This post may contain commission-earning affiliate links.
Your New Favorite Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipe: Caramelized Onion Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Let’s be real, mashed potatoes are the star of the show at Thanksgiving (sorry, turkey). This classic Thanksgiving side dish somehow pairs so well with everything on the table – but this leveled up version with caramelized onions and roasted sweet potatoes might just become your new favorite Thanksgiving side dish. The sweetness of the caramelized onions marries beautifully with the roasted sweet potatoes and the fresh rosemary garnish.
Leveling Up the Potato Game with Sweet Potatoes
I can’t talk bad about regular potatoes, they’re so wonderful in so many different ways – whether it be fries, mashed, scalloped – honestly the possibilities with potatoes are endless. Sweet potatoes are unique, they have a flavor that doesn’t pair well with everything, but when it does par well with something (like caramelized onions) it’s a match made in heaven. I was worried when developing this recipe that the sweetness of the potatoes and caramelized onions would be too much, but with a little salt, pepper, rosemary, and butter they come out absolutely delicious.
Roast, Don’t Boil
Mashed potatoes are traditionally boiled to soften them up, but I love the depth of flavor that roasting these sweet potatoes before mashing them adds to this dish. If you’re making these for Thanksgiving, you can easily roast your sweet potatoes ahead of time and leave them in the fridge for a day or two, then caramelize your onions on Thanksgiving day and add your potatoes in. Since oven real estate is valuable on Thanksgiving, the reheat process is an easy way to make this delicious side without using up too much space or effort.
For this recipe, you’ll want to roast your sweet potatoes until the skin starts to peel away from the inside of the potato – about 30 minutes in the oven at 400 degrees F. After your remove your sweet potatoes from the oven, let them cool for 10-15 minutes and then the skin is easy to peel off. If you are going to make them ahead of time and store them in the fridge before Thanksgiving day, leave the skin on until it’s time to cook them on the stove with your onions and other ingredients
Why I Love This Recipe From a Health-Perspective
I am very intentional with my ingredients, I like to develop recipes that are both delicious and that will work for me by offering extra nutritional benefits to my body. Sweet potatoes offer excellent health benefits and have a lower glycemic index than regular potatoes so you are less likely to experience a blood sugar spike eating them.
Earlier this year, I discovered that my body produces antibodies that attack my thyroid. My doctor highly recommended that I stick to an anti-inflammatory diet because of the correlation between thyroid function and inflammation. I create most recipes, including this sweet potato mash, with anti-inflammatory properties in mind. I’ve noticed that eating as clean as possible has made me feel better, heal faster, and help with my overall cognitive function. I am by no means a doctor or registered dietician, but I did want to share my personal “why” for creating recipes like this one because eating this way really has positively impacted my health, and I figured maybe it could help others, too.
Ingredients:
- Sweet potatoes
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- Sugar
- Butter
- Fresh rosemary (optional garnish)
How to Make Caramelized Onion Sweet Potatoes
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F
Prepare Your Sweet Potatoes: Wash and dry your sweet potatoes and then cut them in half. Place them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and drizzle them with olive oil then season them with salt and pepper. Place them in the oven a bake for 30-40 minutes until the skin has started the peel away from the inside of the potatoes and they are fork tender.
Caramelize Your Onions: While your sweet potatoes cook, you’ll want to work on caramelizing your onions. Dice your onions up and add them to a pan over low heat with olive oil, salt, sugar, and a tablespoon of water. Cover to allow the steam to cook the onions. Every 5 minutes, remove the lid and move the onions around, periodically adding water so that they don’t stick to the pan and burn. This process will take 30-40 minutes for the onions to fully caramelize (worth it, I promise). Once cooked, cut the heat until you add the potatoes in.
Peel Your Potatoes: Once your potatoes are fully roasted, pull them out of the oven and let them cool for 10-15 minutes. After they’re cool enough to touch, peel the skin away from the potatoes and toss them right into your pan with the caramelized onions.
Combine Everything: Your potatoes will be extremely soft, so using a fork or wooden spoon, mash them down and fold them in with the onions. Put your pan over medium-low heat and gradually add your butter in one tablespoon at a time, allowing it to melt and fold into the potatoes. Once your mixture is creamy, finish it off with salt and pepper as needed and transfer it to your serving dish.
Garnish Your Potatoes: Garnish your sweet potato mash with fresh rosemary and olive oil and serve.
Enjoy!
Tools:
- Baking Sheet
- Pain (stainless steel works best for caramelizing the onions – here are my favorites)
Full Recipe:
Print
Caramelized Onion Mashed Sweet Potatoes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 2 large sweet potatoes
- 1/2 large sweet onion (diced)
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp salt (+ extra to taste at the end)
- 1 tsp sugar
- Pepper (to taste at end)
- Fresh rosemary (optional garnish)
Instructions
- Prepare Your Sweet Potatoes: Wash and dry your sweet potatoes and then cut them in half. Place them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and drizzle them with olive oil then season them with salt and pepper. Place them in the oven a bake for 30-40 minutes until the skin has started the peel away from the inside of the potatoes and they are fork tender.
- Caramelize Your Onions: While your sweet potatoes cook, you’ll want to work on caramelizing your onions. Dice your onions up and add them to a pan over low heat with olive oil, salt, sugar, and a tablespoon of water. Cover to allow the steam to cook the onions. Every 5 minutes, remove the lid and move the onions around, periodically adding water so that they don’t stick to the pan and burn. This process will take 30-40 minutes for the onions to fully caramelize (worth it, I promise). Once cooked, cut the heat until you add the potatoes in.
- Peel Your Potatoes: Once your potatoes are fully roasted, pull them out of the oven and let them cool for 10-15 minutes. After they’re cool enough to touch, peel the skin away from the potatoes and toss them right into your pan with the caramelized onions.
- Combine Everything: Your potatoes will be extremely soft, so using a fork or wooden spoon, mash them down and fold them in with the onions. Put your pan over medium-low heat and gradually add your butter in one tablespoon at a time, allowing it to melt and fold into the potatoes. Once your mixture is creamy, finish it off with salt and pepper as needed and transfer it to your serving dish.
- Garnish Your Potatoes: Garnish your sweet potato mash with fresh rosemary and olive oil and serve.
For more recipes like this one, follow me on social media at @dinneratallis!