Foil-Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes cut in half, oiled, salted, and buried in coals until soft.
- calories
- 320
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 36
- protein
- 4 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 40 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Dutch oven
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Foil packet
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Sweet potatoes | 4 medium | pick even sizes so they finish together |
|---|---|---|
| Coconut oil | 3 tbsp | solid at room temperature, so it travels in a jar without leaking |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Heavy-duty foil | 4 sheets |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down. You want a deep bed of coals, not flames.
- Halve each potato the long way. Rub the cut faces and skins with oil, using your hands, then salt both sides.
- Wrap each half cut side down in foil, sealed tight at the seams.
- Set the packets on the coals, or on a grate a few inches above them. Turn them every ten minutes.
- Start checking at 30 minutes. A tent stake or knife should slide through the thickest part with no resistance. Deep coals may take closer to 45.
- Peel the foil back and eat straight out of it.
This started as an oven recipe at 400F for half an hour. A coal bed does the same job with worse temperature control, which is why the potatoes get halved. Cut faces roast and steam at once, and half a potato cooks in roughly the time you can hold a fire steady. A whole one buried in ashes takes an hour and comes out raw in the middle as often as not.
Oil is doing two things: it keeps the cut side from drying into leather, and it adds the fat that a sweet potato has none of. Coconut oil earns its spot on a trip because it stays solid in a jar until it hits the heat. Salt on both faces before wrapping, since once the foil is sealed you are not seasoning anything again.
Packing
Sweet potatoes are heavy and bruise, so they ride in a milk crate or the bottom of a bin, not a pack. Oil in a small screw-top jar. Pre-cut foil sheets and fold them flat with the potatoes.
Variations
- Olive oil or bacon grease work the same way. Butter burns faster over coals.
- Chili powder and cumin in the salt turns them into a side for anything cooked in the same fire.
- Cook them the night before and eat the leftovers cold for lunch.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/baked-sweet-potato