Easy Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Smooth and creamy, these easy maple mashed sweet potatoes are fast and perfect for with dinner. This delicious side is light enough that it makes a great weeknight side, but is also creamy enough to hold a place on any holiday table. This recipe has just the right amount of sweetness!

 

Why We Love Mashed Sweet Potatoes

• Quick And Easy Weeknight Side Dish – These mashed sweet potatoes are the kind of side dish you can make while you have two other pans going. It’s a great recipe, mashed sweet potatoes are quick, easy and pretty forgiving which is great for weeknights. I also like rotating sweet potatoes into our meals because they pack a lot of great nutrition.
• Tastes Delicious – We enjoy the flavor of sweet potatoes at our house, and making them this way steaming them helps them to keep their bright orange color. This has been my family’s favorite way to enjoy mashed sweet potatoes, other then making potato pancakes with the leftovers.
• Great For The Holidays – I usually start thinking about mashed sweet potatoes around Thanksgiving and the holidays when the weather is a little more chilly and keep thinking about them through Easter. Mashed sweet potatoes are a simple alternative to the typical sweet potato casserole at the holidays that is still a crowd-pleaser.

Ingredients For Mashed Sweet Potatoes

• sweet potatoes– A medium sweet potato is usually around 5 inches long and 2 inches wide. If you have giant sweet potatoes some may count double! The amount you have doesn’t have to be super exact for this recipe, but you may want to add a little more or less milk depending on how many you have.
• melted butter– plus more at the table if you choose! I add salted butter, but if you have unsalted butter just add a pinch or two more salt to the sweet potato mash.
• milk– The more fat in your milk, the more luxurious the potatoes will be, especially for the holidays. You can also use cream as I mention later in the article. But for a regular weeknight dinner I often just use 2% milk.
• salt – I’ve used what my family enjoys, but you can also add extra salt and pepper to your family’s taste, or at the table.
• maple syrup– Get real maple syrup if you can. While “imitation” maple pancake syrup works, the flavor won’t be as tasty in this easy recipe.
• parsley– minced for a garnish, it’s optional but pretty

How To Make Mashed Sweet Potatoes

1. Rinse and scrub sweet potatoes well. Peel all of the potatoes and cut into roughly 1-2 inch cubes. The exact number of pieces isn’t important, just try to keep all of the potato pieces about the same size so they steam evenly.

2. Place a steamer basket inside a large pot. Add water to the bottom of the pot until it comes up just to the bottom of the steamer basket, but not over the sweet potatoes. Add a good pinch of salt to the water. Add the sweet potato cubes to the top of the basket.
3. Cover the pot with a lid. Heat the water on medium-high until it starts bubbling. Then steam the sweet potatoes for 20-30 minutes. The sweet potatoes are done when they can be pierced with a fork, then you know it’s tender all the way through.
4. Remove the cooked sweet potatoes and place in a large bowl. Add butter, milk, ¼ teaspoon of salt and maple syrup. Whip with the beaters of an electric mixer until smooth or mash the sweet potatoes with a potato masher. Then serve and enjoy!

I Don’t Have A Steamer Basket, What Can I Do Instead?

Steamer baskets are usually pretty easy to find, and adjust to fit multiple sized pots. This oxo steamer is my favorite. I’ve also used my silicone instant pot steamer basket in a pinch.

Here are a couple other ideas to easily steam vegetables without a steamer basket.

Can I Just Boil The Sweet Potatoes?

You could also try boiling the sweet potatoes. I find they are a little more flavorful and they tend to stay a little brighter orange in color when steamed, but boiling them still tastes delicious.

Fill a pot with water, add salt and heat the water to a rolling bowl. Add the sweet potatoes and boil until tender when poked with a fork. (about 20-30 minutes) Then remove the potatoes from the water, add the rest of the ingredients and mix.

My Mashed Sweet Potatoes Have Lumps Or Aren’t Smooth Enough, How Can I Make Them Smoother?

If your sweet potatoes aren’t smooth enough, add up to another ¼ cup of milk and keep blending until they are your desired texture.

An electric hand mixer also whips the potatoes more than you can by hand. This can help the sweet potatoes have a little more creamy texture to them. You can use a hand mixer, stand mixer, food processor, or with slightly more milk, an immersion blender.

How Can You Make These Sweet Potatoes Taste Creamier?

My family typically adds more butter at the table. This allows each of us to add to our own tastes.

If you want to make these sweet potatoes a little richer and luxurious tasting, you can double the amount of butter you add. Also swapping cream for milk will make these sweet potatoes taste richer.

Variations For Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Add Cinnamon – Adding a little cinnamon into this mashed sweet potatoes tastes amazing. While I don’t add it all the time, a few dashes is delicious.

Try Adding Dried Cranberries – I had dried cranberries once in mashed sweet potatoes from a Whole Foods a long time ago, and I have been adding them to my sweet potatoes ever since! I usually add anywhere between 1/3 and 1/2 cup of dried cranberries. It can be helpful to place the dried cranberries in water for about 5 minutes to help them plump up a little more before adding them. Dried cranberries give a great pop of flavor without being overly sweet, and are fun at the holidays.

While the nuts aren’t always the best option for smaller children, they can be added at the table also.

Top With Pecans – Pecans add some crunch to this recipe which is a great contrast to the creaminess of the potatoes. Try toasting the pecans in the oven for a few minutes before chopping them for even more great texture and flavor.

Make It Dairy Free Or Vegan – You can make this recipe dairy-free and vegan by using dairy-free butter (my favorite is Earth Balance) and swapping coconut milk for the milk. Coconut milk is one of the creamiest alternative milk and will make your potatoes feel richer than most other dairy-free substitutes.

You can also make roasted sweet potatoes which don’t use any dairy and are also great for vegans.

Is This Side Dish Healthier Than Regular Mashed Potatoes?

Both sweet potatoes and regular potatoes can be highly nutritious, but sweet potatoes have a lot of vitamins that are great for babies, toddlers, kids and adults. The two potatoes are comparable with carbs, protein and calories but sweet potatoes do have more vitamin A.

Typically adding tons of extra milk, cream and butter is what can make any mashed potato dish a little heavier, though it does make them delicious like with these cream cheese mashed potatoes.

How Long Do Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes Last?

Expect mashed sweet potatoes will last for about 4-5 days if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop, adding a little additional milk or butter to keep them creamy as needed.

Can You Freeze Mashed Sweet Potatoes?

Mashed sweet potatoes can be frozen, but they tend not to look as appetizing because they turn brown. They still taste the same, but I tend not to freeze them because my kid won’t eat them when they turn dark brown.

I have heard you can squeeze a little lemon juice over them to help keep them from turning brown, but I have not tried it. Let me know if you try it and it works!