10 Sweet Potato Recipes with a Touch of Southwest

We’ve put our own Southwest spin on 10 great sweet potato recipes just in time for your own family’s Holiday Dinner table.

Thanksgiving is coming fast so, I thought I would round up some of our favorite holiday recipes and put them all in one place where they will be easy to find for your holiday dinner. The only question is… where should I start?  The holidays is not the time for me to go out on a limb with wild and crazy new recipes.  Everyone in the family has their own favorite dish that they look forward to all year long. For my side of the family, that holiday favorite has to be Mom’s rolls.  Just give us our own batch of rolls and we are in holiday heaven.

But, since most people seem to like a little “somethin’ somethin'” with their rolls, I decided to start collecting recipes for our second favorite dish, sweet potatoes. As it turns out, I didn’t have to go looking any further than my own backyard. We have quite a collection of sweet potato recipes right here on Everyday Southwest!  Donna and I must be some sort of  “sweet potato whisperers” or something…  ’cause we have recipes for everything from sweet potato soup to sweet potato tamales right here.

So, here goes, 10 links to some of our very own families’ favorite sweet potato recipes.

First up is my Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Bourbon, Molasses and Pecans.  This one is a real winner.  There is only a touch of bourbon that cooks off in the oven that gives the potatoes a depth of flavor.  It is topped with granola and pecans for a healthier touch than the traditional marshmallows.

Don’t cook with bourbon?  No problem, we have Smoky Southwest Sweet Potato Mash.

I’ve included my Butternut Squash and Ricotta Empanadas in the round-up because I make these with sweet potatoes all the time.  Oooo… note to self, use Thanksgiving leftovers for the filling!

Donna has two Chipotle Sweet Potato Tamale recipes on the blog, one with pecans and one without.  You can’t get much more Southwest than tamales.  You can even make them ahead of time and steam them on Thanksgiving.

For those of you who like interesting salads, I added my Butternut Squash and Apple Salad with Cranberry Dressing because it is not only a really beautiful addition to the holiday table, it is also great with sweet potato rings or  sweet potatoes cubes tossed in a little oil or vinaigrette and then roasted until the outsides begin to brown and caramelize then,  toss into the salad and serve it family style or arrange on individual salad plates.

Sweet Potato Flan with Spiced Hazelnuts is actually a savory dish that makes a delicious appetizer or first course.

Southwest Sweet Potato Chowder with Pecans is a beautiful soup that is already dressed up with for the party.

Sweet Potato Haystacks are a fun garnish for any dish put are especially good on my family’s favorite Chile Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Porcini Mushroom and Polenta “Tamales.”

Latin Tostones with Sweet Potatoes Recipe (not shown) is another great salad or appetizer course.

Have fun with the Southwest twists on these sweet potato recipes.

—posted by Sandy