Roasted Garlic Herb Sweet Potato Mash take a simple side dish and kick it up a notch. This recipe is paleo, Whole30, and nut free!
Oh. My. Sweet potatoes. In all the archives of the internet, a recipe doesn't get much better than these roasted garlic mashed sweet potatoes. A creamy, simple blend of ghee, roasted garlic, sweet potatoes, and parsley just so happens to be a favorite recipe to ever come out of my kitchen.
Good news, too—this is a gluten free, paleo, and Whole30 recipe. No extra junk. Just real good food... And seriously, only 5 ingredients!
This post was originally published 1/23/2018 and was republished 3/3/23 with text updates.

Ingredients needed for this savory sweet potato mash
In the interests of keeping this recipe super simple, you'll only need 5 ingredients for this recipe!
— Sweet Potatoes: or, if you want to get technical, yams. Opt for jewel yams, which are the most common you'll find in the grocery store.
— Garlic: for this recipe, you'll need unwrapped whole garlic cloves, since you'll be roasting them alongside the sweet potatoes. If you've never had roasted garlic before, you'll be pleasantly surprised at the results when you make it for this dish!
— Ghee/Butter: to keep this recipe dairy free/Whole30, use ghee (clarified butter). Otherwise, butter is fine!
— Olive Oil: you'll need just a smidge to roast the garlic with.
— Fresh Parsley: to add a pop of color, a bit of flavor, and a nutritional boost, we'll stir parsley into the finished mash! Did you know parsley contains vitamins A, K, C, folate, zinc, and a lot of other things? Sprinkle that sh*t on everything!

How to make roasted mashed sweet potatoes
While the cook time as a whole is pretty long, the good news is most of the work is hands-off.
Roast the sweet potatoes and garlic
To roast the best sweet potatoes, pierce them all over with a fork and roast them uncovered on a baking sheet. Yes, that simple!
For the garlic, you'll make an aluminum foil packet for them. Put the cloves, unwrapped, in the packet, and drizzle with olive oil.
You'll roast the garlic and sweet potatoes at the same time, but pull the garlic before the sweet potatoes are done.
Pro tip: make extra roasted garlic—heck, a whole bulb!—and snack on it while you finish the rest of this dish. No regrets. Cause it's amazing.
Blend the roasted garlic and butter/ghee
Once the garlic is done and cooled slightly, the wrapping you left on should slough off easily.
Add the roasted garlic and melted butter/ghee to a tall-sided bowl and blend with an immersion blender (or add to a blender and blend that way).
Peel and mash the sweet potatoes
Once the sweet potatoes are done, let them cool slightly. Then, if the skin doesn't already come off easily, run until super-cold water for a few seconds. The skin should come right off!
Put the sweet potatoes in a large mixing bowl or deep pot and mash with a potato masher.
Mix the roasted garlic butter and sweet potatoes together
Add the garlic butter mixture and some salt to the sweet potatoes and mix together, ideally with a hand mixer.
Using a hand mixer helps to whip everything up and make the sweet potato mash fluffy!
Stir in the fresh chopped parsley, so it is mixed throughout.


More savory gluten free side dish recipes
- Mushroom, Bacon, and Cauliflower Casserole
- Mashed Plantains—Sweet & Savory
- Easy Mediterranean Cauliflower Salad without Bacon (Low Carb)
- Mediterranean Tomato & Cucumber Salad
- Simple Stovetop Garlic Herb Carrots
P.S. - I made a sweet version of this recipe, too!
Print📖 Recipe

Savory Roasted Garlic Herb Sweet Potato Mash
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 servings 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: boiled, mashed, roasted
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This simple side dish features roasted sweet potatoes, roasted garlic, fresh parsley, and butter or ghee — it's savory and oh so good! This recipe is gluten free, and if you stick with ghee (clarified butter), it's paleo, dairy free, and Whole30.
Ingredients
- 3 large sweet potatoes (about 5 pounds)
- 3-4 unwrapped garlic cloves (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup ghee or butter
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh finely chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Use a fork to pierce holes all around the sweet potatoes. Slice the tips off the unwrapped (meaning, there's still a layer of paper) garlic cloves and add to their own foil packet. Drizzle with olive oil and seal the packet shut. Add the sweet potatoes and garlic packet to a baking sheet (no need to cover the sweet potatoes).
- Roast for 35 minutes, then remove the garlic clove packet from the oven. Continue to bake for 25-30 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender and cooked through.
- Let the sweet potatoes cool slightly, then remove the skins. If you're having trouble removing them, run the sweet potatoes under super cold water for about 10 seconds. The skin should slough off easily! Discard the skins once removed.
- Add the sweet potatoes to a mixing bowl or deep pot and mash with a potato masher.
- Unwrap the roasted garlic cloves. In a high-sided bowl, add the ghee, roasted garlic cloves, and salt. Use an immersion blender to blend until smooth. (Alternatively, use a blender to blend this mixture).
- Add the ghee and garlic mixture to the mashed sweet potatoes. Use a hand mixer on medium speed to whip the sweet potatoes and ghee mixture together until relatively smooth. Stir in the fresh parsley and serve immediately. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Keywords: Roasted Garlic Butter Mashed Sweet Potatoes, garlic sweet potato mash, garlic mashed sweet potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes
Lisa Brooks says
Hi. Once you cool the sweet potatoes under very cold water, how do you get them hot again? You didn’t mention reheating them. Should they be served cold? Thanks
Chelsea says
Hey, Lisa! These should be served warm. Running the sweet potatoes under cold water is just to blanch them - it releases the skin to it's easy to slough off. I just made a slight adjustment to the recipe to specify that you put them under cold water under a minute - originally it said two minutes and that was a big exaggeration. The cold water should only affect the outermost part of the sweet potatoes, so they will till be warm inside when you mash them! Hope that makes sense. 🙂
Molly says
These are wonderful! One thing I added that sent them even more over the edge was a tablespoon of Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute. If you have never used it, YOU MUST! It contains: ONION, SPICES (BLACK PEPPER, CELERY SEED, CAYENNE PEPPER, PARSLEY, BASIL, MARJORAM, BAY LEAF, OREGANO, THYME, SAVORY, ROSEMARY, CUMIN, MUSTARD, CORIANDER), GARLIC, CARROT, ORANGE PEEL, TOMATO GRANULES, LEMON JUICE POWDER, OIL OF LEMON, CITRIC ACID. It's one of my go-to seasoning blends when doing Whole30.
Chelsea says
Sounds awesome! Unfortunately the closest Trader Joe's to me is about 4 hours away. 🙂
Sam says
I plan on making these for thanksgiving! Do you think I can make them a day ahead, and reheat in oven the day of? Thank you!!
Chelsea says
Yes, I think you'd be able to prep it a day in advance! Just make sure to cover it with foil when reheating so it doesn't dry out. 🙂