Sweet Potatoes With Bourbon and Brown Sugar Recipe (2024)

By Melissa Clark

Sweet Potatoes With Bourbon and Brown Sugar Recipe (1)

Total Time
1¼ hours, plus cooling
Rating
4(833)
Notes
Read community notes

These silky mashed sweet potatoes are spiced with cloves, nutmeg and a little black pepper, brightened with lemon zest, and spiked with bourbon (or orange juice, if you'd prefer). Puréeing them in a food processor yields the smoothest, airiest texture, but for something a little more rustic, you could mash them by hand. Whichever you choose, these reheat well, either in a microwave or in a pot over low heat.

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Ingredients

Yield:10 to 12 servings

  • pounds sweet potatoes, pricked with a fork (10 to 12 sweet potatoes)
  • 6tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 to 4tablespoons dark brown sugar, or to taste
  • tablespoons bourbon or orange juice
  • ¾teaspoon grated lemon zest
  • ¾teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • ½teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • ¼teaspoon black pepper
  • Large pinch of ground cloves

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)

176 calories; 6 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 30 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 8 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 192 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Sweet Potatoes With Bourbon and Brown Sugar Recipe (2)

Preparation

Make the recipe with us

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Wrap potatoes in foil, place on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake until tender, about 1 hour. Let rest until cool enough to handle but still warm, then remove the foil and peel off the skins.

  2. Step

    2

    Add sweet potatoes to a food processor, along with butter, brown sugar, bourbon or juice, lemon zest, salt, nutmeg, pepper and cloves. Purée until smooth. (Or, for a chunkier texture, mash them by hand.) Taste and add salt, sugar or both if you like. Serve while still warm or reheat before serving.

Tip

  • This recipe can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator. Reheat just before serving, either in the microwave or in a pot on the stove over low heat.

Ratings

4

out of 5

833

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Michael

Melissa must live somewhere where they grow tiny sweet potatoes. There's no way 3.5lbs is 10-12 potatoes for me. I bought 5 red garnet sweet potatoes that totaled almost 4 lbs.Also, an hour at 350 is nowhere near enough to make them tender.

dimmerswitch

Being among "those" who wonder why people post about recipes they have not yet made, I become one of "those" to do that thing. To say it was ingredients that drew me in. What's not to like for in a household where we eat lots of sweets? Not to mention Thanksgiving on the horizon. But what leads me to post now is recommend "WATCH THE VIDEO!" With that emphasis. Ina and Jeffrey? I'll raise you Melissa and Daniel! And adorable Dahlia too!

Ruth M.

I loved the video, but that was *never* 1.5 T of bourbon. LOL More like 1/2 C . . . but in this Louisville household of bourbon lovers, that wouldn't be a problem. Looking forward to making this.

Brad

My go-to, most requested Thanksgiving sweet potato dish is Mark Bittman's sweet potato and goat cheese gratin with black olives and shallots.But I made this today because it sounded so good and it's definitely worth a place at our Thanksgiving table this year. Sweet, savory, cream; what's not to love?

Elvis

Made this yesterday (Thanksgiving) and it was the star of an exceptionally stellar plate. Of course the brown sugar and bourbon, or in my case whisky, we’re going to brighten the dish, but who knew that it would be the lemon that would actually make all the ingredients to shine. Sublime! Oh, and do watch the video. Actually all them about Melisa Clark’s Thanksgiving recipes. Don’t miss the one on brioche stuffing. Which you should also make.

Hetta

Thank you Melissa! I used 3 of your side dish recipes this Thanksgiving and all 3 were successes. Made this one 2 days ahead and microwaved to serve. By mistake, I doubled the bourbon and it will remain a future adjustment.

Juliet Jones

I loved the sound of this recipe (no, I have not yet made it. It's not Thanksgiving yet) but even more than that, I loved meeting Melissa's family. Thank you, Melissa!

Deborah

I decided to try this recipe and leave out the brown sugar, since sweet potatoes have a natural sweet and nobody at our table needs more sugar. They came out great; lovely aroma of bourbon and the hint of spice and pepper.

Kate B

I don't have a food processor--will a hand mixer work OK?

Karen

The recipe is just below and to the left of the video.

tiger squeakily, jr.

There’s no recipe ingredient list nothing in writing I read I don’t watch where are the ingredient and prep instructions?

Kristen

Thank you. That was my concern too. The 6 potatoes I bought were just over 3.5 lbs.

Chris

Made this recipe with rum. Yum, yum.

Brad

from the number of sweet potatoes and size of the food processor, I'd say the video was at least a double batch.

Brian

Little grease required; the potatoes mash easily.

Race To The Bottom

Coulda saved themselves and kept that marshmallow part out. Anyway, I loathe tossing butter into a meal so I'll repeal and redo with fake butter and something zesty

Allison

I have made these quite a few times and they are fabulous. The food processor makes the texture so smooth…. No strings or lumps. I buy Trader Joe’s organic sweet potatoes because they are small to medium in size and practically perfect on their own. This recipe needs no tweaking…. I could stand in a corner with a spoon and eat the whole thing. Once I added grand marnier instead of bourbon and powdered ginger and WOW! I could eat some right now. I don’t just make these during holidays.

britt

Delicious, don’t skip the lemon zest(was 1 medium lemon for me). At Thanksgiving some family was missing the “normal” type so next time I’ll double it and top half of them with the pecan, brown sugar, and marshmallow to keep everyone happy.

Diane F.

Loved this! I cut the recipe in half and used dark rum (George Bowman) instead of bourbon and a little maple syrup instead of brown sugar. Well, okay, I cut everything else in half but used all the rum! Yum!! It was perfect for Thanksgiving dinner for two.

Nick

I agree an hour at 350 still hard

EAGarcia

Made this twice this weekend! Smash hit both times. Round 1: dairy free adaptation, a combo of coconut oil and vegan butter worked as the fatRound 2: regular butter, just tossed in the whole stick this time, and subbed orange zest for the lemon zestBoth Rounds: I am confident that the texture is out of this world if you use the food processor, but I didn’t bother. Still fluffy and gorgeous both times. Truly roast the sweet potatoes within an inch of their lives. Double the bourbon!

Suz

Made for Thanksgiving 2023. Followed recipe but only about 3 lbs, 4 potatoes, so adjusted other ingredients down a bit. 4 Tbsp butter. Same amount of bourbon. Did not use cloves. Mashed the potatoes with a masher. Very good.

Laura

Delicious, easy, and won’t take up room in the oven.

Kirsten

Can you reheat in the oven? like in a casserole dish?

Kristi

Could this be made with honeynut squash?

Cathy G.

Delicious! The family loved them.

Gaby

So good. I did substitute the bourbon for brandy since I'm not a fan of bourbon.

Jane Rice

I made these at Thanksgiving, and they are our Sweet Potato recipe going forward -- delicious!!!

gregs notes

Achieved a BAL of 0.05 by indulging in seconds of fantastic side. Almost dessert….which leads me to ask: has anyone tried this as a pie filling?

Susan J.

I cut back on the cloves and added 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 4 tablespoons of bourbon. Loved it and will make it again.

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Sweet Potatoes With Bourbon and Brown Sugar Recipe (2024)
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