Sweet potato is such an awesome veggie, it’s a nutritional powerhouse and jam-packed with good stuff! If you’re looking for a way to supercharge your meals, then you need to start including sweet potato.
If your kids aren't yet a fan of sweet potato, then I've got all the info and recipes you need to convert them, from lunchbox recipes, to breakfast, snacks and right through to dinner!
Toddler favourites like fritters and family favourites like mac and cheese will convert even the most reluctant sweet potato eaters!
Nutritional Benefits of Sweet Potato
Not only is sweet potato naturally sweet, but it also contains a lot of nutritional benefits like:
- sweet potatoes have the lowest GI of any root vegetable
- high in Vitamin A
- high in Vitamin C
- high in vitamin B6
- high dietary fibre
- potassium
- folate
- niacin
- calcium
- magenesium
- beta carotene
Basically, they are a great way to boost your general health and well being. For more info on the nutritional benefits of Sweet Potatoes, there is a whole host of information at Australian Sweet Potatoes.
Storage
Sweet potatoes are best stored in a cool dark cupboard. You can also refrigerate them if there is a risk of them getting damp in a humid location. They can be prepped for cooking and stored in water for 24-36 hours.
Preparing Sweet Potatoes
More often than not, a recipe requires you to peel sweet potato before cooking, but the peel is actually edible and depending on the recipe can make it more delicious.
As they are a root vegetable, a good wash and scrub before using will help to eliminate any excess dirt left over from the vegetable patch.
They can be:
- grated
- chopped
- sliced
- diced
- mashed
Because they are a hard vegetable, a good peeler and a solid knife will be your best friends for preparing them.
Cooking Tips
You can roast, fry, steam, microwave, boil, air-fry, grill or even toast sweet potatoes, making them one of the most versatile veggies to prepare. You could realistically eat them all week without them tasting the same!
Flavours that work well with sweet potatoes
We love cinnamon with sweet potato, it really accentuates the sweetness of it, but other flavours that work well are maple syrup, sage, paprika. It also works really well in curries like this chicken and sweet potato curry.
Coconut oil and cinnamon is the best way to roast them apparently! The kids love them this way every single time.
Breakfast Recipes
Lunchbox Recipes
Dinner Recipes
Side dishes
Snack Recipes
FAQs
Sweet potatoes are high in fibre, but they are also high in carbohydrates, meaning they can contribute to a spike in blood sugar levels.
There is no difference! It is the name they are called by in New Zealand. Likewise they are called 'uala in Hawaii, batatas in South America. They are very popular across the south pacific region and feature regularly in diets across the region.
As long as you keep them submerged in water, they will stay fresh in the fridge, so you can prep them 24-36 hours before using.
In a cool dark place, or if you don't have one- hello humid sydney, they keep well in the fridge.
Really, it depends on the recipe. I like to stand them upright in a recipe with the skin on, and they look super pretty that way. You can also take the hard work out of sweet potato mash by roasting them in their skin until soft and then splitting open and mashing them.
I find the quickest way to roast them is to microwave them in pieces first, then add to the oil and roast. As they are already cooked at this point, you can normally get away with only a 25 minute roasting at 180 degrees celsius.
Yes! Once cooked, it is great cold. I pop fritters cold in the lunchbox and leftover pieces of roast sweet potato are also amazing in the lunchbox.
And here you can see all the Kidgredients sweet potato recipes.
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