The Best Sweet Potato Recipes For Breakfast, Lunch And Dinner

Photos by Claire Lower

Some people prefer sweet foods, others savoury. Sweet potato is equipped to handle both. Not only are these babies the perfect base for all sorts of fillings, they provide a bit more flavour (and nutrients) than their paler counterparts, and can be enjoyed morning, noon, and night. Here are three delicious options for breakfast, lunch and tea.

The Breakfast Sweet Potato

Though I tend to prefer my breakfast potatoes shredded and fried, the sweet flavour of this orange tuber ends up being a perfect foil for salty breakfast meats. Top it with a fried egg with crispy edges and a runny yolk, and you barely need butter (I still added butter). To make enough for two, you will need:

• 2 small or one very large sweet potato
• 120g of breakfast sausage or chopped bacon
• 2 eggs
• 1-2 tablespoons of butter
• salt and pepper
• The green portion of one green onion

Bake your sweet potatoes in a 200-degree oven until tender throughout, about 45 minutes to an hour, depending on their size. When they have about 10 minutes left in the oven, cook your breakfast meat of choice over medium-high heat in a nonstick pan until browned and crispy. Remove the meat and, using the rendered fat, fry your eggs sunny-side up until the edges are crispy, placing a lid over the pan so the whites on the top set. Split the sweet potato, or remove the peel completely and scrape the flesh onto a plate or into a bowl (my preferred method). Add butter to taste, season with salt and pepper, and sprinkled the browned sausage or bacon on top. Top with the egg and green onion.

The Lunch Sweet Potato

Buffalo-style chicken makes this a sweet and spicy meal that almost veers into bar food territory. If you want to really complete the Buffalo experience, you can sprinkle on some thinly sliced celery. (I used green onion because I don’t like celery, but I recognise I’m the odd duck out here.) To make this meal (for two), you will need:

• 2 small or one very large sweet potato
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons of Frank’s hot sauce
• 56g crumbled blue cheese
• About half a stalk’s worth of thinly sliced celery or the green part of one green onion (if you don’t like celery)

Bake your sweet potatoes in a 200-degree oven until tender throughout, about 45 minutes to an hour, depending on their size. When they have about 15 minutes left in the oven, melt some butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, season the chicken, and cook until browned (about 10 minutes). Remove the pan from the heat and, once the butter stops sizzling and sputtering, add the hot sauce, stirring to create a sauce. Remove the potatoes from the oven, split them open or scoop their insides out, and spoon the saucy chicken on top. Sprinkle on blue cheese, top with your green bits of choice, and enjoy.

The Supper Sweet Potato

The plant-based, surprisingly rich combination of cannellini beans and mushrooms is rib-sticking without being unctuous, and a perfect, low-key meatless Monday option. To make enough for you and another, you will need:

• 2 small or one very large sweet potato
• 220g of sliced mushrooms
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup broth or stock
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon of room temperature butter + 1 tablespoon of flour, mixed into a paste

Bake your sweet potatoes in a 200-degree oven until tender throughout, about 45 minutes to an hour, depending on their size. When they have about 30 minutes left in the oven, melt some butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, season the mushrooms and add them to the pan, and cook until they are golden brown and crispy on the edges. Add the tomato paste, and stir to coat the mushrooms. Once the paste darkens in colour and begins to stick to the palm, deglaze it with the red wine, scraping up the browned bits. Let the wine reduce to a thick syrup, then add the broth or stock, beans, and thyme and cook until the beans are as soft as you like ’em. Remove the pan from the heat, add about half of your butter-flour paste, and stir to form a thick sauce, adding more paste if you like a thicker sauce. Remove the potatoes from the oven, split them open or scoop their insides out, and season them with butter, salt and pepper as desired. Pour the ‘shrooms and beans on top, and devour.

This article has been updated since its original publication.