Description
These Sweet Mashed Potatoes are everything comfort food should be—creamy, naturally sweet, and incredibly easy to make. With just butter, a touch of brown sugar or maple syrup, and warm cinnamon, they’re the perfect balance of savory and sweet. Make them ahead for holidays or whip them up on a busy weeknight. Customizable with pecans, yogurt, or citrus, and easily made dairy-free!
Ingredients
For the Mashed Potatoes:
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup milk or cream (more as needed for texture)
- 2–3 tablespoons brown sugar or maple syrup (to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
- Pinch of salt
Optional Add-Ins:
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 2–3 tablespoons sour cream or Greek yogurt (for tang)
- Chopped toasted pecans (for topping)
Instructions
Peel. Chop into chunks. Don’t stress about making them perfect just try to keep them kinda similar size. Like an inch to two inches each. If one’s huge and one’s tiny the tiny one will turn to mush before the huge one is cooked and then you’re fishing out hard chunks at the end and it’s annoying. I learned this the hard way my first time making these when I just hacked them up random and ended up with half cooked half paste.
Pot. Cold water. Cover the potatoes. Salt. Boil. Turn down the heat. Wait like 15-20 minutes till they’re falling apart soft. You want them really soft. Like a fork slides through with zero resistance. If you have to push even a little they need more time. I usually test the biggest chunk because that one takes longest.
Dump in colander. Shake it good. Back in the hot pot for a minute or two. This gets rid of extra water so they’re not soupy. I turn the heat on low and just let them sit there steaming. You’ll see little wisps of steam coming off and that’s the extra moisture leaving. My mom taught me this trick and it’s the difference between good mashed potatoes and watery sad ones.
Butter goes in. Start mashing. I use whatever’s clean in the drawer. Potato masher is easiest. Fork works if you’re patient. Ricer makes them really smooth but I can never find mine so I just mash. Get them mostly smooth but some little lumps are fine. Gives them character or whatever food people say.
Little bit of milk. Not the whole thing. Look at it. Need more? Add more. Sugar or maple syrup goes in. I taste it first because my mom yelled at me once for adding too much and I’m still traumatized. Start with like two tablespoons and taste. Add more if you want. Cinnamon if you remembered to buy it. More salt. Always more salt than you think. Taste again. Fix it till it tastes right.
Vanilla or sour cream if you’re doing that. Stir. You’re done. Don’t overthink it. If it tastes good you did it right.
Bowl. Pecans if you want. Eat them hot or they get weird and gummy. I usually just dump them in whatever serving bowl is clean and call it good. Sometimes I put extra butter on top so it melts and looks fancy.
Notes
- For make-ahead prep: Peel and cube your sweet potatoes up to 24 hours in advance. Store them in a bowl of cold water in the fridge to prevent browning. Just drain and cook when ready!
- The orange juice trick: Add a tablespoon of fresh orange juice or a bit of grated zest for brightness that cuts through the richness. It’s SO good!
- Avoid the microwave for reheating: It creates hot spots and dries them out. Instead, reheat gently on the stovetop with a splash of milk and an extra pat of butter, stirring frequently.
- Common mistake: Adding all the liquid at once. Always start with less—you can add more, but you can’t take it away!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Boiling, Mashing
- Cuisine: American