Baked Sweet Potato Balls: A Festive Side Dish

Sneak Preview: These Baked Sweet Potato Balls are mashed, pecan-coated, and baked to perfection. They make an impressive side dish with egg whites, cayenne, pecans, and butter!

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How do you resist a sweet potato sale? I can’t! I always end up with more than I know what to do with.

That’s where these Baked Sweet Potato Balls with Pecan Crust come in. Mashed, seasoned, and rolled in a spicy egg white mixture before getting a crunchy pecan coating—they’re perfect for your holiday table!

Please note that these balls are gluten-free. Even the Worcestershire sauce is gluten-free if it is made in the United States.

Three Reasons You’ll Love These Baked Sweet Potato Balls:

1. Rich, concentrated sweet potato flavor (inspired by Cooks Country’s stovetop technique)
2. No marshmallows—finally, a savory twist on a holiday favorite!
3. Sweet and spicy pecan coating with Swerve (or sugar), Worcestershire, paprika, and cayenne for a perfect balance

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Sweet Potatoes:
  • Fresh are best, not canned (too mushy)
  • I haven’t tested with yams. Read more about the difference between sweet potatoes and yams.
    
• Salt:
  • Table salt, sea salt, or Kosher salt
    
• Cayenne pepper:
  • Adds a kick—go easy if you’re not into “spicy”
  • Best stored in the fridge
    
• Egg Whites:
  • Essential for the glaze, helping spices stick and pecans cling
  • Use yolks for egg noodles or vanilla cream pastry filling.
    
• Sugar:
  • Granulated or brown sugar, or
  • Sweetener alternatives like Swerve or Stevia
    
• Worcestershire sauce:
  • Adds depth–don’t skip it
    
• Paprika:
  • Sweet paprika adds flavor and color
    
• Pecans:
  • Buy pieces for savings
  • Skip for nut allergies
    
• Butter: Use
  • Salted or unsalted butter
  • Substitute dairy-free butter

Variations

• For a more traditional sweet potato flavor, add a teaspoon of cinnamon or a dash of nutmeg instead of Worcestershire sauce.
• If you don’t want to buy pecans, replace them with crumbled cornflakes.

How to make Baked Sweet Potato Balls

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Prepare sweet potatoes:

1. Use a knife to slice peeled sweet potatoes into 1/2-inch pieces.
2. Add six tablespoons of water and sweet potatoes to a medium pot. Cover. (Boil the potatoes immediately after peeling and slicing them to keep them from turning brown.)
3. Cook on medium-low for 25-30 minutes, occasionally stirring until the potatoes are tender.
4. Drain the potatoes and allow them to cool and dry for a few minutes.
5. Mash with a fork or potato masher. Add salt and cayenne. Taste the potatoes at this point to ensure the seasonings are correct.

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Parting Thoughts: Since I only make this recipe for big holiday meals, I love that you can make the balls ahead of time and freeze them. Thanks to my friend, Debbie, for sharing this lovely recipe.

If you are a bread maker, try these Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls. If you need a different holiday side dish, look at my Sweet and White Mashed Potato Swirl recipe. Another favorite idea for fresh sweet potatoes is to make Skinny Sweet Potato Chips.

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Yield: 8 servings

Baked Sweet Potato Balls: A Festive Side Dish

By Paula Rhodes

These mashed sweet potatoes are formed into balls, rolled in a spicy egg white mixture, and then rolled in chopped pecans. They are a delicious make-ahead alternative to marshmallow, butter, and sugar-laden sweet potato casseroles.

5 from 12 votes

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Video

Prep time: 50 minutes minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes minutes

Total time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Ingredients

 

½x1x1½x2x

• 2 pounds (907 g) sweet potatoes, fresh
• 6 tablespoons (90 g) water
• ½ teaspoon salt
• dash cayenne pepper

Egg White Coating

• 2 large (66 g) egg whites
• 1 teaspoon water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 2 cups (250 g) finely chopped pecans
• 3 tablespoons (42 g) butter, melted

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Instructions

• Peel and cut 2 pounds (907 g) sweet potatoes, fresh into half-inch slices. Place them into a covered pot with 6 tablespoons (90 g) water. Cook over medium-low heat, occasionally stirring until potatoes are soft. It usually takes 20-25 minutes.
• Drain the potatoes and allow them to cool and dry for a few minutes. Mash with a fork or potato masher. (Do not use a mixer, food processor, or immersion blender as they will cause sweet potatoes to be too soft.)
• Season with ½ teaspoon salt and dash cayenne pepper.
• Preheat oven to 400˚ F (200˚C). Prepare a cookie sheet by covering it with parchment paper, a silicone mat, or grease it well.
• Mix 2 large (66 g) egg whites, 1 teaspoon water, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar with a fork until frothy. Add 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon paprika, and 1 teaspoon cayenne. Mix well.
• Spread 2 cups (250 g) finely chopped pecans on a piece of wax paper or a plate.
• Make sweet potato balls using a spring-loaded ice cream scoop. I like balls between ⅛ to ¼ cup size. (Surgical gloves are really helpful here.) Drop balls one at a time into the egg white mixture with a slotted spoon making sure the whole ball gets coated. Then cover each ball with finely-chopped pecans.
• Place on a prepared cookie sheet. Brush with 3 tablespoons (42 g) butter, melted.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until nuts become toasty and balls are heated through.

Notes

• Make-Ahead: If you want to peel the sweet potatoes ahead of time without them turning brown, immediately place peeled sweet potatoes into a bowl full of water to slow down the browning.
  Prepare balls and bake them at your convenience. When cool, wrap sweet potato balls well and freeze them. Thaw and reheat in the oven before serving.
• Note about the calorie count: The nutritional estimates on this recipe may be a little high because you will probably have a little bit of the egg mixture and butter left over after making the balls.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 341kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 564mg | Potassium: 527mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 16376IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 1mg

All images and text ©️ Paula Rhodes for Salad in a Jar.com

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