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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.
Some people love a thick layer of marshmallows on the sweet potato side dishes, and some people prefer a more savory interpretation. This Mashed Sweet Potato recipe caters to the latter with a cream-infused sweet potato mash and a hearty pinch of fresh thyme. I also added some brown sugar to help the flavors balance, but you can leave that out if you want to.
Mashed sweet potatoes are a satisfying side dish for both meal time and meal prep. Some cooks prefer them due to their lower glycemic load (compared to regular potatoes) or the high Vitamin A content. Whatever your reason, this recipe is one of the easiest around, and I hope you’ll give it a try.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
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 pot or saucepan over medium-low heat, add sweet potatoes, water, thyme, sugar, and ½ teaspoon salt. Cover and cook until the potatoes are fork-tender 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.
- 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).
- Assisted mixing: If you don’t want to mash your potatoes by hand, add them to the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment or an electric mixer or with a food processor.
- Sweetened up: Omit the thyme, substitute 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and finish with a drizzle of maple syrup.
- Classic Mashed Potatoes: My favorite mashed potatoes are made with just potatoes, milk, and butter (plus salt and pepper). Peel and cut the potatoes a day in advance, then boil and mash when it’s time to go.
- Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes: This freezer-defying recipe uses cream cheese and egg whites for more staying power in the cold, and it’s part of my complete Make Ahead Thanksgiving menu.
- Crockpot Mashed Potatoes: For the best-tasting Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes, choose a high-starch potato like Russets. Slow-cook them in butter, milk, and salt, then stir in sour cream at the end for a punch of extra flavor and creaminess.
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes: Add the peeled, cubed potatoes to the bottom of a pressure cooker. Add cold water to cover and 1 teaspoon salt. Close the lid, set the valve to seal, and cook on manual pressure for 8 minutes. Turn off the instant pot and quick-release the pressure. Drain potatoes well, return to pot, and mash well. Stir in remaining ingredients.
- 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 2 bulbs (40 cloves garlic) for every 5 pounds of potatoes.
- Cauliflower mash: 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!
- Vegan Mashed Potatoes: The tastiest plant-powered mashed potatoes are made with potatoes, olive oil, non-dairy milk such almond milk or coconut milk, salt, and pepper. Easy, delicious, and 100% vegan. You can make the mashed sweet potatoes the same way.
- Small batch: Making mashed potatoes for your next date night in? Try my scaled-down Mashed Potatoes for Two recipe.
- Irish twist: Colcannon is a delicious version of mashed potatoes with cooked kale or cabbage stirred in. You’ll love that extra texture and color!
- Loaded Mashed Potatoes: Top your mashed potatoes with plenty of shredded cheddar cheese, crispy cooked bacon, and thinly-sliced scallions.
- Potatoes on top: Delicious mashed potatoes are critical for the best possible Shepherd’s Pie.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sweet potatoes willl 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.
Use a basic potato masher. A waffle-head masher will mash the potatoes into a smoother consistency, if you like them somewhere in-between.
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.
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Mashed Sweet Potatoes
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 medium-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 tastes 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.
Nutrition
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