Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce bring smoke and a little heat to this quick, sweet/savory side dish. Sliced scallions add brightness.
Servings 2 (can be scaled up—see Kitchen Notes)
Ingredients
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, about 1 pound
- salt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, sliced
- 1 canned chipotle pepper, plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce from can (see Kitchen Notes)
- 1 scallion, green parts only, sliced (see Kitchen Notes)
Instructions
- Peel and cube the sweet potatoes. Place in a medium saucepan and cover with cold, salted water by an inch or so. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to simmer. Cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, finely chop the chipotle pepper.
- Drain sweet potatoes, add butter and mash with a hand masher. Add chipotle pepper and adobo sauce and mash to combine completely. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, if needed.
- Can be made ahead up to this point and left covered on the stove while you finish other dishes. Reheat gently before serving. Transfer to a serving dish or divide between two dinner plates. Garnish with sliced scallions and serve immediately.
Kitchen Notes
Making more servings. Mostly, just increase all the ingredients the same—double, triple… But go easy with the peppers. When I triple the potatoes, I only double the chipotle peppers and adobo sauce, especially if I’m making it the day before. Peppers tend to intensify in heat when refrigerated.
One pepper? But I bought a whole can! I know. This is typical of most recipes that call for chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. The thing is, a little of their smokiness goes a long way. Readers over at Apartment Therapy’s The Kitchn have a number of suggestions for storing leftover peppers for later use. One blends them with the adobo sauce in a food processor, then freezes the mixture. About a tablespoon equals one pepper, so you just slice off what you need.
Don’t skip the scallion. In researching chipotle mashed potatoes to make this recipe, I found that there were really only a few variations. One thing I didn’t see anywhere, though, was the addition of sliced scallions as a garnish. I consider this my major contribution to the oeuvre. The green oniony bite of the scallion tops balances the sweetness of the sweet potatoes, pulling them back into side dish territory from dessertland. They also add a pleasant crunch. Chives will also work, but I wouldn’t use chopped onion—that would be overpowering.