by Borracho
100 Ways to Cook a Sweet Potato
Potato….. Potaahto….. Who cares? Just make sure it’s sweet. The health benefits of this tuber are well documented and it has become somewhat of a hip veggie recently. Unfortunately, many of us prepare it the same way time after time. Not anymore. From sweet potato mac ‘n’ cheese to sweet potato whoopie pie, here are our 100 favorite sweet potato recipes.
Click on any of the pictures to find the recipes
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More? Drop your favorite sweet potato recipes in the comments and we may just add them!
More 100 Ways…
100 Ways to Cook an Egg
100 Ways to Cook Bacon
100 Ways to Cook a Tomato
100 Ways to Cook a Banana
100 Ways to Cook a Pumpkin
I wish you’d posted this BEFORE I went to the grocery store this morning and passed up the sweet potatoes for lack of a recipe.. I’ve been hankering sweet potato ever since Thanksgiving came up a little short.
The sweet potato oatmeal and sweet potato latkes are right up my alley.
that “lover” sandwich looks ridiculous!!!! (in a good way)
I did a variation of Sweet Potato fries for Turkey Day, instead of baking them, I double deep fried them in duck fat. Amazing.
Great post, I’m truly shocked that there are 100 ways for this.
These are always so great!
Can I request “100 ways to cook with chickpeas”? Are there 100 ways to cook with chickpeas?
Is this too demanding? If there are 100 ways to cook with chickpeas, I’ll try every single recipe out.
If you all like sweet potatoes check out a book titles, The Sweet Potato Cookbook. Lots of very cool and interesting recipies.
There is a huge diference between a sweet potato and a yam. Lots of these recipes seem to be for yams. Yams were imported from Africa by slaves. Sweet potatoes were grown by native Americans.
Richard- great input! Most people aren’t aware that even the word yam comes from African words njam, nyami, or djambi, meaning “to eat,”
It is great and somewhat surprising how many people have mentioned differences between sweet potatoes and yams either here or on Facebook etc… I am by no means an expert so before we put this list together I referred to my guru for all food science: Harold McGee. His tome, On Food and Cooking can be trusted to be scientific and comprehensive. Below is what On Food and Cooking has to say about what is a sweet potato and what is a yam.
“First, a sweet potato is a member of the morning glory family — and, having seen sweet potato vines, I can certainly see that. It is not a potato.”
Of sweet potatoes, McGee writes: “There are many different varieties, ranging from dry and starchy varieties common in tropical regions, some pale and others reds or purple with anthocyanins, to the moist, sweet version, dark orange with beta carotene, that is popular in the United States and was confusingly named a ‘yam’ in 1930s marketing campaigns.”
Yams, on the other hand, are related to tropical grasses and lilies, writes McGee. What’s more, “They are seldom seen in mainstream American markets, where ‘yam’ means a sugary orange sweet potato.”
Whether it is the Japanese “yams” used in tempura to the sweet, gooey candied “yams” found everywhere candied on Thanksgiving, they are actually sweet potatoes. Many of us may never have eaten an actual yam though I have begun to see more boniatas and other varietals pop up in supermarkets.
I love sweet potatoes. Thanks for all the great ideas. Those pancakes are calling my name.
Here’s my favorite recipe:
http://www.theyummylife.com/blog/2010/08/19/Roasted+Sweet+Potatoes+With+Dill+Recipe
I love the idea of the sweet potato covered hotdog. Also the curry… I have a version of this at my local vietnamese restaurant it’s fabulous!
Thanks for this post, I’m going to try some of these out, the photos are amazing!
@Richard and Borracho – great discussion about the origins/variety.
When I was researching this particular point last year, I also found some interesting facts:
– The origin of sweet potatoes is believed to be located in Central America with its ancestral roots in the Mexican wild yam.
– They have been cultivated for more than 5,000 years, although fossilized remains in the Andes date back 8,000 years.
– In 1920, per capita consumption of sweet potatos was 31 pounds. In 1999, consumption dropped to a mere 4 pounds per person.
Yes, the horribly sweet yam from Africa has supplanted the native American sweet potato, and real sweet potatoes are very hard to find. Even the produce people in supermarkets have no clue.
@Laura – chickpea suggestion definitely added to the to-do list!
Thanks so much for the mention! What a great post with so many delicious ideas!
Great post about the origin and source of sweet potato.
My family loves cooking sweet potatoes in every way possible but have not reached 100 ways!
We will certainly try many of your recipes.
Thank you for great suggestions and photos.
TheGourmetCoffeeGuy
http://www.ourgourmetcoffee.com
I love sweet potatoes, and all those pictures just look so yummy.
SWEET POTATO CURRY
http://www.testkitchenandbar.com/2011/08/05/turkey-meatballs-with-sweet-potato-apple-curry/
We really enjoy your site…here is a awesome recipe that we just posted that would fit into your “100 ways to cook a Sweet Potato” . My Husband and I both enjoyed the Fall flavors and combination of the sweet apples, bacon, and sweet potato.
Here is the link to the post…
http://dunkincookingthesemi-homemadeway.blogspot.com/2011/10/harvest-hash.html
Thanks,
Marybeth
sweet stuff post!