by Ted Onulak

Created on: September 20, 2008   Last Updated: February 06, 2012

Many American sweet potato recipes, especially traditional Thanksgiving offerings, enhance the sweetness of the common orange sweet potatoes by adding things like brown sugar, corn or cane syrup, molasses, or marshmallow topping. However, the natural nutty sweetness can be quite delicious in a savory preparation, such as potato salad or traditional mashed potatoes.  

Here is a basic mashed potato recipe that has a nice little twist.  It is a savory dish that enhances the natural sweetness of the sweet potato and adds a symphony of herbal tastes and aromas. 

Herb Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients: 

Peeled and cubed Sweet potatoes (figure one potato per person),

1 stick (4 oz.) butter,

one bunch each of Rosemary, sage and thyme,

1 half pint of heavy cream and

salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation: Set out a pot of water to boil, with enough water to cover the peeled and cubed sweet potatoes.  Add a tablespoon of salt to the water when it starts to boil.  Boil the potatoes until they are soft enough to mash easily. This is easily done by testing a piece of potato with a fork.  They will be done when the fork goes into the potato easily. 

In a saucepan, add the cream and bunches of herbs and bring to a low boil.  You don’t need to chop the herbs, as you will strain the mixture with a wire strainer when done. 

Let the cream get good and hot to heat the herbs until you get a real aroma of herbs in the kitchen.  This means that the essential oils have been released and infused into the cream. 

Drain the cooked sweet potatoes and return them to the pot.  It is a good idea to reheat the potatoes to evaporate excess water. 

Strain the herb cream directly into the drained potatoes and add the butter.  Mash or mix with an electric mixer to your desired consistency.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Not seeing any flecks of herbs in the potatoes, your family and guests will be asking how in the world did you get all those delicious herbal flavors in those potatoes!  The little extra step of the herb infused cream makes all the difference. 

If you can’t live without the traditional brown sugar or marshmallow topped sweet potatoes, this technique works great with traditional mashed white potatoes as well.

Of course, you can take several steps to make the dish lighter, such as substituting half & half or whole milk for the heavy cream and reducing the amount of butter. But you have to try these creamy herb infused mashed sweet potatoes to believe them!

Why wait for the holidays?  Try them tonight as an accompaniment to chicken, pork roast or even grilled salmon.  Cheers!  

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