
I’ve always loved sweet potatoes and our Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes is a dish I think about constantly, especially around the holidays! The center of the potatoes are so soft, tender and flavorful. It’s the perfect slightly sweet and savory side dish that can also double as a vegetarian main dish.
I also like that this dish only uses a handful of simple ingredients and can be prepped and assembled ahead of time. It’s the perfect side dish for big meals like thanksgiving or other holiday meals, when there seems to be endless dishes to make. It never fails to be delicious and satisfying however you enjoy it!
How to Make Our Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Process
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until sweet potatoes have softened.


- Once sweet potatoes have cooled enough to handle, slice each potato in half and carefully scoop the flesh out into a mixing bowl (be sure not to tear the skins).


- Begin mashing warm sweet potatoes with butter, cream and garlic until smooth.


- Season with salt and pepper. Stir in egg until fully incorporated.


- Fold in feta and thyme until fully combined.


- Scoop mixture into a piping bag, fitted with a large star tip, and pipe potatoes back into the sweet potato “shells.”


- Turn oven up to 425˚F and bake sweet potatoes for an additional 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and top potatoes with crumbled feta and chopped pecan and serve.

Tools You Will Need
- knife
- cutting board
- mixing bowls
- wooden spoon
- potato masher
- measuring spoons
- liquid measuring cups
- dry measuring cups
- baking sheet
- piping bags
- large star piping tip
Some of Our Favorite Variations
- Try using brown butter in this dish! The nutty flavor is really delicious and adds a special touch to the sweet potatoes.
- If feta isn’t to your liking, try using crumbled goat cheese, or even some shredded gruyere.
- For a sweeter alternative, omit the garlic, feta and thyme and instead add 2 to 3 tablespoons of brown sugar, cinnamon, orange zest, and ginger (or any combination of the four) to the sweet potato mixture as you mash everything together.
- Serve side dish with a side of sour cream or even some Greek yogurt if you want to add just a little something else to it.
- Make this dish more decadent by adding some crumbled bacon on top or stirring some into the baked sweet potato flesh before piping the mixture back into the skins.

Tips and Tricks for Twice Baked Sweet Potato Success
- Use a sharp knife to slice each baked sweet potato in half, to help prevent the skins from tearing.
- The addition of the egg in the filling before piping them back into the potatoes is important! Not only does it help to prevent your potato filling from drying out when they’re twice baked, but they also help to keep the potato filling creamy. The egg also help to brown the tops and create a thin and crisp crust.
- It’s important to leave at least 1/4 inch thick layer of potato in the skins so the potato halves hold together, especially when trying to pipe the filling back in and twice baking them.
- If you don’t have a piping bag and pastry tip, you can just scoop the filling back into the sweet potato skins with a spoon (creating a mound) and then gently run the tines of a fork over the top to create some texture.
- If the tops haven’t browned as much as you would like, you can drizzle the tops with some melted butter and place them under a broiler and broil for a minute or two until the tops are nicely browned.
Prepping Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes Ahead of Time
The twice baked potatoes can be prepped up to 3 days ahead of time. Prep the recipe until the end of step 4. Store filling an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use. Separately store the skins in a single layer, in an airtight container until ready to use.
When ready to serve potatoes, gently warm the filling. Stir in the egg, feta and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Continue with the rest of the recipe and serve.
More Sweet Potato Recipes You Will Love
- Roasted Sweet Potato, Salami and Arugula Pizza
- Sweet Potato Gnocchi
- Roasted Sweet Potato and Caramelized Onion Flatbread
- Sweet Potato and Leek Soup
- Roasted Chickpea Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with a Cilantro-Garlic Cashew Sauce
- Cheesy Sweet Potato Fritters
- Seared Scallops Over Roasted Sweet Potato Puree
- Sweet Potato Casserole with Rosemary


Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes
INGREDIENTS
- 2 sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean and pricked a few times with a fork
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 minced garlic clove
- 2 teaspoons lightly beaten egg
- 10 tablespoons crumbled feta, divided
- 1 tablespoon minced thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
garnish
- 1/4 cup chopped and toasted pecans
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until sweet potatoes have softened.
- Once sweet potatoes have cooled enough to handle, slice each potato in half and carefully scoop the flesh out into a mixing bowl (be sure not to tear the skins).
- Begin mashing warm sweet potatoes with butter, cream and garlic until smooth.
- Season with salt and pepper. Stir in egg until fully incorporated.
- Fold in feta and thyme until fully combined.
- Scoop mixture into a piping bag, fitted with a large star tip, and pipe potatoes back into the sweet potato “shells.”
- Turn oven up to 425˚F and bake sweet potatoes for an additional 10-15 minutes, top with crumbled feta and chopped pecan and serve.
Did you make this recipe? We want to see!
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Just made this tonight. Delicious! Thanks for the recipe and your website!
So asking my husband to make this one night.
I made these twice over the holidays. Once as twice baked and once as mashed potatoes. Both were absolutely amazing! I got compliments from even the pickiest of eaters.
This recipe is fantastic! I was searching sweet potato recipes for Thanksgiving this year and found your recipe… Definitely on my list this year!
I’m making a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for my boyfriends family here in Germany! They are going to love this.
that looks so pretty
Beautiful! I love the combination of pecan and feta cheese. What a great Thanksgiving side, I’m totally bookmarking…
I would LOVE to see a post on your Ramen recipes!!!
These look amazing! And i absolutely love the idea of piping the potatoes back into the skin. Great presentation idea!
Cloves, feta and thyme – what an interesting combination of flavors. These look delicious and gorgeously photographed as always… I’m featuring this post in today’s Food Fetish Friday series (with a link-back and attribution). I hope you have no objections and it’s so much fun following your creations…
Unless I misread, this recipe calls for cloves of garlic, not cloves. I made these today to try them first and see if I wanted to make them again for Tsgiving and/ or Christmas. They turned out great
Absolutely delicious they are! My new regular recipe!
Yes! No cloves, but cloves of garlic for sure! Will update the recipe soon! Thanks!
These are awesome! Aside from loving sweet potatoes, these are so darned pretty!
Curious about the ramen…hope to see it here! :)
No blog post on your Momofuku ramen? Awwwwww…
These look amazing! Love that they are savory.
Oh wow – I expected these to be sweet, not savory. Looks amazing! What a great twist on the classic twice-baked potato!?
xoxo,
mon amy
These look delicious! I love a good sweet potato recipe – thanks for sharing!
your dinner plans sounds so delicious! & these sweet potatoes look AMAZING!
Sweet Potatoes are truly one of my favorite foods. Bake them, add butter, salt and pepper and I am good to go. But this recipe elevates this simple starch to whole new level. I recently discovered an amazing Greek Feta cheese at my local farmer’s market. I have a container in my frige right now. Guess how I’m going to use it!
I am joining the drool brigade! Those look sooooo delicious! Everything you put in them is an element I enjoy! THANKS!!!
There is a Milk Bar cookbook??? I need to get my hands on that! Oh, and I like sweet potatoes too, these look awesome.
That looks so good. I’ll have to store it away for the cool weather when I turn the oven on! I’d love to see the ramen recipe though….
These look so yum, i mite make these for dinner. Thanks xx
what a fun dinner party! what time should i be there? ;)
Ramen at a dinner party?! So cool! I haven’t seen that book yet, but it sounds super cool – and these sound awesome too!
I’ve never seen sweet potatoes like this! Garlic, feta, thyme, drool……
ummmmm, I am drooling.
I’ve been daydreaming about something like this! And I love how you piped the middles back in. Hope your dinner party is the most fun!