These savory mashed sweet potatoes are the perfect side dish for a holiday meal. They are easy to make with an instant pot, require minimal prep, and is ready in less than 30 minutes. Serve this as an alternative to regular mashed potatoes with roasted turkey breast, air fryer ham or any other meat or vegetables to make a complete meal.
Why Make Savory Sweet Potato Mash
- Alternative to mashed potatoes: Similar to mashed potatoes with cheese, whipped sweet potatoes, and mashed potatoes with red skin, this sweet potato mash recipe is a great switch-up for regular mashed potatoes. It’s creamy and perfectly blends sweet and savory flavors.
- Perfect side dish for a holiday meal: Holiday-worthy side dishes like this deserve a special place on the menu. It will make a great addition to your Thanksgiving, Christmas, or other holiday dinner table.
- Easy recipe with simple ingredients: Making instant pot mashed potatoes is as easy as 1,2,3. Just add your whole potatoes to your instant pot, peel them in seconds by hand and mix. This recipe also uses simple ingredients.
- Saves time: Though this delicious side works perfectly for holiday dinners, it is also great for busy weeknights since it takes less than 30 minutes to complete. Plus, you don’t need to worry about peeling your potatoes beforehand or even cutting potato chunks.
Ingredients Needed
You don’t need much to make these creamy sweet potatoes. Here are the main ingredients that you will need to gather:
- Sweet potatoes: Washed and rinsed (no need to peel)
- Water: For the instant pot
- Butter: Salted, cut into 1 tbsp pieces
- Garlic powder
- 24 herb sprinkle seasoning: This is one of my go-to spice blends because it’s easy to find at most grocery stores and it includes things like black pepper, thyme, onion powder, and tarragon.
- Sea salt
- Sour cream: You can also use milk, cream, coconut milk, softened cream cheese, Greek yogurt, or coconut cream.
Be sure to check out the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the exact ingredient amounts and full instructions.
How to Make Savory Mashed Potatoes
- Add the sweet potatoes to the steamer insert of an instant pot pressure cooker. Pour in one cup of water. Pressure cook the potatoes on high for 12 minutes and use quick pressure release to remove the lid.
- Allow the potatoes to become cool to the touch, then peel off the skin (the skin should just fall off).
- Add the potatoes to a large bowl with the butter (the hot potatoes will melt the butter, or you can use melted butter) and the remaining ingredients.
- Use a potato masher to mash the sweet potatoes, add to a dish and serve.
Top Cooking Tips & FAQs
Apply the following tips to make the best savory mashed sweet potatoes:
- Sour cream alternatives: You can use milk, cream, coconut milk, Greek yogurt, or coconut cream.
- Pressure cook the sweet potatoes for 12 minutes: This will allow them to be fork tender. I prefer to use a pressure cooker because it allows you to “boil” your sweet potatoes quickly without having to use a large pot of water.
- I use a potato masher, but you can also use a stand mixer on “stir”, a food processor, or hand mixer.
Savory Sweet Potato Mash Topping Ideas
For toppings, you can use bacon, green onions, and cheese.
As an alternative to this savory version, you can also make sweet creamy mashed sweet potatoes with things like maple syrup and brown butter.
Storage and Leftovers
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for 3-4 days or freeze them to enjoy next time
You can serve sweet potato mash with any main dish, including various meats and vegetables.
Toppings for savory mashed sweet potatoes include green onions, bacon, and cheese.
If your mashed potatoes are too soft, adding some cornstarch will help stiffen them.
Serve your sweet potatoes with any meat from pressure cooker pot roast to cast iron chicken breast.
More Mashed Sweet Potato Recipes
If you want to experiment more with sweet potatoes, the following mashed sweet potato recipes are also delicious:
- Brown sugar mashed sweet potatoes
- Sweet potato casserole with canned yams
- Sweet potato pie with canned yams
What to Serve with Mashed Potatoes
Savory sweet potatoes are versatile and go well with most main dishes. Below are some meats and veggies to serve with your sweet potato mash:
- Air Fryer Ham
- Roasted Turkey Breast
- Air fryer brussels sprouts
- Cast iron chicken breast
- Ninja Foodi pot roast
- Air fryer Whole Roast Chicken
- Air fryer green beans
Savory Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Equipment
- 6-quart Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs sweet potatoes washed and rinsed, no need to peel
- 1 cup water cold water, for the Instant Pot
- 4 tbsp butter salted, cut into 1 tbsp pieces
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp 24 Herb Sprinkle Seasoning Bragg's
- ½ tsp sea salt or more to taste
- 2 tbsp sour cream
Instructions
- Add the sweet potatoes to the steamer insert of an instant pot. Pour in one cup of water.
- Pressure cook the potatoes on high for 12 minutes.
- Use quick pressure release to remove the lid.
- Allow the potatoes to become cool to the touch. Then peel off the skin.
- Add the potatoes to a large bowl with the butter (the hot potatoes will melt the butter or you can use melted butter) and the remaining ingredients.
- Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes.