21 Simple Sweet Potato Recipes

Spoon bread, a cross between corn bread and soufflé, is a Southern classic. Robert Stehling likes to add cooked spinach or fresh corn and chopped and sautéed bacon or ham to his plain sweet potato version.

Bourekas are crisp, savory little parcels filled with anything from vegetables and cheese to ground meat. Inspired by his grandmother's recipe, Michael Solomonov's version is stuffed with sweet potato, Bulgarian feta, dill, and olives.

Inspired by camotes enmielados—a sweet and syrupy Mexican dessert often served in honor of Día de los Muertos—these spiced sweet potatoes are the perfect stand-in for candied yams with toasted marshmallows. 

A red wine braise, complete with other mulling ingredients like fresh orange and whole spices, makes the oxtails in this stew fall-apart tender and flavorful.

Jose Garces says this dish best exemplifies his Thanksgiving menu: traditional at its core but with unexpected Latin accents. The gratin is silky and sweet, topped with gooey marshmallows and delightfully crunchy pecans flavored with chile powder.

Marcus Samuelsson drew on African staples like yams and okra to create this completely original recipe of roasted sweet potatoes tossed with red potatoes, wilted spinach and sautéed okra. Toasted mustard seeds and a caper vinaigrette give this delicious salad a nutty, tangy flavor.

A trio of coconut—coconut oil, coconut milk and toasted coconut flakes—makes its way into this fragrant and lovely twist on a classic soup from cookbook author Melissa Clark.

This silky soup gets its smoky sweetness from pureed chipotle peppers, a Mexican staple, and the surprising addition of apples.

This easy and healthy shrimp stir-fry comes together in less than 20 minutes and tastes delicious over simple jasmine rice.

Use soppressata to top this clever prebaked-crust pizza, along with mashed sweet potatoes and mozzarella cheese.

This sweet-potato pie looks like a pumpkin pie, but the filling is actually made with sweet potato.

This quick-fix recipe is the ideal breakfast for the morning after Thanksgiving—or any time you have leftover candied sweet potatoes on hand. The addition of mashed sweet potatoes gives them a beautiful color and keeps them extra moist and tender. Since the potatoes are already sweetened, Douglass Williams, a 2020 F&W Best New Chef, cuts back the amount of brown sugar in the pancakes and plays up the warming cinnamon and clove. 

Here, sweet potatoes add a hint of sweetness to regular hummus.

Tempeh has a long way to go before it becomes as popular as other soy products, but its wonderfully firm texture and versatility make it an excellent protein source. Here, it's a stand-in for ground meat in a vegan baked empanada.

Parboiling the sweet potatoes shortens the cooking time and keeps them moist.

This chunky almond pesto is an excellent complement to potatoes, and it's also good on pasta.

Using sweet potatoes in place of white potatoes makes these hash browns a little sweet; mixing them with poblanos and lemon juice makes the dish taste bright.

This hearty vegetarian tortilla soup pulls its flavor from plenty of seasonings and bright and tender sweet potatoes. To make this soup vegan, substitute vegan sour cream and cheese.

The late New York chef Gerry Hayden created this side flavorful dish, a combination of creamy pureed potato and fragrant vanilla. 

The rice in this casserole filling is cooked until it starts to fall apart, thickening the liquid.

Pro Tip: Mash the sweet potatoes with a potato masher until creamy, then mash in the butter and apple butter. Season with a dash of salt and serve.