm but you can handle them. Slice each one lengthwise down the center, then press the ends toward the middle so it opens like a boat. Fluff the inside with a fork to make room.

Spoon about ¼ cup yogurt into each potato. The warmth softens it a little and it turns creamy against the flesh. Divide the banana, blueberries, and strawberries between them, scatter the pecans, then drizzle with honey or maple syrup. Finish with chia seeds and cinnamon. Eat them right away while the potato is warm.

Small Fixes That Help

• Hard in the middle: the potatoes were large or the oven ran cool. Give them 10 more minutes and test again with a knife.
• Watery yogurt: the potatoes went in straight from the oven. Rest them for 5 minutes first, and use thick Greek yogurt.
• Bland: add a pinch of salt and cinnamon to the potato flesh before the yogurt goes in. Oddly, a little salt makes it taste sweeter.
• Soft pecans: they sat on the yogurt too long. Toast them for 3 to 5 minutes in a dry pan and add them last.

Make Ahead and Toppings to Swap

Roast the sweet potatoes up to 3 days ahead and keep them whole in the fridge. Reheat them in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes, or at 350°F for 10 to 15 minutes, then split and fill. Keep the toppings separate until you eat.

Swap the berries for raspberries, blackberries, chopped apple, or sliced peaches. Add granola for more crunch. Like this kind of breakfast? A maple pecan yogurt bowl uses the same yogurt and pecan combination in a bowl, and a sweet potato smoothie bowl blends the potato right in. For a jar you can grab and go, try pumpkin overnight oats.

Serving Breakfast Sweet Potatoes

Serve one per person on a plate with a fork and knife, next to coffee. For a brunch table, set out a tray of split potatoes with bowls of yogurt, fruit, pecans, and honey so everyone fills their own. Leftover roasted sweet potatoes can go into a sweet potato dump cake later in the week.

Save these breakfast sweet potatoes to your Pinterest breakfast board for a busy week. Tell me in the comments which fruit you piled on top.