Savory Mashed Sweet Potatoes
These incredible mashed sweet potatoes are mixed with herbs, butter and sour cream. No marshmallows or brown sugar in this mashed sweet potatoes recipe!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on July 10, 2024
I’m on a mission to stock this food blog with all the holiday recipes you might need, and it’s about time I shared a mashed sweet potato recipe. The problem with most mashed sweet potatoes is that they’re made even sweeter with brown sugar and marshmallows. Sweet potatoes are already plenty sweet on their own!
So, I added savory ingredients to my mashed sweet potatoes to balance out that inherent sweetness. Finely chopped fresh parsley and green onion combined with some sour cream and butter are all you need for incredible savory mashed sweet potatoes.
I don’t know why these basic ingredients create such a stellar flavor combination, but they do. These mashed sweet potatoes took a cue from my baked rosemary Parmesan sweet potatoes (another simple holiday side option) and the quinoa-stuffed sweet potatoes in my cookbook.
Watch How to Make Mashed Sweet Potatoes
More Sweet Potato Recipes to Enjoy
- Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas
- Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries
- Pecan Sweet Potato Casserole
- Perfect Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Sweet Potato, Kale and Chickpea Soup
If you’re looking for regular mashed potatoes (and by regular, I mean my family’s favorite), meet Lucille’s Mashed Potatoes. Here are more Thanksgiving recipes.
Please let me know how these mashed sweet potatoes turn out for you in the comments! Your feedback means so much to me.
Savory Mashed Sweet Potatoes
These incredible mashed sweet potatoes are mixed with herbs, butter and sour cream. No marshmallows or brown sugar in this mashed sweet potatoes recipe! Recipe yields 6 to 8 side servings.
Ingredients
- 4 pounds sweet potatoes (about 7 small-to-medium), peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
- 2 teaspoons salt, divided
- ⅓ cup finely sliced green onion, mostly green parts (from 1 bunch)
- ⅓ cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 small-to-medium garlic clove, pressed or minced
- ¼ cup sour cream*
- 3 tablespoons butter, cubed
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Place the cubed sweet potatoes in a large saucepan or Dutch oven and add enough water to cover by about 1″. Add 1 teaspoon of the salt and bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender (in other words, it’s easy to slide a fork in and out), about 9 to 12 minutes.
- Drain well, then return the potatoes to the pot. Mash the sweet potatoes to your desired consistency.
- Promptly add almost all of the green onion and parsley, reserving a small amount of each for garnish. Add the garlic, and stir to combine. Then stir in most of the sour cream (reserve roughly 1 tablespoon for garnish), all of the butter, and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Season to taste with additional salt (I usually add another ¼ to ½ teaspoon) and freshly ground black pepper.
- Transfer the mashed potatoes to a serving bowl and swirl the reserved sour cream onto the top with a spoon. Sprinkle with the reserved green onion and parsley, drizzle the top lightly with olive oil, and finish with a sprinkle of pepper.
- Serve promptly. Leftovers will keep well, covered and refrigerated, for 3 to 4 days.
Notes
Make it dairy free/vegan: I believe you could replace the sour cream with vegan sour cream (recipe also available in my cookbook, page 217). Instead of butter, stir in extra-virgin olive oil, to taste.
*Sour cream alternative: Many are asking if Greek yogurt will work, and yes, I think it will! I just prefer sour cream in savory applications like this.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I love this recipe! Made it at Thanksgiving and it was a hit. I never liked overly sweet sweet potato recipes so this is great. It is my go to recipe now
Only way I make sweet potato mashed potatoes. Delicious!
these were delicious! I used whole greek yogurt.
Absolutely love this recipe! I’ll be making it again for today’s dinner!
Simply Delicious! Thank you.
Knockout Recipe!!!