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Sweet potato is one of the most delicious, comforting, and versatile colder-season ingredients. Sometimes, there’s nothing cozier than a simple baked sweet potato piping hot out of the oven — but there are so many ways to prepare this starchy root vegetable, from oven-roasted sweet potatoes to creamy mashed sweet potatoes to candied sweet potatoes with an impressive meringue topping. And who could forget sweet potato pie? Below, a selection of F&W’s favorite easy sweet potato recipes to add some seasonal color to your fall and winter meals.
Roasted Hot Honey Sweet Potato Salad
This sweet potato salad from recipe developer Amanda Stanfield makes a colorful, satisfying side dish: Smoked paprika creates a sweet and savory balance, while the hot honey dressing adds a touch of tangy heat. Homemade pickled red onions, crunchy toasted pecans, and fresh parsley round everything out with texture and pop.
Spiced Sweet Potato Tater Tots
Carson Downing / Food Styling by Holly Dreesman / Prop Styling by Gabriel Greco
These homemade tater tots are easy to prepare: Simply parboil your sweet potato, then grate, mix, form, and fry. (Freezing the tots before frying helps them hold their shape.) Recipe developer Anna Theoktisto suggests serving this fun appetizer with mustard or aïoli.
Candied Sweet Potato Pancakes
2020 F&W Best New Chef Douglass Williams has the ideal recipe for the morning after Thanksgiving — or any time you have leftover candied sweet potatoes on hand. The addition of mashed sweet potatoes gives these pancakes a beautiful color and keeps them extra moist and tender. Since the potatoes are already sweetened, Williams cuts back on the brown sugar in the batter.
Smoky Sweet Potatoes with Chorizo Butter
Justin Chapple infuses butter with dry-cured Spanish chorizo, smoky and spicy, for a rich color and flavor that balances the natural sweetness of these tender roasted sweet potatoes. You’ll bake the potatoes first, then halve and broil them for a hint of smoke.
Sweet Potato Sticky Buns with Toasted Marshmallow
Filled with ginger-studded sweet potato and spiced with cardamom and vanilla, these buttery buns from 2021 F&W Best New Chef Thessa Diadem are light and pillowy. Glazed with butterscotch and crowned with toasted marshmallow, they’re best served freshly baked and topped.
Coal-Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Maple-Chile Butter
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Ali Ramee
Recipe developer Ali Ramee cooks sweet potatoes directly on hot coals for a lightly smoked and deeply roasted flavor, adding acidic, earthy, and savory notes with a whipped compound butter made of sherry vinegar, parsley, and maple syrup.
Lamb, Sweet Potato, and Coconut Mafé Curry
Tender lamb shoulder and creamy sweet potatoes — balanced by floral coriander, warming turmeric and cumin, and piquant ginger and ground mustard — make this curry from Senegalese chef Pierre Thiam a cozy delight. Fonio, a tiny West African grain that packs a big nutritional punch, is an ideal base for soaking up the flavorful sauce.
Sweet Potato Honey Beer Pie
Dark beer, honey, and spices like ginger and cardamom give rich, complex flavors to this sweet potato pie from cookbook author Nik Sharma. Feel free to use a different crust, homemade or store-bought; you can use the same recipe to make a pumpkin pie using unsweetened pumpkin puree instead of the sweet potato.
Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Potato Hand Pies
Made with baker Lisa Ludwinski’s all-butter pie dough, the golden, crispy pastry encasing these savory hand pies shatters almost like a croissant. Lightly mashed sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, tangy sour cream, and aged cheddar make up the creamy, cheesy filling.
Green Curry Lobster Stew with Sweet Potato and Mushrooms
For this green curry–laced version of Maine’s classic lobster stew, chefs Mike Wiley and Andrew Taylor, of Eventide Oyster Co. in Portland, took cues from tom kha, a coconut milk–based Thai soup. The recipe uses sweet potato peels to thicken the broth; they lend a creamy, pleasantly thick body to the stew.
Curry Chicken and Sweet Potato Galette
Each component of this golden galette brings a new layer of flavor. The crust, seasoned with turmeric and garlic, envelops a savory medley of chicken thighs, roasted sweet potatoes, and sweet bell peppers. On the side: sour cream blended with Caribbean green seasoning, a multipurpose sauce and marinade made with plenty of fresh herbs.
Sweet Potato Fritters with Lemon-Tahini Sauce
These fritters from F&W Test Kitchen alum Kelsey Jane Youngman use equal parts sweet potatoes and turnips (or Yukon Golds) spiced with cumin, turmeric, and ginger — a perfect combination with the savory-tart yogurt-tahini sauce. The barely-there binder in the batter makes for an incredibly lacy, crispy result.
Sweet Potato Cheesecake Empanadas
At Boricua Soul in Durham, North Carolina, Serena and Toriano Fredericks combine flavors from Puerto Rico and the American South. You see it in this dessert empanada with marshmallow-topped sweet potato casserole, spiced pumpkin cheesecake, crisp pastry, and a caramel drizzle.
Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries
Food & Wine / Photo by Rachel Marek / Food Styling by Lauren McAnelly / Prop Styling by Gabriel Greco
Sweet potato fries are the perfect partner for a burger or sandwich, but deep-frying at home can be tricky. Good thing the air fryer is here! Simply cut your sweet potatoes into even, uniform pieces, toss them with some oil, salt, and pepper, and air-fry them until crisp — then customize with your favorite seasonings.
Spicy Pot Roast with Oranges, Sweet Potatoes, and Calabrian Chile Gremolata
Tender beef chuck with creamy sweet potatoes and celery root makes for a well-rounded, satisfying meal. Freshly squeezed orange juice, orange zest, and whole orange segments give this hearty winter braise a burst of citrus flavor.
Sweet Potato, Balsamic Onion, and Soppressata Pizza
Cookbook author Adam Erace dresses up this clever pizza with mashed sweet potatoes, ribbons of soppressata, shredded mozzarella, and balsamic-spiked caramelized onions. Why clever? You’ll start with a pre-baked crust, so you can dedicate your time to perfecting the toppings.
Cinnamon-Spiced Candied Sweet Potatoes
These spiced sweet potatoes are the perfect stand-in for candied yams with toasted marshmallows. For an elegant effect, finish them off with our toasted meringue topping.
Sweet Potato–Coconut Soup with Thai Curry
For this fragrant twist on a classic soup, cookbook author Melissa Clark uses coconut three ways: coconut oil, coconut milk, and toasted coconut flakes. Fresh lime juice, Thai red curry paste, and a sprinkling of cilantro add brightness to the creamy sweet potato.
Sweet Potato and Feta Bourekas
Frozen puff pastry sheets make easy work of these crisp and savory little parcels. Inspired by his grandmother’s recipe, chef Michael Solomonov’s version is stuffed with sweet potato, Bulgarian feta, dill, and olives.
Oxtail and White Sweet Potato Stew
In this flavorful stew from chef JJ Johnson, a red wine braise — complete with mulling ingredients like fresh orange and whole spices — makes the oxtails fall-apart tender. The longer the braise, the better.
Sweet Potato Gratin with Chile-Spiced Pecans
Chef Jose Garces’ silky-sweet gratin is topped with traditional gooey marshmallows plus delightfully crunchy chipotle-dusted pecans for a special Latin American touch.
Sesame-Coated Sweet Potato Croquettes
At Cape Town’s now-shuttered Africa Café, diners enjoyed communal feasts overseen by chef and co-owner Portia de Smidt. The Pan-African offerings included these delicious fried sweet potato balls from Malawi. De Smidt accentuates the dish’s origins by rolling the balls in sesame seeds, a typical Malawian ingredient.
Sweet Potato Hummus
Recipe developer Kristen Stevens incorporates sweet potato to add just a hint of sweetness to a classic chickpea hummus. This preparation keeps in the fridge for up to a month, so it’s easy to have on hand for all your dipping and spreading needs.
Sweet Potato Spoon Bread
Spoon bread — part cornbread, part soufflé — is a Southern classic. Chef Robert Stehling (of Charleston’s dearly departed Hominy Grill) makes a sweet potato version, sometimes mixing in cooked spinach or fresh corn and sautéed bacon.
Vanilla Bean-Whipped Sweet Potatoes
This flavorful (and amazingly simple) side dish comes from the late New York chef Gerry Hayden. The secret: cream and butter infused with fresh vanilla, which adds a fragrant, floral note to the sweet potatoes.
Mashed Sweet Potato Gratin with Smoked Gouda and Shallots
Combining sweet potatoes and Yukon Gold potatoes makes for a perfectly creamy texture, meaning this delicious gratin from food and health writer Phoebe Lapine also happens to be low on dairy. Shallots, cayenne, and a sprinkling of smoked Gouda amp up the sweet potato’s savory side.
Sweet Potato Meringue Pie
The crust for this sweet potato pie from 2000 F&W Best New Chef Andrew Carmellini is made with graham crackers, cinnamon and ginger, and a full cup of pecans. Whipped cream is swapped out for a swirled topping of billowy toasted meringue.
Sweet Potatoes with Apple Butter
© Lucy Schaeffer
This simple mashed sweet potato recipe calls for just four ingredients, including salt — but it’s the apple butter that takes it to the next level. Why not try making your own apple butter from scratch?