Savory mashed sweet potatoes are smoky and spiced up with pantry staple seasonings and simple to customize to your liking. These easy sweet potatoes make a great side for a variety of main dishes.
I know I don't do this often, but I'm about to drop a controversial opinion. Sweet sweet potatoes? You know the ones with marshmallows, pecans, maple syrup, brown sugar, etc.?
Not a fan.
I'm all about the savory, and super spiced up at that. Smoked paprika, ancho chile powder, garlic, and cayenne? Yes, please.
Already on the blog we have my go-to favorite spiced oven roasted sweet potatoes, a slow cooker smoky sweet potato soup, and seriously good crispy baked buffalo sweet potato fries, but you know what was missing? Mashed sweet potatoes. Savory ones. 😉
Recipe ingredients
Two pounds of sweet potatoes are the star of this recipe. While you don't need to measure your potatoes right down to the ounce, this is usually right around the weight of five to six medium-sized sweet potatoes.
The other base ingredients are fairly normal as far as mashed potatoes are concerned: milk, butter, salt, pepper, and garlic.
What will vary though are the spices. They really kick this recipe up several notches and drive home the 'savory' part of savory mashed sweet potatoes.
I really go to town pulling out spices from my pantry and adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that to this recipe. Chili powder, smoked paprika, coriander, and ground chipotle chile pepper bring a deep and smoky flavor, with oregano and onion rounding everything out.
Recipe steps
You won't deviate too far from the traditional way of making mashed potatoes with these savory mashed potatoes. Potato chunks are boiled until fairly tender, then drained and mashed along with milk, butter, and spices. Simple enough.
The beauty of a recipe like this is that there's a ton of wiggle room for you to make it your own. You certainly don't have to use exactly the same spices I have listed in the recipe card below. Keeping this in mind, I broke up the recipe into staple ingredients and *highly recommended* seasonings. Because if your paprika isn't smoked, you'd rather use cayenne than chipotle, or you're out of coriander, you can still make delicious sweet potatoes.
Oh, and a note on the paprika. I find smoked paprika to be so much more pungent-in-a-good-way than regular paprika. You don't need much of it at all to really bring a bold smoky flavor to a variety of foods.
Since a little goes a long way, I bet you'll find more ways to sneak smoked paprika into your cooking. It's a must in my homemade taco seasoning, smoky shakshuka, and sweet and smoky hasselback sweet potatoes. <--maybe the only time I've included sugar/sweetness in with sweet potatoes. Worth it.
Recipe notes
- Salted butter would totally work here. I usually have unsalted on hand so that's what I use. If using salted butter, omit the ¾ teaspoon salt in instruction step #3 below and instead just add salt to taste.
- Not sure about you, but peeling garlic cloves takes me forever. Forever! And with the number of cloves I go through a week, huffing and puffing about it gets old quickly. These (inexpensive + Amazon Prime) garlic peelers (affiliate link) seriously work like a charm. Each clove goes into the silicone cannoli shell-esque device and the peel slides right off after you press and roll. I was skeptical but these are really game changers in my kitchen!
Savory Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 1 tablespoon plus ¾ teaspoon salt, divided
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup milk, your preferred variety
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper
*Highly* recommended seasonings:
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon ground chipotle chile pepper
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
Instructions
- Peel and quarter sweet potatoes and place them in a medium-large saucepan. Add enough water to the pan to cover the potatoes, along with 1 tablespoon of the salt.
- Place pan over high heat and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat a little bit once boiling. Boil potatoes for 12-15 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain the potatoes and add them back to the pan over low heat for 1-2 minutes, then shut off heat.
- Add the remaining ¾ teaspoon salt, minced garlic, milk, butter, and pepper to the saucepan and mash until smooth. Add the remaining seasonings and mash in, tasting to adjust the spices to your liking. Serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
Food Safety and Nutrition Disclaimer
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Sandra Brown Thomas says
Thanks for the guidance. I skipped the additional salt and used some almond 'milk', salted butter, ground corriander, oregano and a little white pepper. Usually go for cinnamon, nutmeg but I loved how this turned out.
Alyssa says
You're welcome, Sandra! I'm so glad you liked it and could make it your own.
Inna Liogky says
Wow! I definitely will be making this again and again. So delicious! I didn’t even have all the recommended spices and it still tastes amazing!
Alyssa says
I'm so glad you liked it, Inna! 🙂
Linda Horton says
I didn’t quite late the taste. Gonna keep searching for a recipe that suits my taste.
Alyssa says
Sorry it wasn't to your taste, Linda!
David Millar says
Thank you for sharing! Just had my remaining wisdom tooth removed yesterday and this looks like the kind of flavorful soft food I need in my life.
Allynne says
Garlic rollers? Genius!