Homemade Roasted Sweet Potato Puree

Course: Dessert, Side Dish

Cuisine: North American

Keyword: homemade sweet potato puree, sweet potato puree, sweet potatoes

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 45

steaming/cooling time: 20

Total Time: 1 15

Servings: cups

Calories: 317kcal

Homemade Roasted Sweet Potato Puree is easy to make, budget-friendly, and so much more flavorful than the canned stuff.

Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C).
Lightly grease a sheet pan with cooking spray or a light coating of vegetable or olive oil.

Use a clean, damp kitchen towel to scrub loose dirt from the sweet potato skins and dry them with a clean kitchen towel.
If your sweet potato has dry vines protruding, tear them off and discard them. Use the tip of a paring knife to remove any eyes from the potatoes.

Arrange the sweet potatoes on a sheet pan.
Poke venting holes in the potatoes with the tines of a fork to allow steam to escape from the roasting sweet potatoes, which will keep them from exploding while they roast.
Roast the sweet potatoes for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
This roasting time varies depending on the size of the potatoes.
To test if the sweet potatoes are tender, poke a paring knife into the thickest part of the potato. It's soft enough to remove from the oven if the knife slides in and out without resistance.
Continue roasting the sweet potatoes for another 10-15 minutes if the knife meets any resistance when you poke the sweet potatoes.

Remove the tender sweet potatoes from the oven and cover the pan with a clean kitchen towel to steam the sweet potatoes and loosen the skins, which makes them easier to peel.
Allow the potatoes to steam under the towel for 10-15 minutes or until they are cool enough to handle.
Use your fingers to remove the sweet potato peels and compost or discard them.

Press the sweet potatoes through a potato ricer, mash with a potato masher or fork, or puree in a food processor.
Recipes where you desire texture, like casseroles or simple mashed sweet potatoes, benefit from a rough mash, which you can accomplish with a sturdy fork or a potato masher.
Use a blender or food processor to puree sweet potatoes you plan to use in cheesecakes, muffins, or pies. Since these recipes rely on smooth batters, you want to make your puree chunk-free.
Add the peeled, cool sweet potatoes to the food processor and puree them for thirty seconds, scrape down the bowl, and puree for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until really smooth.

Use right away, or cool completely and refrigerate or freeze.
Sweet potato puree is best used in soups, bisques, breads, pies, and even as baby food.

Swaps and Substitutions:

Jewel, Okinawa, and Satsuma-imo are suitable substitutes for Beauregard sweet potatoes.
Boniato sweet potatoes are ideal when preparing puree for savory or less sweet recipes.

Tips and Techniques:

Purchase sweet potatoes that are heavy for their size and have peels without too many blemishes or dry dark spots. Avoid sweet potatoes that are wrinkled, shriveled, and soft.
Let the sweet potatoes cool before pureeing; they're easier (and safer) to handle, and you won't trap steam in the food processor.
Blenders aren't as efficient because of their narrow carafes, so I recommend dicing or roughly mashing the sweet potatoes before adding them to the machine. With their wider bowls, food processors are more efficient in pureeing sweet potatoes.
Always bring your sweet potato puree to room temperature before using it in recipes to prevent batters or doughs from curdling.
Strain excess liquid from the sweet potato puree before using it in recipes to avoid creating an imbalance in your dough or batters.

Storage Instructions:

Store sweet potato puree in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. If you won't use it all in that time, freeze it.

Freezing Instructions:

Store sweet potato puree in a freezer food storage bag in 15-ounce (425g) or 1-cup (250g) quantities, since most recipes call for these amounts.
Label and date the bags of sweet potato puree, then press out as much of the air from the bag as possible before sealing them. Freeze sweet potato puree for 2-4 months.
If you freeze the bags of sweet potato puree lying flat, when they're frozen solid, you can stand them up in the freezer, which takes up less space.
Thaw the puree in the refrigerator overnight before bringing it to room temperature and using it as instructed in your recipe.
Strain off excess liquid, which develops when the water in the potatoes freezes and thaws, by pressing the sweet potato puree into a cheesecloth-lined sieve and allowing the excess liquid to drip into a bowl beneath.