Smashed Sweet Potatoes with Butter, Garlic and Honey is an incredible side dish to any main entrée! Pair your Prime Rib, Crispy Salmon, Whole Roast Chicken and Vegetables, Perfect Grilled Pork Tenderloin (and more!) with this unique and mouth-watering delicious side dish.
These Smashed Sweet Potatoes with butter garlic and honey are absolutely unruly.
The marriage of flavors between the sweet potatoes, butter, garlic, and honey is just pure magic. You may think to yourself that mixing sweet and savory flavors like this sounds strange, but I assure you, it just works.
Both my partner and I were unsure about how these potatoes would turn out and both of us were pleasantly surprised to say the least (I’m completely addicted).
I assumed having too much sweetness paired with the garlic would make the dish taste like dessert that garlic accidentally infiltrated, so I intentionally used only a little bit.
The end result is a smashed sweet potato that is creamy, perfectly sweet and savory, with rich flavors abound!
What Are Smashed Potatoes?:
Smashed potatoes are baby potatoes that have been boiled until fully cooked and are then smashed into thin patties on a sheet pan, covered with sauce or cheese, then crisped up in the oven at a high temperature. The end result is perfectly soft yet crispy potatoes that are absolutely divine as a side dish!
They can also serve as a great appetizer!
Many years ago, I posted a simple recipe for Pesto Smashed Potatoes using small Yukon gold potatoes, and now we’re back with a sweet potato version.
How to Make Smashed Potatoes Out of Sweet Potatoes:
With ordinary smashed potatoes recipes, you use regular small potatoes that are fairly round and perfect for the smashing.
Many folks use baby red potatoes, baby yukon potatoes, new potatoes, or smaller potatoes that are the size of a golf ball or slightly larger.
Because sweet potatoes are larger potatoes and tend to be much longer, we must slice them into rounds prior to boiling them.
This ensures the smashed sweet potatoes have the same round shape as regular smashed potatoes and also get a little crispy.
Do note that because sweet potatoes are less starchy than white potatoes, they will not crisp up quite the same. They do, however, become sweet and have a self-caramelizing effect.
Let’s chat about the ingredients for this smashed sweet potatoes recipe.
Smashed Sweet Potatoes Ingredients:
Sweet Potatoes: You’ll need 2 large sweet potatoes to make this recipe. The goal is to slice the sweet potatoes into rounds, so choose sweet potatoes that have your desired level of roundness. You can also use purple potatoes!
Butter: Used for sautéing the garlic and as a drizzling sauce for the potatoes to give them a magically creamy flavor, butter brings irresistible flavor. If you need to keep the recipe lactose-free, you can use ghee (clarified butter).
Garlic: That big bold ingredient that adds immense flavor to any dish! Fresh garlic when paired with butter and honey generates an incredible fusion of flavors.
Honey: Bringing a sweet counterbalance and a slight tang to offset the creaminess from the butter, all we need is a touch of honey to level up the flavor.
Sea Salt: Enhancing all of the flavors and tying them together into one cohesive gift, sea salt ignites the deliciousness of this dish.
Optional Additions: Green onions, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, fresh thyme, parmesan cheese, brown sugar, or a sprinkle of fresh herbs. Simply incorporate any of these additional ingredients into the melted butter honey garlic drizzle. You can serve with sour cream and chives if you’d like.
Let’s make them!
How to Make Smashed Sweet Potatoes:
Cut the sweet potatoes into rounds that are 1 ½” to 2 inches thick. Place them in a large pot and fill it with water. Bring the pot to a full boil on the stove top and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are very soft when poked in the center.
Remove the potatoes from the stove top and strain them into a colander.
Turn your oven on the High broil setting and move a wrack on the shelf that is second to the top (not the top shelf). Spray or coat a large baking sheet with cooking oil (I use avocado oil).
Place potatoes on the baking sheet and use a fork or a potato masher to mash them until they’re about ¾ of an inch thick.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat and add the garlic. Sauté until fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the honey until well-incorporated.
Place the potatoes on the shelf that’s second from the top of the heating element in your oven and broil for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the potatoes begin to crisp.
Remove the potatoes from the oven and use a large spoon to drizzle potatoes with a generous amount of the garlic butter mixture (about 1 heaping tablespoon per potato), making sure each potato gets some garlic. Place the potatoes back in the oven and broil for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until they have reached your desired level of crisp. Be sure to keep an eye on the potatoes, as they burn easily under the broiler, as the exact amount of time depends on the size of your potatoes.
Serve smashed sweet potatoes with your choice of main dish and enjoy!
Store any leftover crispy skin potatoes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
If you love sweet potato side dishes, also try my Crispy Sweet Potato Fries and Sweet Potato Rounds with Herbed Ricotta and Walnuts.
And there we are! Luxuriously buttery, perfectly sweet and savory mashed sweet potatoes are a perfect addition to any occasion that requires delicious sides or a potato dish.
Garlic Butter Smashed Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
Instructions
- Cut the sweet potatoes into 1 ½” to 2 inch rounds. Place them in a large pot and fill it with water. Bring the pot to a full boil on the stove top and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are very soft when poked in the center.
- Remove the potatoes from the stove top and strain them into a colander.
- Turn your oven on the High broil setting and move a wrack on the shelf that is second to the top (not the top shelf). Spray or coat a large baking sheet with cooking oil (I use avocado oil). Place potatoes on the baking sheet and use a fork or a potato masher to mash them into potato patties about ¾ of an inch thick.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat and add the garlic. Sauté until fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the honey until well-incorporated. Place the potatoes on the shelf that’s second from the top of the heating element in your oven and broil for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the potatoes begin to crisp.
- Remove the potatoes from the oven and use a large spoon to drizzle potatoes with a generous amount of the garlic butter mixture (about 1 heaping tablespoon per potato), making sure each potato gets some garlic.
- Place the potatoes back in the oven and broil for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until they have reached your desired level of crisp. Be sure to keep an eye on the potatoes, as they burn easily under the broiler, as the exact amount of time depends on the size of your potatoes.
- Serve smashed sweet potatoes with your choice of main dish and enjoy! Store any leftover crispy skin potatoes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
These were absolutely delicious. Everyone raved about them and wanted the recipe. I’m fixing them again for a dinner party this week. Thank you for a wonderful side dish recipe.
Great success! I’m so thrilled to hear that, Nancy! Thanks so much for sharing your experience! xo
These look so good, can’t wait to try them. Did you by chance experiment with maple syrup versus honey? I find it’s easier to blend than honey so thought I would try that.
Hi Cathy!
I haven’t tried pure maple syrup yet, but it would work great, and taste great too!! xoxxo 😀