Four surprising ways to use sweet potatoes—for Thanksgiving or anytime

See you later, sweet potato casserole—with these four unexpected recipes, you can change it up with your sweet potato sides.

AS A THANKSGIVING SIDE, TOO-SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE does sweet potatoes no favors. It turns these delicious, colorful, super-healthy root vegetables into a cloying, gooey mess. Try one of these surprising recipes instead—you just might start a new holiday tradition.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Shallots

Roasting sweet potatoes and shallots with rosemary, garlic and cayenne pepper creates a sweet/savory side dish that packs a satisfying kick. Pictured above, this dish lets their own natural sweetness shine through.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Speaking of traditions, gnocchi are a traditional Italian dish—flavored many ways, but typically made from potatoes. These sweet potato gnocchi put a spin on that tradition, and they taste like sweet, comfortable autumn.

Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes

In the before times, the ad agency where I work hosted an in-office Thanksgiving lunch. The agency provided the turkeys, and my colleagues and I supplied the dies and desserts. These mashed sweet potatoes, getting heat and smoke from canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, were my contribution. One year, I considered bringing a different dish. I was told not to.

Sweet Potato Vichyssoise

Since forever, Marion has made this elegant chilled soup for the first course of our Thanksgiving dinner. It is light and creamy, and relies on homemade chicken stock as its base. You find recipes for the vichyssoise and the homemade stock here.