Food Holidays & Occasions Thanksgiving Our 25 Best Sweet Potato Recipes for Thanksgiving Baked, candied, roasted, and mashed sweet potatoes shine in these starters, side dishes, and desserts. By Food & Wine Editors Food & Wine Editors This is collaborative content from Food & Wine's team of experts, including staff, recipe developers, chefs, and contributors. Many of our galleries curate recipes or guides from a variety of sources which we credit throughout the content and at each link. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on September 25, 2023 Trending Videos Photo: Photo by Adam Friedlander / Food Styling by Pearl Jones Sweet potatoes are a Thanksgiving staple, but that doesn't mean you have to stick to the classic marshmallow-topped bake. We love turning the vegetable into a savory soup, warming side, or even a cream pie for dessert. Here are Thanksgiving recipes for sweet potatoes from rustic Coal-Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Maple-Chile Butter, to potluck-friendly Roasted Hot Honey Sweet Potato Salad, to this elegant Sweet Potato Soufflé with Molasses Sauce. Read on for sweet potato sides and desserts for your Thanksgiving spread. 01 of 25 Coal-Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Maple-Chile Butter Coal-Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Maple-Chile Butter. Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Ali Ramee Take your sweet potatoes up a notch by roasting them whole directly on hot coals, giving them a lightly smoked and deeply roasted flavor. A whipped compound butter made of sherry vinegar, parsley, and maple syrup add acidic, earthy, and savory notes. Top the sweet potatoes with toasted pecans to bring in some needed crunch. It’s a great side dish for any occasion. Get the Recipe 02 of 25 Roasted Hot Honey Sweet Potato Salad Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Hannah Greenwood This sweet potato salad makes a colorful, satisfying side dish. Seasoning the potatoes with smoked paprika creates a sweet and savory balance while the hot honey dressing adds a touch of tangy heat. Homemade pickled red onions, crunchy toasted pecans, and fresh parsley round the dish out. Get the Recipe 03 of 25 Tempered Curry-Ginger Sweet Potatoes Antonis Achilleos Sam Fore's side dish is hearty, filling, and packed with the flavors of his mother’s Sri Lankan cooking — onion, ginger, and chile flakes. Get the Recipe 04 of 25 Owamni Sweet Potatoes with Maple-Chile Crisp Photo: Heami Lee / FOOD STYLING CHELSEA ZIMMER / PROP STYLING / CHRISTINE KEELY Maple sugar lends complex sweetness to chef Sean Sherman's mouthwatering chile crisp, which he drizzles over roasted sweet potatoes. Get the Recipe 05 of 25 Savory Glazed Sweet Potatoes with Sesame Seeds David Malosh With brown sugar, vinegar, and liquid aminos, these sweet potatoes are the best balance of savory and sweet. Get the Recipe 06 of 25 Sweet Potato Pie Photo by Adam Friedlander / Food Styling by Pearl Jones The sweet potato pie is seasoned with cinnamon, allspice, and freshly grated nutmeg, but it's the bourbon-pecan praline topping poured on top that gives this pie a New Orleans accent and sets it apart. The pie shell, sweet potatoes, and praline sauce can be made in advance, making this pie work for holiday baking when time is tight. Get the Recipe 07 of 25 Sweet Potato Yeast Rolls Victor Protasio Ajowan seeds offer an herbal bite reminiscent of thyme and cumin in these dinner rolls for 30. Get the Recipe 08 of 25 Sweet Potato Pie with Honeycrisp-Kabocha Salad Marcus Nilsson With more eggs than a traditional pumpkin pie, this pie-version is much richer and matches the creamy texture of the accompanying licorice ice cream. Get the Recipe 09 of 25 Candied Sweet Potatoes with Bourbon Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Kay Clarke Sweet potatoes are baked in a sweet, buttery sauce with hints of maple syrup and warm autumn spices in this satisfying side. The syrup thickens and becomes sticky as it rests; sprinkling on grated orange zest at the end balances the sweetness of the dish. These candied sweet potatoes are perfect for Thanksgiving, and also pair well with roast pork loin, ham, or chicken. For a more uniform dish, try finding sweet potatoes that are similarly shaped and sized. Get the Recipe 10 of 25 Sweet Potato Pavé Gregory DuPree The key to this crispy dish is super thin layers of sweet potato, easiest achieved by (carefully!) using a mandoline. Get the recipe 11 of 25 Sweet Potato Honey Beer Pie Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Melissa Gray / Prop Styling by Heather Chadduck Hillegas Dark beer, honey, and spices including turmeric, ginger, and cardamom give this pie rich, complex flavors. Cookbook author Nik Sharma loves sweet potatoes, especially in this pie. He suggests roasting sweet potatoes, reducing the beer, and preparing the pie crust, the day before you serve it. The next day, blind bake the pie crust, prepare the sweet potato custard, and bake the pie. Get the Recipe 12 of 25 Smoky Sweet Potatoes with Chorizo Butter Photo by Christopher Testani / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Prissy Lee Smoky and spicy, cured Spanish chorizo infuses melted butter with its rich color and flavor, balancing the natural sweetness of these tender roasted sweet potatoes. Get the Recipe 13 of 25 Purple Sweet Potato Pie with Coconut and Five-Spice Christopher Testani This purple sweet potato pie by Baltimore baker Krystal Mack is seasoned with five-spice seasoning and topped with toasted oats, pecans, and coconut for a vivid presentation and deep flavors that make it a showstopper on any holiday table. Get the Recipe 14 of 25 Cinnamon-Spiced Candied Sweet Potatoes Victor Protasio These spiced sweet potatoes are the perfect stand-in for candied yams with toasted marshmallows. For an elegant effect, add Justin Chapple's toasted meringue topping. Get the Recipe 15 of 25 Sweet Potato–Coconut Soup with Thai Curry © John Kernick A trio of coconut — coconut oil, coconut milk, and toasted coconut flakes — makes its way into this fragrant and lovely take on a classic Thanksgiving soup from cookbook author Melissa Clark. Get the Recipe 16 of 25 Sweet Potato Sticky Buns with Toasted Marshmallow Aubrie Pick These show-stopping sticky buns from F&W Best New Chef Thessa Diadem of L.A.'s All Day Baby are filled with ginger-studded sweet potato and spiced with cardamom and vanilla. Rolled into a buttery dough that bakes up light and pillowy, like giant cinnamon rolls, there is a little bit of sweet potato filling in every bite. Glazed with butterscotch and crowned with toasted marshmallow, these buns make a show-stopping addition to any brunch. Serve freshly baked and topped for best results. Get the Recipe 17 of 25 Sweet Potato Casserole Lucy Schaffer Sweet potatoes grow in abundance in Alabama, where sculptor Sandi Stevens' family eats them year-round. This casserole is a Stevens favorite: silky pureed sweet potatoes topped with a sweet and crunchy pecan-cornflake topping. If you don't have pecans or cornflakes on hand, Stevens says the topping can be made with whatever nut or cereal is in the cupboard. Get the Recipe 18 of 25 Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes with Toasted Marshmallows © David Malosh In this clever version of candied sweet potatoes with marshmallows, Grace Parisi mashes sweet potatoes with deeply flavorful grade B maple syrup and butter before stuffing them back into their skins and baking them a second time. Get the Recipe 19 of 25 Sweet Potato Soufflé © Lucy Schaeffer These mashed sweet potatoes are topped with Gruyere then baked so that the cheese forms a nutty-flavored crust. Get the Recipe 20 of 25 Sweet Potatoes with Apple Butter © Lucy Schaeffer You only need four ingredients for this recipe—sweet potatoes, unsalted butter, apple butter, and salt. Get the Recipe 21 of 25 Vanilla Bean-Whipped Sweet Potatoes © Frances Janisch Everyone at your holiday table will fall for this combination of creamy pureed potato and fragrant vanilla. Get the Recipe 22 of 25 Sweet Potato Soufflé with Molasses Sauce © Lucy Schaeffer This dish is a French take on an American classic. You can serve it without the molasses sauce for a lighter and less sweet version. Get the Recipe 23 of 25 Sweet Potato Gratin with Chile-Spiced Pecans © Petrina Tinslay Jose Garces says this dish best exemplifies his Thanksgiving menu: traditional at its core but with unexpected Latin accents. The gratin is silky and sweet, topped with gooey marshmallows and delightfully crunchy pecans flavored with chile powder. Get the Recipe 24 of 25 Sweet-Potato Meringue Pie © TINA RUPP This dish looks like a pumpkin pie, but the filling is actually made with sweet potato. Get the Recipe 25 of 25 Sweet Potato and Goat Cheese Gratin © Cedric Angeles Goat cheese fans will love the tang that the cheese adds to this sweet and luscious gratin, with its crispy topping. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit