Mashed garlic sweet potatoes recipe
Some families hold mashed sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows sacrosanct. My family, thank the food gods, is not one of them. We're more savory than sweet, at least when it comes to what we eat, which makes these mashed garlic sweet potatoes scented with ginger and coriander a much better fit for us.
The sage plants in my garden survive well past the first snow, and I love having leaves to fry for an edible garnish. If you don't have sage, substitute fresh parsley, rosemary or thyme. (Simon and Garfunkel will be delighted.) Leftover mashed sweet potatoes make a great filling for potstickers, or a topping for shepherd's pie.
Mashed garlic sweet potatoes {vegetarian, gluten-free}
From the pantry, you'll need: garlic, powdered ginger, ground coriander, butter, olive oil or canola oil.
Serves 4-6; can be doubled.
Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes
3 cloves garlic, skin on
1/4 tsp powdered ginger
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp fresh black pepper
2-3 Tbsp heavy cream
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil or canola oil
10-12 tiny sage leaves (or 3-4 large ones, cut into pieces)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork in a few places, and place on a rimmed baking sheet along with the whole garlic cloves. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and set aside until the potatoes are just cool enough to handle. Peel the potatoes and garlic, and add them to a mixing bowl.
Mash the potatoes together with the ginger, coriander, salt, pepper, cream and butter, until the potatoes are as smooth as you like them (I like them a little bit chunky).
Transfer the potatoes to a serving bowl; cover the bowl with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic directly on the surface of the potatoes, and set aside.
In a small frying pan, heat the olive (or canola) oil. When the oil is hot, fry the sage leaves until they are crisp but still green, 15-20 seconds. Remove from the pan and garnish the sweet potatoes.
Serve hot.
More sweet potato recipes for the holiday season:
Sweet potato latkes, from The Perfect Pantry
Squash, sweet potato and carrot soup, from The Perfect Pantry
Butternut squash and sweet potato gratin, from Pinch My Salt
Sweet potato shepherd's pie, from Gluten-Free Goddess
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Lydia, what a gorgeous and appealing sweet potato dish! This is so much more my speed than those marshmallow dishes. :-) I bet I could easily make this recipe with coconut milk, too, to make it dairy free. Thank you!
Shirley
sounds delicious. We love chipotle flakes in our sweet potatoes and my boyfriend discovered that boiling the potatoes with the flakes in the water adds a nice smokey taste without a lot of heat!
I need to make this for my in-laws and get them off the marshmallows!
Shirley, thanks so much. Yes, coconut milk would work here, or even some vegetable broth if you don't want the creaminess.
Amy, I love anything with chipotle. If I were the only one eating these, I'd probably add something hot to them.
Sylvie, oh yes -- the marshmallows are so not my thing!
Actually, I came from one of those families that traditionally had the sweet potatoes topped with melted marshmellows and syrup. Only they were in large pieces and baked.
YOur more savory garlic mashed potatoes look mighty good too.
I believe I could I could be quite happy with both of those sitting side by side on my plate come Thanksgiving day.
I think maybe the sweet version is a southern thing.
Oh yes, I would love this. And the fried sage is a lovely touch.
Curt, I don't know if it's a southern thing; I know plenty of New England families who wouldn't sit down to Thanksgiving dinner without the marshmallows on the sweet potatoes. I'm just so glad my family isn't one of them.
Kalyn, my garden sage seems to outlast every herb in the garden, so I always have some leaves to use for my Thanksgiving menu.
This looks wonderful! I'm always looking for savory sweet potato dishes, marshmallows really aren't my thing either. I'm so glad I found your blog!
You're so lucky, you have sage still - love the warm spices in this savory version of mashed sweet potatoes!
I love this! North African Sweet Potatoes!
That is beautiful. Never had sweet potatoes with sage but it sounds like a wonderful combination.
Jessy, I always knew there were others who don't like marshmallows glopping up their sweet potatoes. So glad that was never my family's thing.
Jeanette, for some reason my sage, thyme, oregano and even rosemary can survive a snow or two. I still have lemongrass, too, but I must cut that down this weekend. And I have a few scallions!
Kate, never thought of it that way. All it's missing is the peanut.
Connie, sage is such a strong herb, but it works really well with the sweet potatoes.
Fantastic! I am doing this recipe for our thanksgiving and another garden tip to boot! I grew sage this year (totally addicted to fresh sage now) and saw that it seemed to be surviving out there in the cold- was wondering if it was a perennial or what - good to know I will be able to harvest another batch for this dish!! I think I am only a half zone above you (normally maybe a whole zone but I am on the water so things are little milder)
Carol, I'm in Zone 5, in Rhode Island's snow belt. No matter how cold it gets, my sage always seems to last until Thanksgiving, and sometimes beyond.
I'm a southern gal, so of course I adore sweet potatoes, but not with all the gooey sweet stuff in them. Your savory recipe looks delicious! Our sage stays in the garden pretty much through the whole winter, so we'll be using it as well.
Andrea, I always feel like my sage knows it's supposed to hang on until Thanksgiving, so we always have plenty. After that, the sage goes into hibernation. But it always lasts until Thanksgiving!
Lydia, there was this Jamie Oliver soup that I made -- mashed squash and sage -- and it was so good. I think the robust sage goes well with betacarotene rich veggies. :)
Wow. This looks so good and nutritious. I am really a potato guy. And this kind of dish is awesome! I will try to do this one. But I will add some coconut milk. Thanks you so much for sharing this soooo yummy recipe.
I tasted my first sweet potato when I landed in the U.S. back in 1986. The casserole had marshmallows on top and I did not care for it at all - I tasted a smidgen in the end, like a dessert:)
For years, I've been making a Southern version with bourbon and pecans, which my family loves (and I still eat as a dessert:)
And now you offer me garlic, sage, and coriander with sweet potatoes? This might make me reconsider my convictions:)
Thanks for the recipe. We are on the same boat. I also love savory foods, esp the one with a blast of hot taste :)