Creamy Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Mashed Sweet Potatoes is a creamy, velvety, and fabulous side dish that will make your Thanksgiving spread stand out. Besides that, you can also try this creamy Garlic Mashed Cauliflower or this Garlic Parmesan Smashed Potatoes recipe.

Basically, all you need are some sweet potatoes along with butter, heavy cream, and some typical fall spices such as ground cinnamon and grated nutmeg to make this recipe. And this gets done in about 40-minutes.

The Best Part is that you can make this whenever you want. And, you can make this Ahead of time, as well. All you have to do is just warm it in the oven and it will be ready for serving.

You can prepare the sweet potatoes on the stove or in the microwave. But, I generally put it on the stove because I find it easier. But, I have included separate instructions for making it in the microwave & on the stove as well.

Easy Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Typical fall weather calls for something creamy, comforting, and easy to make. And, this recipe is just that. I make it quite a lot at my home. And, my kids love it. I love the texture of sweet potatoes. And, with the big dinner night coming up I cannot imagine not making this recipe. By The Way, Have you tried my other sweet potato recipes such as this Sweet Potato and Mushroom Thanksgiving Stuffing or Sweet Potato Chili with Black Bean or Sweet Potato Casserole with Walnut and Brown Sugar Topping or Sweet Potato and Black Bean Casserole yet?

How to Prepare Sweet Potatoes in Microwave?

To prepare the Sweet Potatoes in the microwave, you can either peel off the sweet potatoes or you can keep the skin on. As you wish!

Many people prefer the skin because a little fiber feels good. I learned how to make this in the microwave from Katerina at Diethood

• Wash the sweet potatoes thoroughly. Use a fork to poke holes in your sweet potato. Grab a bowl and put your sweet potatoes in it.
• Put the timer to 12-minutes and set the oven on high. Once the time is up, wear an oven mitten and squeeze the potatoes on the sides, If it feels firm then give it some more minutes in the oven. (It basically depends on the oven and on the quantity and size of your sweet potatoes.) Once you feel that it's tender and it opens up right away then take it out of the oven.

What You'll need to Make Mashed Sweet Potatoes

• Sweet Potatoes - Depending upon how many servings you are making you will need the number of sweet potatoes. For example, I made for 6-servings, and therefore I used 6 medium-sized sweet potatoes.
• Salt - Just to boil the sweet potatoes in water.
• Butter - Butter adds that creaminess which we look for in a mashed sweet potato dish. I used salted butter in this recipe. If you are using unsalted butter then balance the salt accordingly. If you want to make it vegan and dairy-free then use almond butter.
• Ground Cinnamon - I think any fall meal is totally incomplete without some ground cinnamon.
• Grated Nutmeg - Nutmeg brings that nuttiness and that beautiful smell to the recipe.
• Whole Milk - You can replace milk with Half and Half. If you want to make it vegan or dairy-free then use coconut milk or almond milk.
• Pure Vanilla Extract - Whether you want to use this recipe as a Thanksgiving side dish or as a Thanksgiving dessert, vanilla brings that beautiful fragrance and richness to the recipe.
• Heavy Cream  - For that extra bit of creaminess. For a vegan substitute for heavy cream read below.
• Maple Syrup - Though sweet potatoes are already sweet. But when you add a little maple syrup you improve the texture and taste of this recipe magically.
• OPTIONAL - Fresh Thyme - Though, this is totally optional, but, I would always recommend you add just a little dash of fresh thyme to make it look and taste amazing.
• OPTIONAL - Freshly crackled Black Pepper - Just a dash of freshly cracked black pepper balances the sweetness and makes the recipe taste amazing.

How Do I make Mashed Sweet Potatoes?

The recipe is pretty simple and straightforward. I will give you a brief walk over on how to make mashed sweet potatoes.

• Wash, peel, and chop sweet potatoes. I like to cut them into small 1/2 inch cubes. We are anyway gonna mash them so the smaller pieces we cut, the easier will it be to mash.
• In a pan of boiling water add some salt and let the sweet potatoes boil on medium-low heat for approximately 20-minutes or until tender. (It also depends on how much sweet potatoes you are using). Once they are tender, strain the water and take them out in a bowl.
• Now add butter, ground cinnamon, grated nutmeg, Pure Vanilla extract, Heavy cream, and Maple Syrup. Use a fork or a pastry blender to mash the sweet potatoes and make it all creamy, mashy, and appetizing.
• Finally, add some fresh thyme, and freshly crackled Black pepper. And serve.

Can I make this Ahead of time?

Yes, absolutely. You can surely make this ahead of time. I will tell you how.

FREEZE:

• First, prepare the sweet potatoes as I said above. Then, blend it along with the spices, using a food processor or a fork, or a pastry blender. Make sure you skip the milk and heavy cream while you are blending it. This is because milk doesn't freeze well. Once it turns creamy, transfer it to a microwave-safe airtight container. Label and date. Freeze up to 2 weeks.
• Once you want to serve, reheat it in the oven, stirring frequently. Now you can stir in some milk and heavy cream. If it feels too dry then add some more butter and stir it in. Transfer to a serving dish with fresh thyme and ground black pepper.

REFRIGERATE:

• You can also make this entire recipe and cool it down completely. Transfer it to an air-tight container. And then refrigerate it. This can be kept for up to 2 days in the refrigerator. You can make this 2 days ahead of the Big Night and then when you are about to serve, reheat it in the oven.
• To reheat, heat it in the oven at 350F for 15-20 minutes. If it looks dry then add some butter, stir well and mix.

How to Make Vegan and Dairy Free Mashed Sweet Potatoes

In this recipe, I have used salted butter, whole milk, and heavy cream. These three Ingredients are NOT VEGAN and Not Dairy-Free. However, you can replace them with these ingredients that are listed below to make it vegan and dairy-free.

• Use Almond Butter Instead of Normal Salted Butter.
• Use Coconut Milk or Almond Milk instead of Whole Milk. I love the combination of coconut milk with sweet potatoes. It tastes amazing. I used it to make my Vegan Sweet Potato Pie. People LOVED it.
• You can Use Cashew Paste instead of Heavy cream. To make cashew paste, soak cashews in some luke-warm water for about 1 hour. Then blend it to a smooth paste in the food processor along with the water which you've used to soak the cashews.

Is there a Low Carb Variation of this recipe?

If you wish to make a low carb variation then replace sweet potato with cauliflower and pumpkin. Cauliflower will bring that dense potato texture while pumpkin will bring that sweet earthy taste of sweet potato.

I have not added any sugar to this recipe because my sweet potatoes were already sweet and I used maple syrup. But, you can use xylitol instead of sugar.

To melt xylitol add it to a heavy pan and melt it over medium heat stirring occasionally. Keep an eye on it. It shouldn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Heat it until it turns golden brown. Cool it down and then use it further.

Other variations of this recipe

I always love adding new things to my recipe to make it more amazing. I will give you a few suggestions on what you can add to make this even better. If you have any ideas then please comment below and let me know. I love to listen to new ideas.

• Pecan Nuts: Rather than adding thyme you can add some roughly chopped pecan nuts. If you can add toasted pecan nuts then it's even better.
• Scallions: If you want you can also add some finely chopped scallions before you serve this. It is gonna make it look so colorful.
• All Spice - If you prefer allspice, go ahead and add some allspice while blending the sweet potatoes.
• Cayenne pepper - If you prefer a little heat and you are gonna use this recipe exclusively as a side dish then you can always add some cayenne pepper to spice up the dish.
• Walnuts - Along with Pecan Nuts you can add some chopped walnuts or you can just add some chopped walnuts if you want.
• Brown Sugar - If you want it to be a little sweeter, then you can always add a little brown sugar. I would prefer light brown sugar.
• Half and Half - If you wish you can use Half and half instead of using whole milk.

More Side Dishes for Holidays

• Maple Mustard Glazed Green Beans
• Garlic Butter Sauteed Green Beans with Parmesan
• Sriracha Balsamic Glazed Mushrooms
• Southern Fried Corn
• Honey Sriracha Glazed Carrots
• Garlic Parmesan Carrot Fries

If you are making this recipe, then please provide a rating below. If you can take a snap of the final recipe that you made using this recipe and share it on Instagram with #recipemagik it would be amazing.