Maybe you baked up a big batch of sweet potatoes so you could chow down on loaded sweet potatoes with quinoa tabbouleh, or maybe you stuffed your sweet potatoes with kale, lentils, and sun-dried tomatoes. Or, maybe you didn’t go the baked route and, instead, you went classic, with a sweet potato puree for a holiday potluck (marshmallows not necessary). Whatever the case may be, now you have some extra sweet potatoes on your hands and you’re not really feeling like plain-Jane boring leftovers.
Luckily, there are lots of ways for you to repurpose leftover sweet potatoes for a new and exciting dish that you might just like more than the original! The key thing to remember any time you plan on repurposing leftover sweet potatoes? If you can, when you cook them the first time around, if you know you’ll have leftovers, leave the leftover portions plain, for easier reuse in the days ahead. Here are five creative options to consider.
1. Turn Them Into a Sweet Dessert
These spuds’ light sweetness is at home in a dessert that comes with a side of healthful, sweet potato benefits. If you have leftover baked sweet potatoes on your hands, scoop out the flesh and add it to a sweet potato Indian pudding that gets a big boost of fall flavor from cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and molasses. If you’re dealing with leftover sweet potato puree, make up a batch of vegan sweet potato cinnamon rolls.
2. Create Flavorful Falafel
This falafel recipe uses leftover baked and peeled sweet potatoes for a vegan, gluten-free, and oil-free tasty dish that comes together in a snap.
3. Bake Some Bread
Just like sweet potato finds a home in fluffy, delicious cinnamon rolls, it also makes a perfect pick for a loaf of sweet potato and sun-dried tomato braided bread. It’s an easy way to use up some leftover sweet potato puree or mash, and the results are entirely Great British Bake Off-worthy.
4. Swap Out the Regular Potatoes in Your Gnocchi
If you like to whip up the occasional batch of gnocchi, consider using your leftover sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes in your recipe. As Cleveland Clinic explains, while both varieties of potatoes are filled with fiber, potassium, and various vitamins, sweet potatoes give your meals a slightly healthier edge, thanks to their lesser carbs and fat, but much larger helpings of vitamin A, beta carotene, and calcium.
(Just note that sweet potatoes do contain more than double the sugar than their white counterparts contain, so if that’s something you’re watching, be aware. That said, while the sugar content is higher, sweet potatoes are not necessarily an overall high-sugar food.)
5. Top a Sumptuous Shepherd’s Pie.
There’s nothing quite like a hearty shepherd’s pie in the chilly winter months. Rather than smoothing a layer of mashed potatoes atop your mix of beef and vegetables, use your mashed sweet potatoes or sweet potato puree for a colorful, festive swap.
