Sweet Potato Patties

These sweet potato patties are mashed into crispy flavorful patties, that are perfect for a vegetarian meal or side dish.

Amazingly, recently I have decided I like sweet potatoes.  They just need to be prepared the way I like. I don’t like them sweet, surprisingly enough, not even a tiny bit sweet.

Sweet potatoes are traditionally served as a great side dish to your Thanksgiving meal, usually mashed and served as sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top. Maybe sweetened with brown sugar or molasses. You’re more than welcome to enjoy them this way, but I won’t be 😉

Instead, I like my sweet potatoes baked, served up as fries, or my new favorite way, sweet potato patties. You can choose to use leftover sweet potatoes if you have any extra from previously baked sweet potatoes, instead of cooking them up fresh as described in this recipe.

These sweet potato patties were inspired by this recipe.

How to make sweet potato patties?

So to make these sweet potato patties, you’ll first cook up your sweet potatoes. You can use leftover sweet potatoes that have been mashed (but not too seasoned), or leftover roasted sweet potatoes. Or I cook them a super easy way, peeled, cubed, and cooked up for a few minutes in the microwave. You’ll cook them till their soft and mashable, then set them aside.

You’ll then cook up some diced onions in some butter. Mix that in with the mashed sweet potatoes. Then add in an egg, all purpose flour, and some salt. Mix it all together.

Scoop up about 1/4 cup of the sweet potato mash and put it into the frying pan and heat it over medium heat. Shape the patties as much as you can and flatten them to be about 1/2 inch thick. Cook them up for about 1-2 minutes on each side and then voila.

They taste amazing on their own or extra delicious topped with some sour cream, guacamole, or corn salsa.

These sweet potato patties are a delicious new way to serve sweet potatoes for the holidays, or any day. Instead of the traditional sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving dinner, or sweet potato fries you might be enjoying you’ll love giving these sweet potato patties a try instead.

They’re also a great way to use up leftover mashed sweet potatoes from Thanksgiving dinner, or Christmas. (If you have some that are unsweetened)

Tips and Tricks:

• Use a large ice cream scoop or cookie scoop to make your sweet potato patties even in size. 
• Instead of cooking the patties in butter, you are welcome to use olive oil as well.
• One large sweet potato is typically about 1.25 to 2 cups of sweet potatoes. For this recipe I recommend using between 3 to 4 cups of sweet potatoes, when diced.
• A potato masher is a great tool to help you evenly mash your cooked sweet potatoes. 

Frequently Asked Questions: 

Can you freeze them? 

If you won’t be cooking the patties on the same day you can freeze them before cooking them by placing the formed patties onto a large baking tray lined with parchment paper and flash freezing them, for about an hour. Once they are frozen transfer the frozen patties to a zip top bag or freezer safe airtight container for up to 3 months. Sometimes I wrap them individually in plastic wrap to help prevent any freezer burn.

Once you’re ready to cook them let them thaw in the fridge until soft then cook in a sauté pan as directed. 

You can also freeze the patties if they’re already cooked in the same manner as above, and when you’re ready to enjoy them let them thaw slightly, then heat them up in an air fryer, in the oven, or even in a sauté pan until hot throughout. I like to freeze some of my patties for next time, and double the recipe sometimes to make sure we have extra.

Are Sweet Potato Patties healthy?

These sweet potato patties are a relatively healthy side dish, made with whole sweet potatoes and a few other ingredients. Sweet potatoes are loaded with vitamins, and minerals that help promote a healthy gut, healthy vision, and brain function, and a healthy immune system, making them a great addition to your daily diet. 

Can these be made with canned sweet potatoes?

I personally haven’t made these with canned sweet potatoes, but they should work great. Because they are already cooked and soft, you can skip the first 2 steps in our easy recipe to cook the sweet potatoes, and start rinsing the yams then mashing the canned sweet potatoes.

I recommend about 3 to 4 cups of canned sweet potatoes, a 29oz can should work perfect.

Are yams the same as sweet potatoes?

Yams and sweet potatoes are not the same, except that they are both root vegetables. Yams have rough, dark brown skin that looks similar to tree, and they are more starchy like a regular potato.

Sweet potatoes have a smooth, more reddish skin, and the inside of the potato because more soft when cooked. They also have a sweet flavor.

The ones you will find in the produce section of an American grocery store are most likely all sweet potatoes, even though they will sometimes be labeled as yams. Canned sweet potatoes are often listed as yams as well.

What to serve with sweet potato patties?

This is a fairly versatile side dish and these sweet potato patties can be served with a variety of main dish recipes. I like to serve them up with some baked chicken, pork chops, or even steak. 

These sweet potato patties are a perfect side dish, or they are also a great finger food and would be a fun appetizer recipe to serve at a holiday party. 

Looking for more Sweet Potato Recipes:

• Roasted Sweet Potatoes
• Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecans
• Southwest Sweet Potatoes
• Black Bean Sweet Potato Tacos
• Sweet Potato Cinnamon Bread

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Recipe first posted on November 27, 2013. Photos updated on November 20, 2019.