These mashed sweet potatoes are a deliciously creamy and filling side dish. Make them sweet or savory and enjoy them as part of your favorite meal.

sweet potatoes with butter on top and spoon sticking out

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The full recipe with ingredients/instructions is available on the recipe card at the bottom of the post. Important tips/tricks are also included in the blog post.

Sweet Potatoes are my favorite root vegetable and there's a good reason why. There’s so much you can do with them and they’re delicious in all kinds of ways. From sweet potato wedges, sweet potato pie, and sweet potato cake. So many possibilities! For the Holidays, I like making my candied sweet potatoes too.

However, most days, I keep it simple by roasting them and sometimes, when I'm feeling fancy, I mash them up and flavor them. You can make these sweet potatoes sweet or savory by just adding a few simple ingredients.

How to make Mashed Sweet Potatoes

First, you’ll need to cook your sweet potatoes. You can choose your favorite method whether it’s bake, steam, air fry, pressure cook, or boil. Cook them until they are nice and softened. My preferred method for getting this done is to cook the sweet potatoes whole, with the skin on, until they are softened. Then I remove the skin and proceed with my recipe.

Gather your ingredients

Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes. I'm actually using my meat chopper because it's what I hand on hand.

Add other ingredients and use a spoon to stir the sweet potatoes.

Sweet Mashed Sweet Potatoes

To make them sweet, season your sweet potatoes with the following:

3 tablespoon maple syrup
2 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon brown sugar
¼ teaspoon allspice
⅛ teaspoon cloves
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
Pinch of salt

Savory Mashed Sweet Potatoes

To make them savory, season your sweet potatoes with the following:

¼ cup Parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
⅛ teaspoon rubbed sage

sweet potato in bowl with spoon sticking out topped with sage

Or wing it and add your favorite spices.

What’s the best way to cook sweet potatoes before mashing?

I prefer to cook my sweet potatoes whole either in the oven, air fryer, or Instant Pot before mashing them. These methods get my sweet potatoes tender without losing any flavor. I'm not a fan of boiling them before mashing but it can be done.

If you prefer to boil the sweet potatoes, cover peeled and cut sweet potato cubes with about 1 inch of salted water. Boil until tender and drain the water.

Times and Methods for Sweet Potato:

Oven: Place on a lined baking sheet and pierce the skin with a fork. Bake at 425F til tender, around 50 minutes.
Slow Cooker: Place in your slow cooker and close the lid. They will take around 6 hours on low and 3 hours on high.
Air Fryer: Place sweet potatoes in air fryer basket and cook on 400F for 35-40 minutes. Check out my recipe for Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes, served with hot honey butter.
Microwave: If you are in a real hurry, you can cook a sweet potato in around 5 to 8 minutes on full power, Pierce with a fork and cook for 5 minutes, then in 30 second increments til tender. It’s great if you are in a hurry, though I much prefer the texture with the Instant Pot.
Instant Pot Pressure Cooker: Place sweet potatoes in pressure cooker insert along with 1 cup of water and cook for 15-25 minutes depending on the size of your sweet potatoes. Check out my Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes for full detailed instructions.

How to mash a sweet potato?

Sweet Potatoes are so tender that they can be mashed with a potato masher or even a fork. If you prefer a creamier potato, you can add them to a food processor and process them until smooth.

What should I serve mashed sweet potatoes with?

I could eat them with just about anything but here are some of my favorite recipes to serve mashed sweet potatoes with:

Tanya