How to Cut Sweet Potatoes

Co-authored by Sarena Nelson and Sophia Latorre

Sweet potatoes are full of nutrients, vitamins, iron, and magnesium, making them a healthy and delicious food. Because raw sweet potatoes are rather hard, they may seem difficult to cut. Don’t worry, though, you only need a sharp knife and a strategy to easily dice sweet potatoes or cut them into wedges or rounds.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Dicing

1
Peel the potato. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin from the sweet potato and discard it.^{[1]
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2
Cut the ends off the potato. Place the sweet potato on a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5.1 cm) off each end of the potato.^{[2]
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3
Slice the sides off the potato to make a rectangle. Cut 1 side of the potato off then turn it so the potato rests on the cutting board on the cut, flat side. Slice off both sides of the potato then rotate it again to slice off the last side.^{[3]
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- You want a pretty even rectangle shape, but try not to waste too much of the potato.
- The first cut is what will dictate the size of your cubes.
4
Cut the potato into ¹⁄₂ inch (1.3 cm) wide sticks. Turn the potato so the shorter side of the rectangle is facing you. Cut the potato into ¹⁄₂ inch (1.3 cm) wide slices, then turn each slice on its side and cut it into ¹⁄₂ inch (1.3 cm) wide sticks.^{[4]
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- You can also dice the sides you cut off to make the rectangle, if you don’t mind having a few uneven pieces. Otherwise, discard them.
5
Cut the sticks into ¹⁄₂ inch (1.3 cm) cubes. You can cut 3 sticks at a time to turn the potato into ¹⁄₂ inch (1.3 cm) by ¹⁄₂ inch (1.3 cm) cubes.^{[5]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Making Wedges

1
Slice the ends off of the potato. Use a cutting board and a sharp knife. There is no need to peel the potato first since wedges are usually made with the potato skin on.^{[6]
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2
Cut the potato in half widthwise, then in half lengthwise. After cutting off the ends, cut the potato in half widthwise so you have 2 even chunks. Then, slice through the potato lengthwise, from the cut you made toward the cut-off end.^{[7]
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3
Cut the potato in half lengthwise 2 more times. Slice each piece in half once, then slice each of the pieces in half again. Now you have sweet potato wedges!^{[8]
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- To cook, drizzle the wedges with 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of olive oil, sprinkle them with salt, and roast them in a 400 °F (204 °C) oven for 40 minutes, tossing them every 10 minutes.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Cutting Rounds

1
Peel the potato if you wish. Depending on the recipe, you may want your sweet potato rounds to be skinless. If so, peel the potato with a vegetable peeler.
2
Cut the ends off of the potato. Place the potato on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to slice about 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5.1 cm) off of each end of the potato.
3
Slice the entire potato into ¹⁄₄ inch (0.64 cm) to ¹⁄₂ inch (1.3 cm) rounds. Start at 1 end of the potato and make a cut through the potato about ¹⁄₄ inch (0.64 cm) to ¹⁄₂ inch (1.3 cm) from the end, depending on how thick you want the round to be. Continue making ¹⁄₄ inch (0.64 cm) to ¹⁄₂ inch (1.3 cm) slices through the rest of the potato.
- Try to make the rounds as evenly sized as possible so they will cook consistently.
4
Finished.