Sweet Potato Cakes
If you love sweet potatoes as much as I do, you’ll enjoy Sweet Potato Casserole and Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Bacon.
Sweet potato cakes make the perfect Thanksgiving side dish! However, I like them so much that I often make them throughout the year and serve them for lunch and as a dinner side dish. They are as versatile and comforting as mashed potato cakes or potato pancakes, that I also make through the year.
To make life even easier, I’ve included instructions for both boiling and baking the sweet potatoes. Feel free to pick whichever method works best for you! Just keep in mind that baking sweet potatoes makes them sweeter because the baking process brings out the natural sugars. Boiling sweet potatoes will result in more savory cakes. Both versions are delicious!
Table of Contents
Ingredient Notes
- Sweet Potatoes – If you end up boiling them, they’ll need to be peeled. Leave the skin on if baking.
- Bread Crumbs – You’ll need plain bread crumbs to help bind all of the ingredients together and keep the cakes from falling apart.
- Sour Cream – Sour cream with the full fat content (not low fat) will create the best consistency.
- Cilantro – This is an optional ingredient, but I’m really fond of the subtle fresh flavor it adds to the cakes.
- Egg – This works with the bread crumbs to bind everything together.
See the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and instructions.
How to Cook Sweet Potatoes for the Cakes
When it comes to preparation, there are actually two ways to make it. You can either bake sweet potatoes first or you can boil them. If you boil them, it will be much faster but you will save a lot more nutrients and vitamins by baking sweet potatoes first. Baked sweet potatoes are great for sweet potato pie as well, and boiled sweet potatoes are good in soups.
PRO TIP: Baking sweet potatoes will result in much sweeter cakes because baking brings out the natural sugars in the potatoes and keeps them. It will also produce more liquid so drain off all excess liquid. Boiling potatoes will result in more savory potato cakes.
- To bake the sweet potatoes: Wash them well, poke a couple of holes with a knife, wrap in foil and bake at 400°F until soft (45-60 minutes). Bake time will depend on how large your sweet potatoes are. If you get smaller ones, you can significantly decrease cooking time. Once cooked, cool until easy to handle and scoop the cooked potato out of the skin and into a bowl.
- To boil the sweet potatoes: Wash, peel and cut the potatoes either in half, or in four pieces, or more, depending on the size. Add the cut sweet potato pieces to a pot and fill it up with water, enough to cover the potatoes. Add some salt and bring the water to boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to medium and cook until a butter knife easily goes through the potatoes. Drain water well and add potatoes into the mixing bowl.
How to Make Sweet Potato Cakes
- Mash them. Mash the cooked sweet potatoes in a bowl or pot until smooth (1, 2).
- Mix it up. Add the green onions, cilantro, sour cream, egg, bread crumbs, pressed garlic and mix well (3).
- Form the cakes. Use a cookie scoop and form the sweet potato cakes (4).
- Cook the cakes. Add the sweet potato cakes to a pan over medium heat with a little vegetable oil. Cook for about 5-7 minutes per side (5, 6).
Recipe FAQs
Yes! To make them gluten free, simply substitute gluten-free bread crumbs instead of regular ones. All of the other ingredients are already naturally gluten-free.
Nope! If you’re not a cilantro fan, you can simply omit it, or you can swap it with parsley.
If you used the baking method to cook the potatoes, it’s possible that the mixture for the cakes may look too thin due to extra potato juices. After you’ve mixed the sweet potato cake batter and it looks a little thin, you can simply add a little more bread crumbs. I recommend starting small, add about 1/4 cup and mix to see if it’s thick enough. If not, add a couple of tablespoons more and mix.
Additional Flavors to Try
Here are a few different ingredients you can add to your sweet potato cakes:
- Bacon
- Nuts (pecans would be best)
- Sautéed or Caramelized Onions
- Spices like pumpkin pie spice would be great! It would create a flavor similar to Sweet Potato Pie.
- Sour cream (this is the best topping, but you could use plain Greek yogurt instead).
More Sweet Potato Recipes To Try
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Sweet Potato Cakes Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs sweet potatoes
- 1/3 cup diced green onions
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup plain bread crumbs*
- 1 Tbsp minced fresh cilantro
- 2 Tbsp sour cream
- 1 large clove of garlic
- salt to taste
- fresh cracked pepper to taste
- Vegetable or avocado oil for cooking
Instructions
Cooking sweet potatoes:
- Boiling sweet potatoes: wash, peel and cut sweet potatoes into about 1-inch chunks. Add cut sweet potato pieces into a pot and fill it with water, enough to cover them completely.
- Add some salt to water, bring water to boil over medium-high heat and lower the heat to medium. Cook until butter knife easily goes through the potatoes. Drain all the water and add sweet potatoes into the mixing bowl.
Sweet Potato Cakes:
- Mash sweet potatoes in a mixing bowl until smooth.
- Add green onions, cilantro, sour cream, egg, bread crumbs, pressed garlic, salt, pepper, and mix well.
- Preheat a cooking pan over medium heat and add some cooking oil.
- Use a cookie scoop to get even amounts of the mixture. Form sweet potato patties and cook for about 5-7 minutes on each side. Use a small spatula and flip carefully.
Notes
- *Mixture too thin? After you’ve mixed the sweet potato cake batter and it looks a little thin, you can simply add a little more bread crumbs. I recommend starting small, add about 1/4 cup and mix to see if it’s thick enough. If not, add a couple of tablespoons more and mix.
- Gluten Free: To make them gluten free, simply substitute gluten-free bread crumbs instead of regular ones. All of the other ingredients are already naturally gluten-free
- Baking sweet potatoes: Wash them well, poke a couple of holes with a knife, wrap in foil and bake at 400°F until soft (45-60 minutes). Bake time will depend on how large your sweet potatoes are. If you get smaller ones, you can significantly decrease cooking time. Once cooked, cool until easy to handle and scoop the cooked potato out of the skin and into a bowl.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in November, 2014.
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Categories:
Fall Recipes, Gluten Free Recipes, Holiday Leftover Recipes, Potatoes, Side Dishes, Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes,All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Can you substitute cornmeal in place of bread crumbs?
Excellent very similar to one I make with sweet corn kernels and a tsp of curry powder.
Hello, what if i don’t want to fry them on the stove and bake them instead? Does it work?
And if yes what is the temperature required to bake them?
Also if baking doesn’t work what should be the level of the fire on the stove ?
HI Marie, they are not fried in a lot of oil, just enough to great the pan. The results in nutrition will be exactly the same as baking but there will be texture difference. Pan-searing till create a golden crisp on the outside that you won’t get from the oven. If you really want to bake you can bake them on a parchment paper lined baking dish, at 400F for 15 minutes, flip, and bake another 10 minutes or so. (Depending on how thick you make them.)
Tasty and easy. I had some leftover sweetpotatoes and this worked really well. I don’t care for cilantro, so I left it out. I did shake some red pepper flakes and course salt on top before frying them up. Really good. I served them with a slice of ham on the bottom and a poached egg on top. Great brunch treat!
I am so glad you liked it, Debra!
Just made the sweet potato cakes and they were delicious. Definitely will make again
Thank you, Cathy! Glad you liked the recipe!
Would panko work instead of bread crumbs?
Yes, you can but you will want to add a couple of extra tablespoons since they are not as dense.
These look really good! How long do leftovers last in the fridge?
Hi Justin,
Thank you! These will last 3-4 days in the refrigerator or you can freeze them for up to 3 months. I go over how to freeze and reheat them in my ham and cheese mash potato cakes here is the link if you would like more information. https://www.willcookforsmiles.com/ham-and-cheese-mashed-potato-cakes/
Can you use Some other herb then cilantro? I dont like the taste of it😬
Parsley?
Just made these – they’re great! I’m wondering if I can freeze a batch or two for quick meals in the future. Should I freeze the patties on parchment paper before or after cooking them on the stove?
You can freeze them and keep them for 6 months I also make black bean burgers mixed with sweet potatoes and freeze them
Thank you, Millie! I never have enough leftover to freeze but it will be a great idea to make extra and freeze for an easy snack later.
I never thought of making sweet potato pancakes. I bet these are just awesome. I can’t wait to give them a try.
Thank you, Teresa! I hope you’ll get a chance to try them.
Oh man, these look so good! I just happen to have some sweet potatoes waiting to be used, what a shame! HA!
Also, if you’re in a hurry, poke a few holes in the taters and 2 medium to large sweet potatoes will cook in 5-6 minutes in the microwave. I do it when I’m feeling lazy. Okay, I lied, I do it all the time. 🙂
That’s right! You can totally make them in a microwave 🙂
Thank you, Anele! Hope you’ll get a chance to make them and like it!