Potato and Sweet Potato Mash with No Sugar
Sneak Peek: This Potato and Sweet Potato Mash recipe combines white mashed potatoes with mashed sweet potatoes to create a beautiful, tasty side dish that’s not overly sweet and cloying.
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Are you tired of sweet potato casseroles that make you want a can of Redi-Whip to top them off?
I love a good sweet potato pie—for dessert. But when I’m eating turkey, roast beef, or even green bean casserole, it doesn’t seem fitting to plop a brown sugar, butter-saturated spoonful of sweet potatoes down next to them.
If you feel the same way, this recipe is a beautiful alternative.
Three Reasons Why Mixing Sweet Potatoes and White Potatoes Is a Good Idea
So often, a dish of 100% sweet potatoes can be a little much.
- Adding white potatoes seems to mellow out the sweet potatoes. They also complement each other in texture and taste.
- If you’re trying to cut back on gravy, this recipe is an excellent way to go. Again, the sweet potatoes add flavor.
- If you have a lonely potato or two sitting on your kitchen counter, add it to potatoes of the other color. For example, if you only have one or two sweet potatoes, make up the difference with more white potatoes. It doesn’t matter. (Here’s another idea for a lonely potato: Perfected Potato Burger Buns Mixed in a Bread Machine or these Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls)
What Do I Serve with This Side Dish?
Whenever you would typically serve mashed potatoes, this is an excellent time to try this casserole. Try a little gravy over the top.
Don’t save this dish for the fall and winter holidays alone. It’s perfect with grilled meats–especially something spicy like sausage.
How To Make White and Sweet Potato Mash
FAQ’s about Mashed Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes
I don’t recommend it. Real yams are entirely different root vegetables that are more like yucca in texture and flavor. They are not even in the same family as sweet potatoes. In the United States, I rarely see yams in the grocery store unless it is a specialty market.
White sweet potatoes and purple sweet potatoes (if you can find them) are interchangeable. However, both varieties are denser and starchier.
The novelty of the orange and white colors will be for naught if you use the white sweet potatoes. The purple potatoes may bleed into the white potatoes when you make the swirl if you boil them first.
How do you prevent the colors from bleeding if you use purple potatoes? Mary-Frances Heck, the author of Sweet Potatoes(paid link), suggests roasting, sauteing, or frying.
Yukon Gold or Russets are best, in that order. The variety and age of your potatoes affect how much milk you need to add. Start with less and add more milk to get the best texture.
No, you can leave them unpeeled if you prefer. Scrub the potatoes well and cut them into chunks. Leaving the skins on will give some texture and extra fiber.
Suit yourself on this one. You can peel both types of potatoes (specified in the recipe), or just the sweet potatoes, or don’t peel (but do scrub) at all.
Don’t miss these Spicy Pecan-Crusted Sweet Potato Balls, Skinny Baked Sweet Potato Chips, or Jalapeño Mashed Potatoes.
Freeze the leftovers in small portions of ½ cup each and make sweet potato rolls.
Parting thoughts: Because these potatoes aren’t full of sugar, I enjoy them throughout the year as a change from the more common bowl of mashed potatoes. I hope you do, too.
More Recipes for Potato Lovers:
Help at Your Fingertips: For questions or suggestions, email Paula at saladinajar.com. If you need help, I’m happy to troubleshoot via email (faster than leaving a comment). Attach pictures and as many details as possible for the best advice.
Potato and Sweet Potato Mash Recipe
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds (680 g) white potatoes peeled and diced into 2-inch pieces
- 1 ½ pound (680 g) sweet potatoes peeled and diced into 2-inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons (84 g) butter divided
- ⅔ cup (162 ⅔ g) warmed milk divided
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Place 1 1/2 pounds (680 g) white potatoes into the bottom of a saucepan, then 1 1/2 pound (680 g) sweet potatoes. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Barely cover potatoes with cold water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer until potatoes are fork-tender but not falling apart.
- Drain potatoes. Remove sweet potatoes from the pan and place them into another bowl. Place white potatoes back into your original pan and let them dry while you mash the sweet potatoes. For this step, I put on plastic gloves to remove the hot sweet potatoes.
- Mash the sweet potatoes your favorite way. (I use a ricer, but a potato masher or portable mixer is also good.)
- Start with about 2 tablespoons of the 2/3 cup (162 ⅔ g) warmed milk and half of 6 tablespoons (84 g) butter. Add more milk, if needed, to make potatoes creamy and smooth but not runny. Taste to see if they need more salt. Add freshly ground pepper (1/8 teaspoon)
- Repeat steps 3 and 4 with the white potatoes. Again, start with about 2 tablespoons of milk and the remaining butter. Add more milk, as needed, until the consistency matches your sweet potatoes. Taste to see if they need more salt. Add freshly ground pepper (1/8 teaspoon)
- Plop mashed sweet potatoes back into the pan with mashed white potatoes. Make a couple of folds with a spoon to barely mix. Move to a serving dish being careful not to mix too much.
Equipment
Nutrition
All images and text ©️ Paula Rhodes for Salad in a Jar.com
Paula Rhodes, owner
As a retired home economist, I created Saladinajar.com to share my belief that you don’t have to be a chef to find joy in creating homemade food worth sharing. Bread machines (used in an unconventional way), homemade yogurt, and quick microwave recipes are my specialty.