Roasted Garlic Butter Mashed Sweet Potatoes 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 butter 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!
Sweet potatoes are one of my all-time favorite foods. I mean, who's going to argue that sweet potato fries aren't superior to regular fries? Seriously.
Originally, I was going to take this in a traditional holiday sweet potato casserole direction, with maple syrup and pecans and cinnamon. But I quickly decided to explore savory flavors. After all, sweet potatoes are sweet enough already, aren't they? Plus, if I stayed away from sweeter options, I could keep this recipe Whole30. (Don't worry, another version of this recipe may grace the blog soon enough!)
To me, the answer was pretty simple. Roasted garlic. The slightly sweet and nutty version of that beloved pungent allium. If you've never had roasted garlic before, you'll be pleasantly surprised at the results when you make it for this dish!
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.
Along with the irresistible appeal of ghee (essentially butter with the milk solids cooked out), these sweet potatoes offer both savory and sweet.
The parsley, admittedly, was more of an afterthought, but an important one. A handful of finely chopped parsley adds a pop of extra color to the sweet potatoes, and lends itself to the overall savory theme. Not to mention all the nutritional benefits of parsley - it contains vitamins A, K, C, folate, zinc, and a lot of other things.
While we're on the topic of nutrition, let's talk about why sweet potatoes are so awesome. They're positively packed with vitamin A (most known as the vitamin that supports vision health - and is why carrots and sweet potatoes are orange)! Plus, they're a healthy source of carbs, which I need to support my CrossFit workouts.
Also, they're delicious.
But we already established that.
Unlike mashed potatoes, I decided to skip the boiling step with this recipe. Instead, you'll roast the sweet potatoes—I mean, you're roasting the garlic anyway. Then you mash up the sweet potatoes, blend the roasted garlic with ghee and pour that in, and whip it with an electric mixer. Sprinkle that parsley on top, and we've got a party!
P.S. - I made a sweet version of this recipe, too!
Roasted Garlic Butter Mashed Sweet Potatoes
- 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
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
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh finely chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Use a fork to pierce holes around the sweet potatoes and wrap them individually in aluminum foil.
- 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. Add the wrapped sweet potatoes and garlic to a baking sheet. 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 aluminum foil. Run the sweet potatoes under super cold water for about 10 seconds. The skin should slough off easily! Remove the skin and discard.
- Add the sweet potatoes to a pot and mash with a potato masher.
- Unwrap the roasted garlic cloves. In a small 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. Sprinkle with parsley and serve!
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. 🙂