When Are Sweet Potatoes in Season?

You might already know the answer to when sweet potatoes are in season: you don’t often find them at spring meals or summer cookouts. Fall is sweet potato season, with harvesting running from August to December. Some tips for sweet potato season:

• Sweet potato season is a good time to buy in bulk. Sweet potato prices dip as demand drops at the end of the season (November to December). 
• Sales tend to increase during sweet potato season, but you can expect a pretty steady supply to meet the demand.

Download the Fetch app to earn sweet points you can redeem for sweet gift cards, all for putting some sweet potatoes in your cart at the grocery store. You’ll earn points for all your grocery purchases when you snap your receipt in the Fetch app; we’re not just for sweet potatoes.

Get rewarded for healthy eating with Fetch Shop 

You’re already adding fresh produce to your grocery list each week, so why not get something in return for choosing to eat healthy? With Fetch Shop, you’ll earn points per dollar on the purchases you make at select stores when placing your order through the app, which means the more fruit and veggies you add to your list, the more rewards you’ll earn. Whether you’re scheduling a grocery pickup at Target using their Drive Up service or stocking up for a big get-together shopping online at Sam’s Club, you can turn your produce into Fetch Points that can be redeemed for free gift cards when grocery shopping with Fetch Shop.

To earn rewards on fresh produce with Fetch Shop:

1. Download Fetch.
2. Open the app, and navigate to Fetch Shop; on your “Discover” (home) tab, you’ll find the Fetch Shop icon directly to the left of the camera icon at the bottom of your screen.
3. Once in Fetch Shop, scroll to the “Food & Drink” category, click where it says, “See all,” then find the grocery retailer of your choice, and select that store.
4. Tap “Go shopping!” and then simply grocery shop online as you would normally. And don’t forget to add those fruits and veggies to your cart to rack up even more points!

Where do sweet potatoes grow in the US?

As a tropical, long-season vegetable, you’re going to have a sad sweet potato season if the crop doesn’t get at least 150 days free of frost. That means you’ll mostly see them grown on commercial farms in the southern United States. The top three states sweet potatoes are grown in are:

• North Carolina
• California
• Mississippi

About two out of every three sweet potatoes grown in the US come from North Carolina, which should make perfect sense if you’ve spent any summer days there.

How to pick sweet potatoes at the grocery store

If you’re worried about picking sweet potatoes at the grocery store, don’t be. Your instincts to avoid bruised or soft sweet potatoes are good ones. You should also choose sweet potatoes that are:

• Firm to the touch
• Small or medium size
• Smooth skinned
• Brightly and uniformly colored

Don’t have time to make it to the grocery store? Open up Fetch Shop, place your grocery order right in the app, and earn points for every dollar you spend.

How to tell if a sweet potato is ripe

If you’re trying to grow your own sweet potatoes, you might have some luck even if the weather isn’t always on your side. We have a couple tips on how to tell if your sweet potatoes are ripe:

• Sweet potatoes do most of their growing late in the season.
• If the leaves are yellowing, it means they’re about to get a growth spurt.
• Wait until the weather cools and the vines actually start to wither.

How to store sweet potatoes

You’ve bought or grown the perfect patch of sweet potatoes, so don’t let them go bad. There’s no real secret to how to store sweet potatoes: treat them like your regular potatoes or onions.

• Store in a cool, dark, dry place.
• Cover or store in a basket that allows air circulation.
• Use or freeze sweet potatoes within two to three weeks.
• Use within one week if stored in the light or at room temperature.

How to cut a sweet potato

You’re going to need a knife to cut a sweet potato; we recommend a chef’s knife. Even if you’ve cooked it in the microwave (more on that in a bit), you may have a hard time getting through the skin without at least a steak knife.

You can also cut sweet potatoes into fries, cubes, wedges and rounds. You can do most of the same things to them as regular potatoes, but your sweet potato recipes will be a bit different on prep and cook time.

Can dogs eat sweet potatoes?

We see you: voice searching “can dogs eat sweet potatoes?” while both hands try to free a yam from between Fido’s teeth, instinctively crying out “drop it” to an animal with a questionable-at-best understanding of English.

You can relax a little: yes, dogs can eat sweet potatoes. 

Always check with your vet before changing your dog’s diet, and if your doggo just grabbed a whole sweet potato, you probably shouldn’t let it get away with the sweet treat. But sweet potatoes are generally a nice healthy treat for dogs, loaded with fiber and beta-carotene.

Sweet potato recipes

We mentioned that sweet potatoes are full of fiber and nutrients, and those are great for you as well as your dog. We’ve got some sweet potato recipes and cooking tips to get more of this superfood into your life. Shopping for one? These recipes scale down easily (or keep well, in the case of the sweet potato pie).

How to make a sweet potato in the microwave

Trying out a new food can be daunting, but it’s quick and easy to make a sweet potato in the microwave.

Directions:

1. Slice open one side of the sweet potato.
2. Microwave it for 2-3 minutes.
3. Flip or rotate the sweet potato.
4. Microwave for another 2-3 minutes.
5. It’s ready when you can pierce with a fork.

Your steps to make a sweet potato in the microwave might be a little different: consider more or less time depending on the power of your microwave. 

You can dig in once it’s cooled a bit, or add some butter and seasoning. For savory, try salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. For sweet, try cinnamon or brown sugar.

How to make sweet potato chips

Baked sweet potato chips take just two ingredients (plus the sweet potato): salt and oil. We recommend either olive oil or Chosen Foods avocado oil.

Recipe:

1. Preheat your oven to 250°.
2. Slice your sweet potato(es) thin with a mandolin. (No mandolin? Try a knife or vegetable peeler.)
3. Toss with olive oil and a little salt.
4. Bake for two hours, flipping halfway through.

It’s easy to make sweet potato chips if you’re patient. You’ll get a crisp from baking that you won’t find if you try to fry them.

They make a great snack on their own, but don’t be afraid to get creative. Sweet potato chips can bring a nice blend of savory and sweet to nachos: just top them with Good Foods salsa and shredded Sargento cheese.

How to make sweet potato pie

During the fall holidays, pumpkin pie tends to get all of the attention. Once you know how to make sweet potato pie, though, we think you’ll leave the pumpkins for carving. 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of sweet potatoes
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup Promised Land milk
• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pillsbury pie crust

Recipe:

1. Boil and drain sweet potatoes, then peel off the skin.
2. Use a blender or hand mixer to combine the sweet potatoes with remaining ingredients.
3. Pour the mixture into your pie crust.
4. Bake at 350°until a toothpick can come out clean (about an hour).
5. Consider serving with a nice scoop of Breyers ice cream.

Add sweet potatoes to your shopping list and earn sweet points

There’s a reason Fetch is America’s Rewards App: you can earn points on every grocery trip (and quite a few other ways, too). So download Fetch today and add some of those sweet potato recipe ingredients to your shopping list for a sweet treat at home and to bring yourself closer to your first sweet reward.