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. For more meatless holiday recipes, look no further.
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
- Author:
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
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.
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Chris
What sort of animal would add sugar or marshmallows to potatoes of any kind? Certainly not something we do on this side of the Atlantic!
★★★★★
Rita
I have used this Savory Sweet Potato recipe for several dinner parties and it’s always the recipe my guests want a copy of. I don’t make any alterations b/c it’s perfect the way it is. I forgot the teaspoon of olive oil once and I noticed, so I won’t make that mistake again.
★★★★★
Veronica
I kind of hate parsley. Is there another herb you would use instead? Hoping to make these for Thanksgiving this year!
Kate
Hi! You can omit, if you prefer.
Debra Smallwood
Can i make this the night before? Will it just be as good as the day of?
Kate
I like these best right away, but they can make ok left overs. My Lucille’s Mashed Potatoes make great leftovers!
Deb
I plan to make this for Thanksgiving. What kind of sweet potato works best? I see a lot of nice looking garnet yams at the store but not sure if that counts as a sweet potato?
Kate
Hi! Garnet will work great. Let me know what you think!
Jing
Can’t wait to try this! Would it work well if I roasted the sweet potatoes instead of cubing and boiling?
Kate
Hi, I find boiling works best.
Rosemonde Liautaud
I just did it, and I roasted them. It came out great.
★★★★★
Judi
Glad to hear this. I over roasted some foil- wrapped sweet.potatoes (I blame the recipe) that were supposed to eventually be glazed;, but I’m going to try and salvage them and use them in this recipe. (I have a back up plan if they don’t turn out great.) Should have started at C&K to begin with!
Jnkn3
Do you ever bake the sweet potatoes or always boil with this recipe?
Kate
Hi, for this recipe I find boiling works best.
Jules
My friend made me these a couple times and I always wanted the recipe and she would just say ‘it’s so simple… just add sour cream and butter and green onion’ but when I made them the ratio never seemed right. I am so happy to have an actual recipe now and they turned out so great! Thank you
★★★★★
Kate
I’m happy you have the actual recipe now too! Thank you for your review, Jules.
Mimi
I made this for Thanksgiving dinner today and it was dope. My husband doesn’t like sweetened sweet potatoes so this fit the bill perfectly. Just made one substitution – chives for green onions – because the bougie grocery store I went to last minute only had some overpriced bundles of Japanese spring onions fertilized with gold dust and picked by baby foxes or something.
Otherwise, followed this recipe to a T. I loved it and recommended it to my sister for their dinner (we’re 13 hours ahead of them over here, so I can report all the hot Thanksgiving news early).
Anyway, thanks, girl! Favoriting this one!
★★★★★
Kate
Happy Thanksgiving, Mimi! I’m glad you loved it.
Maria
Oh! Definitely my new favorite sweet potato recipe. Thank you!!
★★★★★
AbbyT
Ok now I seem like a stalker. lol But I made two of your recipes for Thanksgiving, your coconut kale salad and this, and loved both! I’m not sure I’ll ever do the sweet version of sweet taters again. This was magic!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad to hear two C+K recipes made your Thanksgiving menu! I appreciate your review, Abby.
Jenna
Made this for Thanksgiving and it was a hit! I was nervous because we always do sweet versions of sweet potatoes. After this dish, no one wants to go back. Thank you!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for your review, Jenna! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
Kimberly
I’m never good at following recipes. I approximate everything typically. I browse recipes for ingredients I like. Made these for thanksgiving. Forgot the olive oil. Substituted butter with Earth Balance natural buttery spread and vegan sour cream by Tofutti. They were quick easy and delicious. Been trying to incorporate more sweet potato in my diet because they are high in Vitamin A.
★★★★★
Nick
Wonderful recipe. Made this last night, first time cooking sweet potatoed. Guests adored it! Thank you
★★★★★
Kate
That’s great to hear, Nick! Thank you for your review.
Kathleen
Wonderful recipes! Can’t wait to try them.
Courtney W.
Absolutely delicious!
★★★★★
laura
putting pinches of goat cheese while hot really makes this recipe yummy too!
★★★★★
Henry C. Torrey
I made rack of lamb with Rosemary, garlic, olive oil and mustard rub with these, and my wife said the sweet potatoes stole the show.
★★★★★
Gerrad Y.
I always prefer savory or sweet when it comes to sweet potatoes, since they are already sweet, adding sugar is just redundant to me.. This recipe was perfect !!! I didn’t have any sour cream, so I replaced it with some Neufchâtel cheese (low-fat cream cheese) that I had on hand… I also didn’t have any parsley but I bumped up my green onions and olive oil and I think that any version of savory sweet potatoes over marshmallows and brown sugar is a winner in my book everytime !!!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad this one was perfect, Gerrad! I appreciate your review.
Gerrad
I always prefer savory or sweet when it comes to sweet potatoes, since they are already sweet, adding sugar is just redundant to me.. This recipe was perfect !!! I didn’t have any sour cream, so I replaced it with some Neufchâtel cheese (low-fat cream cheese) that I had on hand… I also didn’t have any parsley but I bumped up my green onions and olive oil and I think that any version of savory sweet potatoes over marshmallows and brown sugar is a winner in my book everytime !!!
★★★★★
Melanie
Oh my gosh, these were delicious. My son said that they tasted like sour cream and onion chips. I agree.
★★★★★
Kate
I love it, Melanie! Thank you for your review.
Jennifer W
This is a wonderful recipe – I typically make them in advance and reheat for about 15-20 minutes in the oven right before we eat and it works well. As someone who doesn’t love overly sweet – sweet potatoes – this is a real keeper recipe – touch of sweetness very nicely balanced by a creamy taste with a hint of garlic and onion. We fix these regularly in the fall and winter – delicious!
★★★★★
Sarah
These are the best mashed sweet potatoes I have ever had! I didn’t peel the potatoes and used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, those were the only changes I made. I’m not even a huge fan of fresh parsley but, wow, this will be my go-to sweet potato recipe moving forward!! Thank you!!
★★★★★
Kate
Best ever! I’m delighted you think so. I appreciate your review and comment, Sarah.
Vanessa
These are the bomb! I made them to serve with teriyaki pan seared salmon and it paired perfectly. The salmon was good too :-)
★★★★★
Therese
This was a wonderful recipe , thank you. I mixed yams/sweet potatoes/acorn squash , also sub’d cilantro for parsley and followed the rest. Everyone loved it and it was relatively easy.
★★★★★
Jackie
Amazing
A very simple tasting recipe so much nicer than the normal sweet potato mash.
★★★★★
Taylor
Love this recipe so much, will never go back to traditional mashed sweet potatoes again!
★★★★★
Ashley
Question: Do you just mix in the raw minced garlic to the hot mashed potatoes?
Kate
Hi, yes see step 3. I hope you enjoy them!
Danielle
This is an amazing side dish. I really had some reservations about making this but I am so glad I did. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Danielle!
Joyce
Delicious thanks for sharing!
★★★★★