Sweet Potato Mash With Miso: Dairy-Free
Sweet potato mash with butter and/or creme fraîche is very nice, but this easy sweet potato mash made with miso is even better. No dairy substitutes needed. It’s a vegan recipe which combines the sweetness of roasted sweet potatoes with the umami flavour of miso paste, creating a satisfying and healthy dish. Enjoy as a side, load it back into the potato skins and top with beans for a delicious main meal or spread it on toast for a light lunch.
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Spring may have sprung, but the weather remains cold. We still have a long way to go before summer produce hits our plates, so bring on the comfort foods. Sweet potatoes capture the sunlight of the previous season and glow beautifully on the plate. It makes fabulous mash too.
Dive Right In
- Why Make Miso Mashed Sweet Potato?
- Vegan Sweet Potato Mash
- Sweet Potato Mash Ingredients
- How to Make Sweet Potato Mash With Miso
- Loaded Sweet Potato Skins
- Sweet Potato Mash On Toast
- Other Sweet Potato Recipes You Might Like
- Keep In Touch
- The Recipe
Why Make Miso Mashed Sweet Potato?
There are many reasons to make mashed sweet potatoes with miso. Here are a few of them.
Budget-Friendly – Sweet potatoes are usually good value for money. They’re often less expensive than other types of veg and they keep incredibly well. Although a jar of miso is expensive, it lasts an awfully long time.
Crowd-Pleaser – Whether you’re cooking for yourself, your family or a group of friends, miso mashed sweet potato is a dish that everyone willingly tucks into.
Delicious To Eat – The combination of sweet potatoes and miso creates a unique sweet and savoury flavour that’s sure to pique your taste buds.
Easy To Make – Making sweet potato mash with miso is a straightforward process. You simply bake the sweet potatoes, scoop out the flesh and mash with a fork or potato masher. Mix in the miso paste and a couple of other ingredients and you’re done.
Healthy & Gut Friendly – Sweet potatoes are packed with gut-healthy vitamins, minerals fibre and antioxidants. This makes them a healthy choice for any meal. The mash is low fat to boot. Miso is also a good source of both protein and beneficial bacteria.
Vegan – If you’re looking for a dairy-free alternative to traditional mashed potatoes, sweet potato mash with miso is a great option. It’s a plant-based dish which doesn’t even contain dairy substitutes.
Versatile – You can serve sweet potato mash as a side dish with a variety of main courses. It’s also a great addition to bowls and wraps or on toast.
Vegan Sweet Potato Mash
Smooth and flavoursome, this sweet potato mash is perfect for so many occasions. Impress your guests or treat yourself to a tasty meal with this easy-to-make recipe.
You can boil sweet potatoes to make mash, but you get a better result if you roast or bake the potatoes in their skins instead. If you boil sweet potatoes, they tend to soak up some of the water. Baking or roasting, on the other hand, concentrates the flavour.
I use an air fryer to bake my sweet potatoes. It cooks them quicker than an oven and it’s less expensive to use. But either work well.
The mash keeps well in the fridge for three days. Just make sure you keep it in a suitably sized sealed container that doesn’t have too much air circulation within it.
Warm it up in an air fryer, an oven or on the stove top before serving.
Miso Sweet Potato Mash Ingredients
With only four ingredients needed to make miso mashed sweet potatoes, there’s little that can go wrong with this recipe.
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are both starchy and naturally sweet, which makes them an excellent accompaniment to savoury dishes. They’re root vegetables which originated in Central and South America. They’ve been grown in other parts of the world now though for at least a thousand years.
You can get them in a variety of sizes and colours, including white, purple and orange. In fact there are over four hundred varieties worldwide. Some are much sweeter than others. Sadly, they’re hard, though not impossible, to grow here in the UK. Most varieties sold here have sweet orange flesh.
Sweet potatoes are rich in both fibre and antioxidants. The fibre is made up of both soluble and insoluble types, which makes them ideal for promoting good gut health. (Ref: Healthline)
They’re also particularly high in manganese, vitamin C and beta carotene which converts to vitamin A. This in turn supports good eyesight as well as our immune system.
What’s more sweet potatoes don’t spike blood sugar in the same way that some carbs do.
Miso Paste
Miso is one of those wonder ingredients from Japan that once you start using you don’t know how you ever managed without. It’s one of my essential store cupboard ingredients and has been for nearly thirty years now.
The paste is made from fermented beans and grains. It comes in four main varieties: brown, red, yellow and white. It’s not only incredibly healthy and good for your gut, but it adds depth, flavour and complexity to soups, stews, sauces and any number of other recipes.
For this recipe, mild and sweet white miso paste* is the best one to use. If you only have red or brown, use less. The darker pastes are both saltier and stronger.
Orange Juice
Orange juice enhances the colour and sweetness of sweet potato mash whilst giving a little acidity to an otherwise sweet dish.
I used half a blood orange as they’re in season right now and I love both the flavour and colour. However, any orange will do. You may only need to use the juice of a quarter if your orange is large.
Garlic
Garlic adds a sweet pungency which augments the overall flavour. It’s both a healthy and tasty addition. Bake the unpeeled cloves along with the sweet potatoes half way through their cooking time.
Toasted Sesame Oil (optional)
A small amount of toasted sesame oil* goes a long way. Just add a teaspoon to the mash to give subtle yet rich nutty and smoky tones to the dish. Alternatively, drizzle a little over the finished mash before serving.
Adding a little fat to sweet potatoes helps the body to absorb beta carotene, so it’s a good idea to use it if you can. It’s fairly easy to find in supermarkets these days.
Pumpkin Seeds (optional)
Pumpkin seeds add a little protein and lots of micro nutrients They also provide flavour and crunch. You just need to toast them in a dry frying pan for a few minutes to maximise their attributes.
If you like a little healthy heat, furikake* makes a good substitute.
How To Make Sweet Potato Mash With Miso
As already mentioned, sweet potato mash is ever so easy to make. Once the potatoes are cooked, this vegan recipe for miso sweet potato mash comes together in just a couple of minutes.
Step 1. Bake Sweet Potatoes
Medium sized sweet potatoes are best for this mash as they’re baked rather than boiled. It’s best to bake them whole. I only had a large one though, so I cut it into four pieces. This isn’t ideal as the cut sides toughen up, but it still works.
Scrub the potatoes well, then prick them in a couple of places with a knife. This stops them exploding. Bake until they’re soft all the way through. If a knife slides in easily, they’re done.
Bake the sweet potatoes in an air fryer if you have one. The oven is fine, but it takes longer and is more expensive to use. Leave to cool slightly.
Step 2. Add Garlic
About half way through the cooking time, add the unpeeled garlic to the sweet potatoes. They will bake nicely in their skins and create a sweet, mellow and nutty addition to the mash. This is by far the easiest method to use garlic as there’s no fiddly peeling of skin required.
Step 3. Toast Pumpkin Seeds (optional)
Meanwhile, toast the pumpkin seeds. Dry fry them in small pan over a moderate heat for three to four minutes. I use a small cast iron skillet*.
Give them a quick shake from time to time and check to ensure they’re not burning. As soon as they start to pop or crack open, take them off the heat. Set aside until needed.
Step 3. Mash Sweet Potatoes
Cut the potatoes in half, then scoop the flesh out with a metal spoon and transfer it to a medium-sized bowl.
Don’t worry if some of the caramelised skin gets into the mash too, it all adds to the flavour.
Remove the peel from the garlic or squeeze out the flesh, whichever you prefer and add to the bowl. Squeeze in the orange juice and add the miso paste. Miso paste is already quite salty, so you won’t need to add any additional salt to the mash. Also add the toasted sesame seed oil, if using.
Mash the whole lot together to your desired consistency using a fork or potato masher. Both slightly chunky and completely smooth have their merits.
Step 4. Serve Mash
Transfer the miso sweet potato mash to a serving bowl, then scatter with the toasted pumpkin seeds, if using. You can also drizzle over a little toasted sesame oil, if liked. Serve warm.
Alternatively, try one of the suggestions below.
Loaded Sweet Potato Skins
Baked or roasted sweet potato skins are really good. Don’t throw them away. You can add them to soups, stews or sauces. Or you can use them to make a main meal of this sweet potato mash.
Whilst the mash is still hot, divide it between the potato skins and spread it out to fill them. Top with baked beans, then scatter with chopped fresh herbs. Parsley, chives or coriander leaves (cilantro) are all particularly good.
There are lots of different bean recipes that pair nicely with miso sweet potato mash. If you don’t already have a favourite, Mexican refried beans are particularly good. Or why not try these Greek butter beans in tomato sauce or even Egyptian ful medames?
If you’re not a vegan or don’t mind eating vegan cheese, you can also scatter with some crumbled feta cheese. Or forget the beans and top with a poached or fried egg and a drizzle of chilli sauce.
Serve with some sort of cooked greens, such as broccoli or kale.
Sweet Potato Mash On Toast
For a light but delicious lunch, spread wholemeal toast thinly with vegan pesto, wild garlic oil or homemade vegan butter. Then pile on some sweet potato mash and sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds.
If you’re not a vegan or don’t mind eating vegan cheese, you can also scatter with some crumbled feta cheese.
Other Sweet Potato Recipes You Might Like
- Jerk sweet potato curry with cauliflower rice
- Sweet potato & carrot soup
- Tahini white beans with sweet potato
- Vegan sweet potato tofu patties
- Vegetable curry for a low histamine diet
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this vegan mashed sweet potato with miso, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or advice for making mash?
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Choclette x
Sweet Potato Mash. PIN IT.
Sweet Potato Mash With Miso
Ingredients
- 4 sweet potatoes (weighing around 800g) – scrubbed
- 1 clove garlic unpeeled (I used 2 small cloves)
- 1 tbsp white miso paste
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil* (optional)
- ½ orange juiced (I used a blood orange)*
- 15 g pumpkin seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Prick each sweet potatoes in a couple of places with a knife. Bake for about 40 minutes in an air fryer at 180℃ (400℉) or fifty minutes on the rack of an oven at 200℃ (180℃ fan, 400℉, Gas 6). They’re done as soon as a knife slides in easily.4 sweet potatoes
- About half way through the cooking time add the unpeeled garlic.1 clove garlic
- Whilst the sweet potatoes are baking, toast the pumpkin seeds. Place them in a dry frying pan over a moderate heat for 3-4 minutes. Shake the pan from time to time and make sure they’re not burning. As soon as they start to pop, take them off the heat.15 g pumpkin seeds
- Allow the sweet potatoes to cool a little, then cut them in half and scoop out their flesh. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Remove the peel from the garlic and add that to the bowl along with the miso, orange juice and toasted sesame seed oil, if using.1 tbsp white miso paste, 1 tsp toasted sesame oil*, ½ orange
- Mash everything together with a fork or potato masher until you have your desired consistency.
- Serve warm, topped with the pumpkin seeds, if using and maybe a drizzle of toasted sesame seed oil.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
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I love the loaded sweet potato skins! So flavorful and delicious!
Thank goodness for sweet potatoes, they’re such a tasty and healthy veg.
This sweet potato mash is SO good! It makes such a good side dish, and the directions are super easy to follow!
It’s such a good side dish Katie. So glad you think so too. And thank you you for letting me know my instructions are up to scratch.
Wow, what a fantastic flavor combination. I love this sweet potato mash as an alternative to regular potato mash.
The addition of garlic and miso paste make it taste unique and oriental. So healthy too.
So pleased you like it Anna. And even more pleased that you’ve tried something you might not otherwise have done.
This sweet potato mash was so good! Love the miso flavor combination!
Thanks Andrea. We love it too.
We enjoyed these potatoes very much. The orange juice and miso really made for a unique side dish.
Yes, it’s not an obvious combination, but it’s a good one. Glad you enjoyed it too and thanks for letting us know.