These mashed sweet potatoes are ultra creamy and are the perfect accompaniment to chicken, meats and fish. You can flavor your mashed sweet potatoes in different ways and I’m providing instructions to make multiple flavor variations.
Mashed potatoes are a common dinner time occurrence, but in my opinion, they are underrated and should be part of everyone’s regular dinner rotation! They’re also perfect for holiday meals alongside a roasted turkey breast or honey glazed ham.
These mashed sweet potatoes are a simple dish, yet they pair so well with almost any main course! In my opinion they’re even better than regular mashed potatoes. I’m sharing my tricks for the smoothest, creamiest yams that you’ll ever eat. Mashed yams pair well with grilled pork tenderloin, braised short ribs, slow cooker whole chicken, crock pot ham and Cajun turkey.
This dish is one of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes along some other fantastic side dishes like loaded mashed potato casserole, homemade cranberry sauce and Southern cornbread dressing.
Table of Contents
Mashed Sweet Potato Ingredients
The ingredients for this mashed sweet potato recipe are sweet potatoes, butter, milk and salt. I like to add a little fresh parsley too for color and flavor, but that’s optional.
How Do You Make Mashed Sweet Potatoes?
To make mashed sweet potatoes, first place the sweet potatoes on a sheet pan or baking sheet. Bake them in an oven until they are fork tender. Take them out of the oven and then peel them or scoop out the insides. Put the sweet potato in a bowl or a food processor with milk, butter and salt. Mash by hand, or puree in a food processor until you’ve reached the desired texture. Add any toppings you like such as butter and parsley, then serve and enjoy.
Tips For The Perfect Dish
- Since I typically roast whole potatoes, I look for potatoes that are similar in size and shape so that they cook at the same rate.
- You can use jewel, garnet or any other red fleshed or orange fleshed sweet potato or yam.
- If you’re choosing to boil or steam your potatoes, you’ll want to peel them before they go into the water.
- Mashed sweet potatoes stay fresh in an airtight container in a refrigerator up to 4 days. You can make them ahead of time and keep them in the refrigerator or save your leftovers. Reheat them on a stovetop until warm.
- You can freeze this dish for up to 2 months for later use.
Quick Tip
You don’t need to peel the potatoes before you roast them as the skins will come right off after the potato is cooked.
Recipe FAQs
I cook sweet potatoes by roasting them whole, then I remove the peels. You can also boil or steam chunks of sweet potato if you prefer, but I find that roasting the potatoes is the easiest way to get the job done. If you prefer to boil the potatoes, cook cut them into 2 inch pieces and cook for about 15-20 minutes or until tender, then drain. You will need to steam potatoes for a similar length of time.
I typically mash sweet potatoes in a food processor for a super smooth mash, but it’s up to you what texture you like.
Fork: Use a fork for the coarsest mashed sweet potatoes.
Hand Mixer: Use a mixer for lighter mashed potatoes with some smaller chunks
Potato Masher: Use a potato masher for a traditional mash which includes some chunks.
Food Processor: Use a food processor for the smoothest, silkiest mashed sweet potatoes.
The secret to make mashed sweet potatoes less stringy is to use a food processor to mash the potatoes.
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Flavor Variations
You can serve your mashed sweet potatoes as-is, or add any number of toppings to create sweet and savory flavor profiles.
- Candied Bacon: Prepare the potatoes as directed. Cut up 8 slices of bacon into pieces and cook it in a frying pan. Stir in 1 tablespoon brown sugar and cook for 2 more minutes. Top mashed potatoes with candied bacon and serve.
- Garlic and Herb: Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a pan. Add 2 teaspoons minced garlic, a dash of black pepper and 3 tablespoons assorted minced fresh herbs such as fresh thyme, parsley or sage. Mix the garlic and herb butter into the sweet potatoes.
- Brown Sugar Brulee: Place the sweet potatoes in a baking dish and sprinkle with brown sugar. Broil until the sugar has melted. Let sit until the sugar hardens, then serve. You can also stir a little maple syrup into the potatoes for extra flavor.
- Caramelized Apple: Sauté 3 peeled, sliced apples in 3 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 3 tablespoons of brown sugar. Pour the apple mixture over the potatoes.
- Creamy: Substitute the milk for heavy cream to get even creamier potatoes.
You can even set up a mashed potato bar and put out plain mashed potatoes with a variety of toppings such as brown sugar, mini marshmallows, herbs, flavored butters and more. Your guests can assemble their own creations to fit their taste. I did this once for a holiday party and it was a huge hit.
No matter how you decide to flavor your potatoes, they’re sure to be a success! This mashed sweet potato recipe will definitely be on my Thanksgiving table this year.
More Sweet Potato Recipes
Mashed Sweet Potatoes Video
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 lbs sweet potatoes
- 1/3 cup milk
- 5 tablespoons butter melted
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- cooking spray
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley optional
- pats of butter optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Scrub the sweet potatoes and prick them with a fork.
- Coat a sheet pan with cooking spray and arrange the sweet potatoes on the pan.
- Bake for 1 hour or until potatoes are tender. Let cool slightly then peel off the skins, or cut the potatoes in half and scoop out the insides.
- Place the potato, milk, butter and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth and creamy. If you prefer a coarser texture, you can mash your potatoes by hand with a masher or fork.
- See post text for different flavor variation options.
- Serve, topped with pats of butter and/or parsley if desired.
Notes
- Since I typically roast whole potatoes, I look for potatoes that are similar in size and shape so that they cook at the same rate.
- You can use jewel, garnet or any other red fleshed or orange fleshed sweet potato or yam.
- You don’t need to peel the potatoes before you roast them as the skins will come right off after the potato is cooked.
Sweet potatoes in the fall is my favorite, this came out perfect!
I made these ahead and then just reheated them and thy came out perfect!
This is THE BEST sweet potato puree recipe out there – absolutely loved the roasted taste in the puree. So easy, so good! Thank you!
Have you ever tried with the bacon without the brown sugar?
Yes that will also work!
Can I boil instead of bake?
Yes that’s fine!
My family loves this recipe and I make it all year long!
Hi,
Can I make this ahead, and if so how to heat them up
Thanks,
Karen
Yes you can make them ahead, you can reheat in a covered dish in the microwave or oven, or on low heat in a pan on the stove top.
I make ahead and put them in the slow cooker crock in the fridge, then drop them in the slow cooker on low for a couple of hours.
It’s become my favorite recipe. Very yummy.
I don’t generally care for sweet potatoes, but for health reasons we are trying to eat fewer regular potatoes. I find that if I make this recipe and add parsley and chives, it is savory enough that I love it. I used to make a regular potato for me, and sweet potatoes for my family, but now I can simplify life and make one side dish instead of two. Thank you!
So happy to hear you enjoy it, thanks for reporting back!
My favorite way to make sweet potatoes! Will be Trying the candied bacon topping for Christmas dinner!! Do you think these would taste similar if I mixed sweet potatoes and yams together? Sent hubby to store for sweet potatoes and he wasn’t sure which to buy so got both sweet potatoes and yams!
Yes it’s totally fine to mix the two together!
Can you make these without milk? I can’t drink cow’s milk.
Yes you can substitute a non-dairy milk like almond milk or soy milk.
This looks so good! My son use to absolutely love sweet potatoes when he was a baby. I’ll have to try this recipe out for him and see how he likes it. Thanks for sharing!
I love this recipe! I can’t wait to make this recipe at Thanksgiving this year.
All of those are so yummy. My sister makes these awesome for Thanksgiving with walnuts, pineapple and marshmallows.
I love mashed sweet potatoes as a side for ham. I like adding butter and cinnamon to make them more like a dessert when I’m craving something sweet.
I’m a big fan of sweet potatoes. This recipe sounds quick, easy, and delicious. I’ve saved it to my pocket to make later.
When I was younger, I hated sweet potatoes. Now? I can’t get enough of them! I feel like I have been missing out my whole entire life!
Sweet potatoes are my favorite! I eat them all the time. This is a great blog post that I will definitely be pinning and referring back to when it comes time to cook.
wow I love eating mashed potatoes (including sweet potatoes!) as substitute for rice. They are healthy and affordable as well.
I like the different topping you put on top of this. Sweet potatoes are a huge hit in my house. After all these years, I never thought to make mashed sweet potatoes. I’ll definitely be adding this to my meal planning.