15 Sweet and Savory Sweet Potato Recipes - Grits and Pinecones (2024)

Date: Nov 17, 2022 · Updated: Nov 17, 2022 Author: Sharon Rigsby

This collection of 15 Sweet and Savory Sweet Potato Recipes features simple, homemade, no-fuss sweet potato recipes that are perfect whether you are serving them for a quick weeknight meal or for a special occasion.

Although crowd-pleasing sweet potato side dishes reign supreme at Thanksgiving and the holidays, they are also perfect to serve any time of the year. Whether you are looking for a sweet potato side dish, main dish, salad, soup, or even dessert, I’ve got you covered.

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From my personal favorite, Sweet Potato Bread with Pecans, to breakfast and brunch staple, Sweet Potato Hash, and dessert superstar, Sweet Potato Pie, there is something for everyone. All are easy, hearty, delicious, and satisfying recipes that include sweet potatoes, which are classified as a superfood!

Southern Bourbon Sweet Potato Casserole

Southern Sweet Potato Casserole with Bourbon and Pecans isa delightful combination of flavors that is sure to draw rave reviews from everyone. This isa lighter version of the classic recipefor sweet potato casserole with pecans most folks expect to see on Thanksgiving. But it has a fun twist, atouch of bourbon, the quintessential southern liquor.

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Southern Candied Sweet Potatoes

Old-fashionedSouthern Candied Sweet Potatoeswith pecans is a dazzling holiday side dish with a rich combination of flavors and textures. This recipe features thinly sliced tender sweet potatoes perfectly seasoned with cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves and blanketed in caramelized brown sugar, sweet, creamy butter, andcandied pecans.

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Easy Southern Sweet Potato Bread with Pecans

Easy Southern Sweet Potato Bread with Pecans is theultimate quick bread! It’s moist, flavorful, and loaded withsweet potatoes and crunchy pecans.Tasty sweet potato bread is the height ofquick bread perfection, and trying to resist a slice is futile!

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Roasted Turkey Breast with Sweet Potatoes and Cranberries

Flavorful Roasted Turkey Breast with Sweet Potatoes and Cranberries is the perfect Thanksgiving dinner recipe for a small gathering. Not only does this amazing dish make a beautiful presentation and feed four, but it is made in one skillet and cooks in under an hour.

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Healthy Roasted Sweet Potato Stacks

Healthy Roasted Sweet Potato Stacks are the stuff sweet potato dreams are made of, full of nutritious and flavorful sweet potatoes, scallions,roasted pecans, and maple syrup!

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Sweet Potato Pie with Condensed Milk

My, oh my, Sweet Potato Pie!Southern Sweet Potato Pie with Condensed Milktastes like a cool crisp fall day; warm, pungent spices and Thanksgiving all wrapped up in one delicious and decadent bite.

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Easy Sweet Potato Hash

Easy Southern Sweet Potato Hash is full of healthy sweet potatoes, crisp Granny Smith apples, tart cranberries, and bacon cooked with eggs in a cast-iron skillet! Versatile, sweet, and savory Easy Southern Sweet Potato Hash is the “breakfast of champions” and a great way to start the day!

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Savory Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Imagine, if you will, soft, fluffy, and savory baked sweet potatoes combined with shallots, thyme, butter, and delicious Fontina cheese. These unique Savory Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes should be making an appearance on your Thanksgiving table this year!

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Healthy Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

Healthy Roasted Sweet Potato Salad is a unique, colorful, healthy, and, best of all, delicious choice for your Thanksgiving dinner.

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Terry’s Traditional Sweet Potato Casserole

Are you looking for the most delicious Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole that you have ever eaten? One that is decadent beyond description and will have your family clamoring for more?

Well, you are in the right place because Terry’s Thanksgiving Sweet Potato Casserole is all that and more!

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Easy Creamy Southern Sweet Potato Soup

Easy Creamy Southern Sweet Potato Soup isas smooth as velvet, a little spicy, and pure creamy deliciousness. Sweet and savory with carrots and sweet potatoes, this homemade soupis quick to make and even quicker to disappear.

Topped withcandied pecans, this easy soup recipe is 100% delicious.

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Fall Harvest Salad with Apples and Sweet Potatoes

This irresistibly delicious Fall Harvest Salad with Apples and Sweet Potatoes is as pretty as a picture and tastes as good as it looks! Full of roasted sweet potatoes, juicy sliced apples, and crunchy roasted pecans, this healthy salad will remind you of a cool crisp Fall day.

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Smoked Sweet Potatoes

Sinfully delicious, Smoked Sweet Potatoes topped with Maple Bourbon Butter will rock your world with their sweet and savory smoked potato goodness. The light smoky flavor goes beautifully with the delicate sweetness of the potato, and this incredible side dish is super easy to make.

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Sweet Potato Biscuits

Easy Southern Sweet Potato Biscuits with Cranberry Aioli – say yes, please! How could you not love this combination of sweet and savory flavors? Add some salty country ham, and you have a delicious homemade biscuit fit for a king or queen.

If you are not planning to entertain the Royals, how about serving these yummy biscuits for an Easter or Mother’s Day Brunch or Lunch?

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Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup

What better way to celebrate cooler weather than with the warm, cozy deliciousness of a steaming bowl of smooth, velvety Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup?

Creamy roasted pumpkin and sweet potato soup is a perfect first or starter course for Thanksgiving, or it’s an easy, healthy, light lunch or dinner. And, the best part, kids love it!

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Sweet potato FAQs:

What is the most popular Thanksgiving side dish?

This depends on where you live. Although mashed potatoes are the number one side dish across the country, in the South, sweet potato casseroles such as Bourbon Sweet Potato Casserole and Terry’s Traditional Sweet Potato Casserole are unabashedly the star of the side dish lineup and are a must on any southern Thanksgiving dinner table.

What is the most popular topping for a sweet potato casserole?

There are two camps on what kind of topping should be on sweet potato casseroles. One insists on marshmallows, and the other is adamant that you can’t have a sweet potato casserole without a pecan brown sugar topping or a pecan streusel topping.

Ours is a house divided, so I often put marshmallows on one side and pecans and brown sugar on the opposite side.

What is the healthiest way to cook sweet potatoes?

Baking or roasting sweet potatoes in the oven is the healthiest way to cook sweet potatoes. On their own, sweet potatoes are considered a superfood and are loaded with vitamins and minerals; it’s when you add copious amounts of butter, sugar, and other “fixin’s” that you can get into trouble.

What dishes can be made from sweet potatoes?

As you can see from this collection, sweet potatoes can be used in all sorts of dishes, from sides to mains. These versatile, flavorful, and colorful potatoes can also be substituted for regular white potatoes in most recipes.

What’s the difference between sweet potatoes and yams?

While many folks use the terms interchangeably, and while both are tuber-shaped, sweet potatoes and yams are two very different food items.
Most of the time, when folks think they are eating yams or when they see candied yams in the grocery store, they are actually sweet potatoes.

Sweet potatoes are grown in the South, while yams are grown in West Africa.

More Thanksgiving recipes:

32 Easy No-Fuss Thanksgiving Turkey Recipes – 2023
27 Easy Savory Dressing and Stuffing Recipes for 2023
37 Southern Thanksgiving Side Dishes to Impress – 2023

No Thanksgiving meal would be complete without dessert, and these two recipe collections are full of ideas for ending everything on a sweet note:

40 Best Desserts for Thanksgiving 2022 and 40 Non-Traditional Thanksgiving Desserts.

And, because Christmas isn’t far behind, I thought you might be interested in these Christmas recipe collections:

29 Best Christmas Dessert Recipes
25 Best Christmas Breakfast/Brunch Recipes
30 Easy and Elegant Christmas Dinner Menu Ideas
31 Easy Homemade Edible Christmas Gifts

★★★★★If you make any of these recipes, please leave a comment and give it a star rating. I would love to know how you liked it!

Thanks so much for visiting Grits and Pinecones! I hope you come back soon!

More Thanksgiving Recipes

Best Southern Fried Corn with Bacon Recipe
Easy Peanut Butter Mousse Recipe with Whipped Cream
Homemade Gingerbread Ice Cream Recipe (No Churn)
Creamy Turkey Noodle Casserole Recipe with Leftover Turkey

Reader Interactions

Comments

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April
November 07, 2016 at 7:55 am
What a great list of sweet potato recipes! So much inspiration! Thanks for sharing!
Reply
Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy
November 06, 2016 at 9:36 am
What a great collection of recipes. Sweet potatoes can be used so many delicious ways for sure.
Reply
- Gritsandpinecones
  November 06, 2016 at 11:54 am
  Thanks so much Gloria!
  Reply
Kimberly @ Berly's Kitchen
November 04, 2016 at 9:11 pm
This is a lovely list of sweet potato inspired recipes and such a large variety of ways to prepare them. Definitely, goes above and beyond the traditional baked sweet potato! Love this post.
Reply
- Gritsandpinecones
  November 04, 2016 at 9:45 pm
  Thanks so much Kimberly!
  Reply
Amy
November 04, 2016 at 4:25 pm
So much goodness here! How do you decide?! Although that scalloped sweet potato dish might be calling my name…
Reply
- Gritsandpinecones
  November 04, 2016 at 4:46 pm
  I’m with you! My husband wants me to make the Scalloped Sweet Potato dish for his office Thanksgiving party! It does look yummy!
  Reply

15 Sweet and Savory Sweet Potato Recipes - Grits and Pinecones (2024)

FAQs

What brings out the flavor of sweet potatoes? ›

Browning butter packs in tons of flavor, without dulling the sweet potatoes. Slow-roasting the sweet potatoes activates endogenous enzymes that bring out their natural sweetness. A touch of maple syrup, butter, and a bit of chopped thyme are the only embellishments these naturally sweet sweet potatoes need.

Learn More Now ›

What can I add to sweet potatoes to make them taste better? ›

Salt, Pepper, and Butter – the OG classic way of serving your sweet potatoes. Greek Yogurt and Green Onion – one of my personal favorites! you can do sour cream instead of Greek Yogurt if you prefer. Maple Syrup, Cinnamon, and Butter – ok, I'm a big fan of savory but this combo is also a favorite!

What is the healthiest sweet potato? ›

Sweet potatoes with orange flesh are richest in beta-carotene. Sweet potatoes with purple flesh are richer in anthocyanins. Beta-carotene and anthocyanins are naturally occurring plant “phyto” chemicals that give vegetables their bright colors.

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What is the best tasting sweet potato variety? ›

Garnet. You can spot a garnet by its reddish-purple skin which reveals a striking orange interior. These are super velvety, with a denser texture and more complex flavor than jewels. Garnets kind of bring to mind plums and some vanilla—it's a sweet, gorgeous, deep flavor.

Keep Reading ›

Do sweet potatoes get sweeter the longer you cook them? ›

You can control the amount of maltose produced when cooking sweet potatoes by varying the cooking time. The longer and slower you cook a sweet potato, the more maltose is formed and the sweeter it will taste.

Get More Info Here ›

Does freezing sweet potatoes make them sweeter? ›

Freezing also lowers the starting temperature of the potato, allowing more time for amylase enzymes to convert starch to sweet-tasting maltose. Starting the sweet potatoes in a cold oven further enhances sweetness via gradual heating, which stretches out the time spent in the “sweet spot” for enzymatic activity.

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Is it okay to eat a sweet potato every day? ›

If you enjoy sweet potatoes, you can absolutely enjoy them daily. However, eating multiple sweet potatoes every day could cause a harmless condition called carotenodermia, where your skin turns yellow-orange. You may also want to be cautious about your sweet potato intake if you have a history of kidney stones.

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Can you eat too much sweet potatoes? ›

Sweet potatoes contain beta-carotene, and their excessive consumption can lead to hypervitaminosis A (vitamin A toxicity), in which excess vitamin A accumulates in the liver. Although it is not considered harmful, the color of the skin and nails may turn orange.

Get More Info Here ›

Which sweet potato is better, white or red? ›

While both of these starchy foods are comparable in things such as calories, protein, and the dreaded carb content, white potatoes provide more potassium, whereas sweet potatoes are incredibly high in vitamin A. Both types of potatoes also contain other beneficial plant compounds.

Are bigger or smaller sweet potatoes better? ›

Though larger ones might seem appealing, according to our friends at Real Simple, smaller sweet potatoes tend to be sweeter and creamier than larger ones, which are usually starchier. Also, the sweet potato should be firm to the touch. If it's soft or limp, it's probably already starting to go bad.

Read The Full Story ›

What state has the best sweet potatoes? ›

Since North Carolina is the nation's top sweet potato producer, you're likely already buying sweet potatoes grown within the state. Though uncommon just a few decades ago, these tasty tubers can now be found in every major grocery store chain, particularly orange-fleshed varieties such as Beauregard and Covington.

Discover More Details ›

What makes sweet potatoes taste sweet? ›

As soon as sweet potatoes start to heat up during cooking, a special enzyme particular to sweet potatoes goes to work. This enzyme breaks down the tasteless, chalky starch into maltose – in other words, the starch becomes sugar. Maltose is only about a third as sweet as table sugar, but that's plenty sweet for us!

Keep Reading ›

How do you get the sweet taste out of potatoes? ›

Add Vinegar

You can use any vinegar, white, red or even apple cider vinegar. Take a bowl, add 2-3 cups of water along with 2 tbsp of vinegar. Then add potatoes and leave aside for a few minutes. This hack not only reduces the sweetness from potatoes but also helps potatoes to retain their shape.

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What makes sweet potatoes better? ›

Because of their fiber and vitamin contents, sweet potatoes are often considered the healthier choice between the two. Sweet potatoes are likely healthier than regular potatoes. They have a lower GI, more fiber, and large amounts of beta carotene.

See Details ›

15 Sweet and Savory Sweet Potato Recipes - Grits and Pinecones (2024)

Southern Bourbon Sweet Potato Casserole

Southern Candied Sweet Potatoes

Easy Southern Sweet Potato Bread with Pecans

Roasted Turkey Breast with Sweet Potatoes and Cranberries

Healthy Roasted Sweet Potato Stacks

Sweet Potato Pie with Condensed Milk

Easy Sweet Potato Hash

Savory Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Healthy Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

Terry’s Traditional Sweet Potato Casserole

Easy Creamy Southern Sweet Potato Soup

Fall Harvest Salad with Apples and Sweet Potatoes

Smoked Sweet Potatoes

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup

Sweet potato FAQs:

More Thanksgiving recipes:

More Thanksgiving Recipes

Reader Interactions

Comments

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FAQs

What brings out the flavor of sweet potatoes? ›

What state has the best sweet potatoes? ›

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