Sweet potatoes are a powerhouse root vegetable packed with flavor and nutrition. Skip the marshmallows, brown sugar or maple syrup. Simply simmer until tender, drain, mash and add a little butter or olive oil with fresh chopped rosemary. Rosemary mashed sweet potatoes make a healthy side dish any time of the year.
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.
To make it vegan or dairy-free, use olive oil or plant-based butter.
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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. True yams do not grow in the US. More starchy and less sweet, you might find them at an ethnic grocer.
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!
Instructions
Peel potatoes and cut into cubes. 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. Last time I made them it was ten minutes.
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.
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 little y-peelers you can buy almost anywhere for about $4.
How to Cut Up 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:
- First peel
- 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
Make Head and Re-Heat
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.
More Potato and Root Vegetable Recipes
If you love sweet potatoes and root vegetables, here is a cookbook helps us all do more with root vegetables. And for another twist on sweet potatoes try these creamy pumpkin mashed potatoes.
📖 Recipe
Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Rosemary
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.
Erin says
The fresh rosemary is wonderful!
Thanks for this recipe. Quick, simple and so delicious! I'll make it often.
Brandi Koskie says
Hi Sally!
We included your recipe in this week's Health Buzz round up at DietsInReview.com http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/10/healthbuzz-october-5-health-care-debates-obesity-bullies-and-fall-comfort-food/
Tried to tweet it to you but the page appears to be expired. Thanks! - BK
Sally says
Hi Brandi! Thanks! My twitter is @FoodCentricLife. Glad you liked the recipe.
Kirsten- The Foreign Domestic says
I featured your recipe on my blog: http://www.theforeigndomestic.com/2012/07/from-your-kitchen-to-mine-recipes-91-95.html. Loved it!!
Sally says
Thanks Kirsten! So simple and good, not to mention good for you.
Kelly says
We made this dish at Thanksgiving and added about 1/4 C chopped raisins. We couldn't believe how deliciously rich they were and yet still so healthy! Our tradition used to involve marshmallows and brown sugar, but we will now have a new, healthier tradition. Thanks Sally!!
Sally says
Great idea Kelly! Thanks for reporting back!
marla says
Love it!! Linking back to this today 🙂
lo says
I'm such a fan of the humble sweet potato, and I'm wild about rosemary -- so you've got me with this one. I'm also always thrilled to see sweet potato recipes that allow the potatoes to stand on their own sweetness. Kudos!
Editorial Team | Healthy Aperture says
These look delish. We love them.
Sally says
Thanks Healthy Aperature! Thanks for your comment. Nice to discover you. As I focus on healthy cooking, I'll begin to submit the weekly photo to your site for possible inclusion.
Carrie says
I love your presentation of these sweet potatoes - so pretty! The rosemary/toasted pecan combination sounds lovely.
Anna says
Love your trivia there about sweet potatoes. Loved these tubers even more. Energy boosting dish with vitamins and minerals too! I am sure the rosemary as spice is heavenly! Great post! Look forward to more great dishes...
Sally says
Thanks Anna, and I enjoyed your post on Halloween trivia!
Jesica @ pencil kitchen says
Healthy healthy indeed... I love sweet potatoes on its own and have never had it mashed... Something new to try 🙂