The holidays bring family and friends together around a table with good food, usually made with guarded secret recipes. The best sweet potato recipes for Thanksgiving do not have to be a secret anymore, as there are plenty of good recipes to prepare for your Thanksgiving table.
Ways to Cook Sweet Potatoes
- Boiling – boiling sweet potatoes are one of the easiest and healthiest ways to cook them. Chop them smaller if you want them to cook quicker.
- Steaming – like boiling, but usually retains a bit more color. If you have a timer on your steaming appliance, it could be the easiest way to cook them.
- Roasting – you can drizzle some olive oil over your sweet potatoes with a dash of seasoning to have a tasty dish in about an hour.
- Frying – if you want to make some sweet potato fries or chips, you can fry them. They will have to be pre-cooked a bit for the best results.
Common Ingredients in Sweet Potato Recipes for Thanksgiving
If you’re making some sort of casserole with your sweet potatoes, you will find these common ingredients on the list.
- Egg – an egg is a great binding agent to hold everything in your casserole together.
- Butter – to add some richness to your casserole, some prefer to add a little bit of butter.
- Brown sugar – brown sugar is traditionally used in Thanksgiving recipes, but you can use white sugar if you’d like. It adds some extra sweetness to the dish.
- Flour – all-purpose flour is used in toppings on casseroles, as well as a thickening agent in the casserole itself.
20 Tasty Sweet Potato Recipes for Thanksgiving
1. Healthy(ish) Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecans
Thanksgiving is full of wonderful but sometimes a bit unhealthy meals. Try making some healthy(ish) sweet potato casserole by Lively Table.
2. Honey-Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges
One of the best ways to bring out the flavor of sweet potatoes is by roasting them. These sweet potato wedges are honey-roasted and are sure to sweeten up any meal.
3. Brown Butter Sweet Potato Mash
Give your sweet potatoes the best butter treatment with this recipe from Lively Table. It is rich and creamy with a hint of sage, making it the perfect replacement for potato mash.
4. Sweet Potato Pie Bars
If you’re not feeling up for making a proper pie for Thanksgiving, try Lemons for Lulu’s recipe for fudgy sweet potato pie bars. They are perfectly portioned and hit the spot if you’re craving a holiday pie.
5. Sweet Potato Pancakes
For a healthy alternative to traditional pancakes, sweet potato pancakes are a good choice. They go along quite well with a Rhubarb compote included in the recipe.
If you have too many sweet potatoes to know what to do with, make this easy 3-ingredient breakfast to get in the Thanksgiving mood.
6. Simple Roasted Sweet Potato
Go back to basics with Lively Kitchen’s easy recipe for some simple roasted sweet potato. You don’t have to do anything extraordinary to your sweet potatoes to get a full bite of flavor.
7. Sweet Potato Chocolate Fudge
Even fudge can have a healthy Thanksgiving twist to it. This fudge recipe by Lemons for Lulu uses only 7 ingredients and results in decadent fudge blocks in just 16 minutes.
8. Miso Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Add a bit of umami and good fermented ingredients to your next roasted sweet potato dish. BBC Good Food shows us how to make this dish which gets so much flavor from the miso, and it only takes only a few minutes to make.
9. Sweet Potato and Cinnamon Soup
Cold autumn or winter days call for a big bowl of hearty soup. The sweet potato soup recipe from Lively Kitchen will hit the spot.
Make a big batch and serve in small portions if your guests are getting hungry but dinner is not quite ready yet.
10. Sweet Potato Pie
If you think pumpkin pie is a little too dense, you’ll love this pie since it is a bit airier. This sweet potato pie from All Recipe not only makes for the perfect fall dessert but it is also easy to make.
11. Sweet Potato, Bacon, and Avocado Bites
Bored of bread as the base of your bites? Use sweet potato instead. Not only is it healthier, but if you try out this recipe from Well Plated for avocado and bacon bites and use sweet potato as the base, you are in for a treat.
12. Sweet Potato Smoothie
Not everything at Thanksgiving has to be unhealthy or overfilling. If you’re keeping an eye on your physique and need your morning smoothie, celebrate with this sweet potato Thanksgiving smoothie from Lively Kitchen.
13. Sweet Potato Hummus
Hummus is a healthy dip that is easy to make and provides a great boost of nutrients in your diet. If you want to serve it during the holidays, follow this hummus recipe from BBC Good Food that adds sweet potato to it.
14. Sweet Potato Breakfast Casserole
Lively Kitchen has a great breakfast casserole recipe that uses some sweet potato as the star of the dish. Get into the holiday mood by making this for your guests at breakfast, or use up some of those leftovers from the day before.
15. Sweet Potato Bites
Pre-portioned anything is always ideal when you’re serving guests. But this recipe by Delish for sweet potato bites won’t dirty up a lot of dishes.
These bites have marshmallows, butter, and syrup on the ingredient list, so you’ll be sure to please most guests with this recipe.
16. Sweet Potato Crisps
Store-bought crisps are very unhealthy. If you have some time to spare and would like to serve your guests a healthier crisp option, try following this recipe from A Spicy Perspective to make some sweet potato crisps.
17. Sweet Potato Salad
You might not have considered swapping out the potatoes in your famous potato salad for some sweet potatoes, but it is a great idea to try. Food Network has a tried and tested recipe if you’re open to trying a new type of potato salad recipe.
18. Sweet Potato and Blue Cheese Dip
Bon Appetit shows us how to make this dip recipe that you can prepare days in advance by baking the sweet potatoes ahead of time.
Then, on the day of, you simply blend the ingredients together and serve with chips for a combination of the flavors that satisfies the picky eaters too.
19. Crispy Sweet Potatoes with Tahini Yogurt
If you’re wanting a tasty vegetarian side dish, BBC Good Food offers us this recipe with tons of flavor. With a little bit of prep and about an hour of cook time, you’ll have a dish that is worth every second and ensures no one leaves leftovers.
How to Make Classic Sweet Potato Casserole for Thanksgiving
Ingredients
- 500g sweet potatoes
- 125g butter, plus extra for the dish
- 125g light brown soft sugar
- 150ml whole milk
- 3 eggs
- grating of nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 35g butter
- 75g plain flour
- 75g light brown soft sugar
- 50g pecans, chopped
Step 1 – Cook Your Sweet Potatoes
Fill a pot with water, and bring it to a boil. Drop your unpeeled sweet potatoes in and cook until tender, usually about 30 minutes. Let cool and peel.
Step 2 – Prepare Your Batter
Preheat your oven to 180C. In a large bowl, mash together your sweet potatoes and butter until completely smooth. Add in your brown sugar, milk, eggs, spices, and vanilla, and mix until the mixture is smooth again.
Step 3 – Prepare your Topping
Rub the butter into the flour, add in the brown sugar, pecans, and a pinch of salt – mix until combined with a fork.
Step 4 – Bake and Enjoy
Line a 20 x 30cm dish with baking paper or grease it thoroughly. Add in the sweet potato mixture and generously top with the topping. Bake for 45 minutes until the topping is golden.
Tips for Successful Sweet Potato Recipes for Thanksgiving
It is difficult to mess up a sweet potato dish, but there are some ways it can go wrong. Avoiding those mistakes and knowing some tips will guarantee a sweet potato success.
Hand Mash for the Best Texture
Don’t use a stand mixer or food processor to mash your sweet potatoes if you’re planning on serving them mashed. The texture of the sweet potato is what makes it a good dish, so mash it with a hand masher to ensure the texture is good.
Avoid Scrambled Eggs
An egg is an excellent binder of foods, and it does its job well in a sweet potato casserole. But to avoid a scrambled egg and sweet potato casserole, ensure the sweet potato cools down to room temperature before adding your egg. Thereafter, it can be slowly heated up again if you need it.
Go Light With the Sugar
Some sweet potato recipes for Thanksgiving are considered dessert with all the sugar and sweet toppings it includes. Go light with the sugar in your recipe, and let the sweetness of the sweet potato take center stage. You’d be surprised at how good it is.
Add Some Crunch
Soft and fluffy sweet potatoes are incredible as is, but a crunchy topping such as a candied nut or seed sprinkle adds a different element of texture and elevates your dish to restaurant quality.
Allow It to Set
Everyone enjoys hot food, but no one wants a plate full of runny flat sweet potato casserole. Allow your casserole to set for 10 to 20 minutes after cooking. Don’t worry, it is a dense dish and will still be warm when you serve it to your guests.
Sweet Potatoes for Thanksgiving FAQ
Can You Prep Sweet Potatoes the Night Before Thanksgiving?
You can prepare your sweet potatoes the night before you serve them. It keeps well cooked or peeled and cut in the fridge. Simply keep them in an airtight container.
What Is the Healthiest Way to Cook Sweet Potatoes?
The healthiest way to cook sweet potatoes is by either boiling them in water until they are cooked or steaming them. This method ensures less fat is added to your final dish, and it retains more beta-carotene than baking, even if you don’t use oil when baking them.
How Far in Advance Can You Cut Sweet Potatoes?
You can easily prepare your sweet potatoes 3-4 days in advance if you place them in an airtight container and keep them refrigerated.
How Long Do Cooked Sweet Potatoes Last in the Fridge?
Cooked sweet potatoes can last 3-5 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
Conclusion
Sweet potato recipes for Thanksgiving are a healthy and tasty option for dinner guests. With so many options to choose from on this list, you’ll be sure to have a treat on the table this holiday.
