If you want to eat a rainbow, these sweet potatoes have just the color purple you’re looking for. These sweet Asian yams will make the most striking addition to your every day and even holiday dinner plate.
What are Purple Sweet Potatoes?
They are root vegetables, similar to orange sweet potatoes, that come in two varieties:
- Okinawan – Light brown/white skinned and can fit in the palm of a large hand. Grown in Hawaii and exported.
- Stokes – Purple skinned and the shape of longish, regular orange sweet potaotes
Not to be confused with Ube
Ube is a Filipino yam that grows on a vine above ground and has a dark brown, rough skin.
Purple sweet potatoes may be called ube, but they are technically different.
What do they taste like?
If you close your eyes, it probably tastes like an orange sweet potato. However, I find them to be a little bit stringier and starchier.
Like Dave Chapelle’s grape drink, it has a lot of purple!
Where can you buy purple sweet potatoes?
Normally, an Asian market will have them, specifically one that stocks Chinese, Japanese, or Filipino products.
Alternately, it looks like Amazon conveniently sells them too, though the reviews could be vastly improved.
How sweet are they?
Oh, that all depends. I’ve found the tiny, white skinned ones to be much sweeter than the large dark skinned varieties.
I’ve added honey in this recipe, but you can add more or less sweetness to taste.
How to Make Mashed Purple Sweet Potatoes
Step 1: Prick with a fork
Once it heats up, that steam needs to escape. Prick a few holes on all sides of the potatoes with a fork.
Step 2: Bake at 350 degrees F
How long do you need to bake it for?
Some publications such as Southern Living and Parade say that you need to bake it for 90-120 minutes at 350 degrees F for premium moistness.
I cooked mine at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes until tender and still found them moist. They are starchier than orange yams anyway, so I didn’t expect them to be terribly moist.
Step 3: Scoop flesh
Remove potatoes from the oven, cut in half, and scoop out all that purple goodness.
If too hot, let sit a bit until cool enough to handle.
Step 4: Mix in the goodies
To make this vegan, you can use a vegan butter or coconut milk instead of regular butter.
I mixed in butter for creaminess and honey for additional sweetness.
You could substitute with vegan butter or coconut milk and the sweetener of your choice (agave, maple syrup, coconut sugar, etc.)
Also, a pinch of salt brings out the flavor of all that purple.
Step 5: Serve hot or cold
A pound and a half of sweet potatoes makes a good sized bowl of mash, enough for 2 people.
Ideally, this is served hot as a Barney inspired bed of sorts for your protein of the day.
Alternately, I’ve seen this cooled, refrigerated and sprinkled onto salad as a healthy, colorful topping.
Expert Tips
- Look for white skinned or dark skinner purple sweet potatoes at Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese grocery stores.
- Since they are so starchy, mash in some grassfed butter, vegan butter, or coconut milk.
- Add more honey or other sweetness to taste.
- Serve hot as a mash or cold by sprinkling bits of it onto salads.
More Easy Side Dishes
Fish Fragrant Fairy Tale Eggplant – Vegan
Simple & Succulent Edamame that’s not Boring
Healthy Bell Pepper Recipe with Black Bean Sauce (Vegan)
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Mashed Purple Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb purple sweet potatoes
- 2 Tb butter or coconut milk
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 Tb honey or maple syrup, sugar, other sweetener
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Wash and prick the sweet potatoes with the tines of a fork a few times on all sides.
- Place on a baking sheet, and roast until completely soft and easily pierced with a fork or knife.
- Cut sweet potatoes in half, and scoop out flesh. Let cool if too hot to handle.
- Mix the mash with butter, salt, and honey. Serve hot or cool and reheat for later.
Notes
- Look for white skinned or dark skinner purple sweet potatoes at Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese grocery stores.
- Since they are so starchy, mash in some grassfed butter, vegan butter, or coconut milk.
- Add more honey or other sweetness to taste.
- Serve hot as a mash or cold by sprinkling bits of it onto salads.
Nutrition
Do you love purple sweet potatoes? Spread the ♥, and please share!
I just picked up some of these, I believe the Stokes variety. I was told they are much sweeter but not really so. Definitely drier that regular sweet potatoes. I baked them and they’re in the fridge waiting to be made into something. Perhaps I’ll go with your additional of coconut milk. Thanks for sharing what looks to be a tasty dish!
Oh that is so cool! So glad you were able to find some. Can’t wait to hear how you decided to prepare them!
These are purple camote in the Philippines. I decided to make this today. It has really a nice flavor, although I made considerable adjustments. I doubled the amount of salt and honey specified, and also added 1/4 tsp of Chinese five spice powder.
The mixture is very, very dry and almost impossible tosh, so I added 1/2 cup of cream. That was the magic ingredient. Everything came together, even the colour improved, becoming a silky purple mash.
Hi Alan, thanks so much for your comments! Super helpful, and I’m so glad you were able to modify the recipe to make a great dish!
Why not just seam them? Takes care of the dryness and faster cook time than baking/roasting.
Hi Nan! Yes steaming would work well too! It’s just a bit more of a set up process for me, so I opt for the easier route of baking.