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These Mashed Sweet Potatoes are flavored with fresh thyme, butter, and just a touch of brown sugar. This one-pot recipe always delivers delicious results, and is a perfect side to work into your weeknight routine.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Sweet potatoes: Use orange, white or purple sweet potatoes. What about yams? At most grocery stores, yams and sweet potatoes are the same. Years ago, farmers renamed the potatoes to “yams” as a marketing schtick. True yams have bark-like skin and much more starch content similar to a Russet potato.
- Thyme: Fresh (or dried) thyme taste great with sweet potatoes. You could also try garlic, parsley, rosemary, or sage.
- Half-and-half: I recommend half-and-half for this recipe, and not substituting sour cream.
Step-by-step instructions
- In a large saucepan over low heat, add sweet potatoes, water, thyme, sugar, and ½ teaspoon salt. Cover and cook until the potatoes fall apart easily and all the water has been absorbed, about 25 to 30 minutes.
- Mash the potatoes until just a few lumps remain. Stir in the half-and-half and butter and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes about 5 cups of mashed sweet potatoes, enough for 4 generous servings, 1 ¼ cups each.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: Peel and cube the raw potatoes up to 24 hours in advance. Cover with water and chill in the refrigerator.
- Freezer: Cool the mashed sweet potatoes completely, then spoon them into a freezer-safe container. Label, date, and freeze for up to 1 month.
- Meal prep: Mashed sweet potatoes make a great side dish for weekly meal prep, if you’re into that (you may want to omit the sugar).
- Peel before boiling: They’ll cook much faster without the peel. Boiling sweet potatoes whole with skin takes a lot longer, and needs more water. I also slice them to speed up the cooking time.
- For chunky, rustic-style mashed sweet potatoes: Use a basic potato masher. A waffle-head masher will mash the potatoes into a smoother consistency, if you like them somewhere in-between.
- For super-smooth mashed sweet potatoes: Use a potato ricer (peeled potatoes) or food mill (unpeeled potatoes). These gadgets make the smallest, finest pieces of cooked potato, which fluff up beautifully.
- Classic mashed potatoes: For the classic version without the secrets, try my best mashed potatoes recipe.
- Garlic mashed potatoes: Toast garlic in a skillet (or roast whole bulbs of garlic in the oven), peel, mince, and add to your mashed potatoes. You’ll need about 1 bulbs of garlic (20 cloves) for every 2 pounds of potatoes.
- Cauliflower mashed potatoes: For a low carb, highly satisfying side dish, try cauliflower mashed potatoes (without a potato in sight).
- Boursin mashed potatoes: Soft-skinned small red potatoes mixed with fresh herbs and a block of Boursin cheese. You don’t even have to peel the potatoes!
- Slow cooker: Once the mashed sweet potatoes are ready, you can put them in a crock pot and heat on the LOW setting to keep them warm and fluffy throughout your feast. I have never found a mashed potato recipe MADE in a slow cooker that I thought tasted good.
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Mashed Sweet Potatoes
These Mashed Sweet Potatoes are flavored with fresh thyme, butter, and just a touch of brown sugar. They make a delicious side dish for your weekly menu or holiday table.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2-inch thick slices (about 4 small, see note 1)
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme (see note 2)
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar packed
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 tablespoons half-and-half warmed (see note 3)
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
Instructions
- In a large saucepan over low heat, add sweet potatoes, water, thyme, sugar, and ½ teaspoon salt. Cover and cook until the potatoes fall apart easily and all the water has been absorbed, about 25 to 30 minutes.
- Mash the potatoes until just a few lumps remain. Stir in the half-and-half and butter and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Notes
- Sweet potatoes: Use orange, white or purple sweet potatoes. What about yams? At most grocery stores, yams and sweet potatoes are the same. Years ago, farmers renamed the potatoes to “yams” as a marketing schtick. True yams have bark-like skin and much more starch content similar to a Russet potato.
- Thyme: Fresh (or dried) thyme taste great with sweet potatoes. You could also try garlic, parsley, rosemary, or sage.
- Half-and-half: I recommend half-and-half for this recipe, and not substituting sour cream.
- Yield: This recipe makes about 5 cups of mashed sweet potatoes, enough for 4 generous servings, 1 ¼ cups each.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: Peel and cube the raw potatoes up to 24 hours in advance. Cover with water and chill in the refrigerator.
- Freezer: Cool the mashed sweet potatoes completely, then spoon them into a freezer-safe container. Label, date, and freeze for up to 1 month.
- Meal prep: Mashed sweet potatoes make a great side dish for weekly meal prep, if you’re into that (you may want to omit the sugar).
- Peel before boiling: They’ll cook much faster without the peel. Boiling sweet potatoes whole with skin takes a lot longer, and needs more water. I also slice them to speed up the cooking time.
- For chunky, rustic-style mashed sweet potatoes: Use a basic potato masher. A waffle-head masher will mash the potatoes into a smoother consistency, if you like them somewhere in-between.
- For super-smooth mashed sweet potatoes: Use a potato ricer (peeled potatoes) or food mill (unpeeled potatoes). These gadgets make the smallest, finest pieces of cooked potato, which fluff up beautifully.
- Classic mashed potatoes: For the classic version without the secrets, try my best mashed potatoes recipe.
- Garlic mashed potatoes: Toast garlic in a skillet (or roast whole bulbs of garlic in the oven), peel, mince, and add to your mashed potatoes. You’ll need about 1 bulbs of garlic (20 cloves) for every 2 pounds of potatoes.
- Cauliflower mashed potatoes: For a low carb, highly satisfying side dish, try cauliflower mashed potatoes (without a potato in sight).
- Boursin mashed potatoes: Soft-skinned small red potatoes mixed with fresh herbs and a block of Boursin cheese. You don’t even have to peel the potatoes!
- Slow cooker: Once the mashed sweet potatoes are ready, you can put them in a crock pot and heat on the LOW setting to keep them warm and fluffy throughout your feast. I have never found a mashed potato recipe MADE in a slow cooker that I thought tasted good.
Nutrition
Serving: 1.25cupsCalories: 257kcalCarbohydrates: 49gProtein: 4gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 161mgPotassium: 800mgFiber: 7gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 32366IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 97mgIron: 1mg
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Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
I made these with a pork loin tonight. WOW they were amazing!!!!
Hi Gloria! I’m so glad you loved them! – Meggan