5 from 6 votes

Are you ready to try the delicious Yaki Imo, roasted Japanese sweet potato? This creamy, buttery treat has no added sugar, yet it’s incredibly sweet and will melt in your mouth!

Looking for Japanese sweet potato recipes? Try my Sweet Potato Tempura, Sweet Potato Soup, and Mashed Japanese Sweet Potato Recipe!

yaki imo, roasted Japanese sweet potato, in foil

I’ll walk you through the ingredients and step-by-step instructions. I hope you enjoy it!

Why You Will Love This Recipe

Yaki imo is a tasty and healthy treat for anybody who avoids sugary snacks!
It’s incredibly easy to prepare at home—simply bake them in the oven.
Give it a try and enjoy these simple and delicious Japanese treats!

Japanese Sweet Potatoes

Japanese sweet potatoes, or satsumaimo, have reddish-brown skin and creamy yellow-white flesh. They are typically sweeter, firmer, and starchier than other varieties and hold their shape well during cooking. Their versatility makes them a staple for sweet and savory Japanese dishes.

Recipe Ingredients

You’ll need the following ingredients to make this Yaki Imo Recipe:

The only ingredients in this recipe are Japanese sweet potatoes! Choose the one that is uniform and gross without any bumps. Depending on the variety, there are various thicknesses, but pick those with a plump appearance. By the way, they differ from Japanese yams, which have a sticky, slimy inside.

How To Make Yaki Imo: STEP BY STEP

Here are some quick visual instructions! For the video and all the detailed ingredients and instructions, go to the printable recipe card below.

Step 1

Wash off Japanese sweet potatoes, dry them, and wrap them in foil.

Step 2

Place them on a baking sheet and roast them at 180 C.

There you go! When you open it, it looks like this, and it’s super hot!

Recipe Tips

Do not take them out of the oven immediately. Leave them in for an additional 15-20 minutes in to let them cool down.
The taste and texture would be different depending on which Japanese sweet potatoes you use. See “Varieties of Satsuma imo” for more details.
If you freeze yaki imo, it will be like a creamy ice cream. After removing it from the freezer, let it sit at room temperature for about five minutes. Then, scoop the frozen yaki imo into your mouth, and savor its creamy, ice cream-like texture!

How to Eat Yaki Imo

You can eat it either hot or cold! Hot yaki imo are delicious, but cold ones are just as tasty. After the yaki imo cools down, open the foil, grab the yaki imo, divide it in half by hand, and eat from the middle. The inside should be a beautiful golden brown.

You can eat the purple skin of Japanese sweet potatoes (I always do), but if you don’t like the starchy texture, feel free to remove the single layer. Leave the end because it’s hard and tastes bitter, so you don’t want to eat that part.

Storage

After the yaki imo is completely cooled down, remove its moisture by wrapping it up tightly with cling wrap, putting it into a Ziploc bag (or airtight container), and storing it in the fridge or freezer. It will last five days in the fridge and one month in the freezer.

Japanese Varieties of Satsuma Imo

There are many types of sweet potatoes in Japan, each with its own unique flavor! If you have access to well-stocked grocery stores, especially local Asian grocery stores or Japanese grocery stores, I encourage you to explore the different variations and discover your favorite! The following are some of the most popular Satsuma imo:

Beni Azuma is the most standard sweet potato in Japan.
Silk Sweet has soft and flaky textures.
Annou Imo and Beni Haruka are gooey and much sweeter than other types.

My personal preference is Beni Azuma or Silk Sweet, as they offer the perfect sweetness to my taste.

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