Serves a Crowd

Coconut Mashed Sweet Potatoes

November 26, 2014
4.7
3 Ratings
Photo by Mark Weinberg
  • Serves 6 to 8
Author Notes

Earth Balance, a commercial vegan butter substitute, is wonderful in vegan mashed potatoes. But if you'd rather use ingredients that you have in your pantry, then try this simple vegan sweet potato mash, prepared with full fat coconut milk to create tons of creaminess. —Gena Hamshaw

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Ingredients
  • 5 to 6 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped roughly (about 3 1/2 pounds)
  • 3/4 cup cup coconut milk, full fat
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup (optional; add if you like your mashed sweet potatoes to be sweeter)
  • 1 teaspoon ginger, grated
Directions
  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the sweet potatoes and boil for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.
  2. Drain the potatoes and transfer them back to the pot, or another large, flat-bottomed container. Add 1/2 cup of the coconut milk, salt (about 1/2 teaspoon) and pepper. Mash the potatoes until they're tender, adding more coconut milk as needed until they've reached a desired consistency. Stir in the maple syrup and ginger, if using. Potatoes will keep, refrigerated, for up to four days.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

8 Reviews

C F. December 22, 2019
This was easy and delicious. I chose to bake the sweet potatoes instead because we just prefer the flavor and I topped with toasted pecans. This is a keeper!
Cathe April 1, 2019
This is a keeper recipe, so much company has requested a copy of this! It last through the week, and is just outstanding. Thank you❤️
Linda D. March 28, 2018
Nice! Thank you, Gena. Now that I have leftovers, on to the sweet potato and chick pea cakes!
mckenzie March 26, 2018
Wow this was soo good! I make a lot of vegan recipes and I'm sitting here thinking, how have I not made this before?! I didn't measure anything, head's up, just mixed the boiled sweet potatoes with coconut milk, ginger, salt and pepper and maple syrup to my taste. It's amazing.
Cake A. November 23, 2017
I just made these for our dairy-free Thanksgiving dinner. I kept whipping in food processor and adding more of the ingredients to get the balance I thought would go over best with our crowd. Ultimately, added to about 4 lbs sweet potatoes, I ended up using over 1 cup of the coconut milk (canned, full fat) and probably 1/4 cup maple syrup and 2 teaspoons salt. They are delicious. I'm going to top a small batch of them with vegan marshmallows "for the kids". Happy Thanksgiving!
NancyFromKona December 31, 2016
This reminds me of Heidi Swanson's recipe called 'Nikki's sweet potatoes'. In that version, she roasts the potatoes and adds not only the coconut milk but also dried unsweetened coconut and macadamia nuts creating a mash you can use as a side or a dessert! Either way, sweet potatoes and coconut milk is a winner.
Monica R. November 25, 2015
When you say "full fat coconut milk" do you mean the canned stuff, or the milk cartons you can get?
bryan December 30, 2014
How did I never think of adding coconut milk to mashed sweet potatoes? I tried the potatoes before adding the maple syrup and would definitely recommend using it, not so much for the added sweetness but for the added complexity. The coconut milk alone, while not unpleasant, is a bit flat.