Published: · Modified: by Sally Cameron · This post may contain affiliate links · 17 Comments
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Skip the marshmallows, brown sugar or maple syrup. Healthy mashed sweet potatoes make a terrific easy side dish. Simply simmer until tender, drain, mash and add a little butter or olive oil with fresh chopped rosemary. Sweet potatoes are a powerhouse root vegetable packed with flavor and nutrition so enjoy them year round.
Don't you love simple recipes? This is easy as peel, chop, simmer and whip. Whipping softly cooked sweet potatoes makes this dish creamy without cream, but you can certainly add some warmed heavy cream or half and half for a holiday indulgence.
Jump to:
- Why You'll Like This Recipe
- Recipe Ingredients
- Recipe Instructions
- How to Cut Sweet Potatoes
- Sweet Potatoes or Yams?
- Health Benefit of Sweet Potatoes
- Serving Suggestions
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
Why You'll Like This Recipe
- Simple ingredients.
- Simple method.
- Great flavor.
Recipe Ingredients
- Sweet potatoes: Go for the orange fleshed sweet potatoes.
- Fat: Use either unsalted butter, plant butter, or extra virgin olive oil for no dairy and vegan.
- Herbs: Fresh chopped fresh rosemaryor fresh thyme.
- Garnish: Chopped toasted pecans, toasted or raw, are terrific, but optional.
Recipe Instructions
Step 1: Peel potatoes and cut into cubes.
Step 2: Place them in a large pot and cover them with cold water. Add a little salt and bring them to a simmer. Cook until the potatoes are very soft when pierced with a sharp knife tip. With the small size of the cubes, it won’t take long, about ten minutes.
Step 3: Drain, allow potatoes to steam dry for a few minutes in the hot pan, then whip with an electric hand mixer until creamy and smooth. Add a little butter or olive oil and rosemary. Sage is nice too.
Season with salt and pepper and serve. If you’d like more of a garnish, chopped, toasted pecans work perfectly.
How to Cut Sweet Potatoes
Large, long and rounded with pointy ends, sweet potatoes can be a challenge to safely cut up for cooking. Here's how to handle them while staying safe:
- Cut them in half across the middle for a more manageable size
- Cut a slice off the long side to give you a flat edge
- Lay the sweet potato flat on your cutting board for stability
- Cut those pieces into long planks about a 1” wide
- Cut the planks into 1" pieces
Sweet Potatoes or Yams?
Sweet potatoes or yams? While many people use the term interchangeably, sweet potatoes and yams are two different root vegetables. What we buy here in the US are really sweet potatoes, not yams, so I am told by grocers. True yams do not grow in the US. More starchy and less sweet, you might find them at an ethnic grocer.
Health Benefit of Sweet Potatoes
One of the oldest vegetables known to mankind, sweet potatoes are filled with magnesium, potassium, vitamin C, iron, copper and the antioxidant beta-carotene, not to mention fiber. Sweet potatoes are a healthy carb to add to your diet. Anything with this much color is good!
Prefer using an air fryer? Try these air fryer sweet potato cubes for another method.
Chef's tip: Tools. All you need is a large pot, a good peeler, and a hand electric mixer. The best peeler for not just sweet potatoes but any vegetable is those inexpensive y-peelers you can buy almost anywhere for about $4.
Serving Suggestions
Make mashed sweet potatoes a day or two ahead and refrigerate until the day of serving. Get them out of the refrigerator to get the chill off. Re-heat in the oven or on the stove top over low, stirring occasionally so they do not burn or stick on the bottom. They might need a little more milk or butter to loosen up.
Leftovers keep for up to 4 days.
📖 Recipe
Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Rosemary
Sally Cameron
Sweet potatoes are a powerhouse vegetable packed with flavor and nutrition. Skip the marshmallows, brown sugar or maple syrup. They don’t need it. Simply simmer until tender, then drain, mash and add a little butter or olive oil. Fresh chopped rosemary is a nice addition. Mashed sweet potatoes make a healthy side dish any time of the year.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 20 minutes mins
Total Time 30 minutes mins
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 6
Calories 183 kcal
Equipment
Hand mixer
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes
- 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or fresh thyme
- 1-2 tablespoons chopped toasted pecans garnish, optional
Instructions
Peel Potatoes and Chop
Peel sweet potatoes. If they are large, cut them in half crosswise to make them more manageable. Trim a piece from the long side of the sweet potato to create a flat surface. Place the flat surface on the cutting board for stability and cut the potato into planks about 1″ in width. Then cut the planks into the same size diced potatoes.
Simmer Potatoes
Place the potatoes into a medium saucepan or pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Turn down if needed once the potatoes are cooking. You don’t want to boil them (they will fall apart). Cook until the potatoes are very soft when pierced with a sharp knife tip.
Drain and Mash or Whip
Drain the potatoes and place them back in the pan on the warm (but turned off) burner for a few minutes.This will steam off excess moisture. Mash the potatoes with an electric handheld mixer or an immersion blender with the whip attachment. Add butter or olive oil and rosemary. Serve warm.
Notes
To save time, make the sweet potatoes a day ahead and warm before serving. To heat, place the sweet potatoes in a medium glass or stainless steel bowl over a pan with simmering water. Cover with foil and heat until hot, stirring occasionally. Alternatively place in a warm oven.
Nutrition
Calories: 183kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 3gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 83mgPotassium: 516mgFiber: 5gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 21460IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 45mgIron: 1mg
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