These Honey Butter Mashed Sweet Potatoes are an easy and delicious side dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas or whenever you crave a hearty, healthy veggie addition at dinner. Ready in less than 30 minutes and full of delicious flavors, this is sure to be a hit on the holiday table.
I’m not going to lie, I love a good mashed potato with lots of milk and butter and possibly also sour cream. But then again, I’m all about the sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving and Christmas, too!
Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes, Sweet Potato Casserole, Baked Sweet Potato Slices – even Sweet Potato Cake! I’ll have it all. And these mashed sweet potatoes right here? Definitely a must on our holiday dinner table.
They are so quick to make – cut up sweet potatoes boil incredibly fast, and all that’s left to do once they are tender is adding butter, honey and seasoning and mash.
Ingredients you’ll need
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!
Ingredient notes
- Season to taste: If you think adding some chopped parsley or some rosemary and thyme would be a great idea (it actually is), go for it! Or some parmesan. Use maple syrup instead of honey. All your call.
- Sweet potatoes: Fresh taste great here, but I used frozen sweet potatoes when I took these photos… Because it was sometime during the “do not leave your house unless absolutely necessary” times. They actually work great if that’s all you have on hand/don’t feel like peeling and chopping.
- Thyme: I add this for a savory touch, but if you’re not a fan of sweet/savory combos and want the potatoes to just be sweet and buttery – feel free to skip.
How to make mashed sweet potatoes
Just peel and cube the sweet potatoes and boil until fork-tender.
Then drain them, steam off excess liquid and mash right in the pot with butter, honey, salt, pepper, nutmeg… Whatever seasoning your heart desires!
boil mash with butter and seasoning
And done 🙂
Recipe tips
- No space on the stove during a big holiday cooking session? No problem! Just microwave the sweet potatoes like shown here, then scoop the flesh into a bowl and add seasoning, honey and butter to mash.
- This recipe is easily doubled or tripled for a large group. Just double (or triple) all of the ingredients and use a large enough pot to comfortably hold all of the potatoes. The cooking time will be about the same.
- You can turn leftovers into a sweet potato casserole… Of course, you may not necessarily want that after Thanksgiving, but I thought I’d mention it anyways. I also really like stirring leftovers into my oatmeal.
More holiday side dishes
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.
Printable recipe
Honey Butter Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Recipe details
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds sweet potatoes peeled and cubed
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme optional
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1-2 tablespoons honey
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon or more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil sweet potatoes: Place sweet potatoes in medium pot, cover with water. Bring to a boil, add salt (and thyme, if using) and simmer until fork-tender, about 8-10 minutes.
- Drain and steam: Drain the potatoes well, then put them back into pot over lowest heat setting. Cook until potatoes look dry, stirring constantly, to steam off any excess water.
- Mash: Add butter, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper (and more salt, if desired). Mash with a potato masher until creamy. Check for seasoning, then serve hot.
Notes
Ingredient notes
- Season to taste: If you think adding some chopped parsley or some rosemary and thyme would be a great idea (it actually is), go for it! Or some parmesan. Use maple syrup instead of honey. All your call.
- Sweet potatoes: Fresh taste great here, but I used frozen sweet potatoes when I took these photos… Because it was sometime during the “do not leave your house unless absolutely necessary” times. They actually work great if that’s all you have on hand/don’t feel like peeling and chopping.
- Thyme: I add this for a savory touch, but if you’re not a fan of sweet/savory combos and want the potatoes to just be sweet and buttery – feel free to skip.
Nutrition
More recipe information
Recipe first published on 10/29/2018. Updated with new photos, better text and slight improvements to recipe on 11/06/2021.
Carrie says
These were so good! I didn’t exactly read the actual directions and added the salt and thyme when I mashed the potatoes and they came out excellent!
Debbie says
Can I put marshmallow on top with a dash of cinnamon ?
Nora Rusev says
Debbie, yes absolutely! We sometimes sprinkle mini marshmallows on top and then broil in a casserole dish for a few minutes. Happy holidays!
Patty says
This was fast, easy, and tastes great (and I’m not a big sweet potato fan!) I will definitely make this again!
Nora Rusev says
I’m so glad, Patty! Thanks for coming back to leave a review, I appreciate your time.