This collection of sweet potato recipes go beyond classic baked sweet potatoes or roasted sweet potatoes and transforms this sweet root vegetable from side dishes to starring mains.
Sweet potato tips
Also known as ‘kumara’, sweet potato is generally found in Australia in the colours of orange, purple and white. Sweet potatoes are not really potatoes at all — they belong to a different family of plants — but they can be cooked in the same ways: boil and mash, slice and fry, bake in their skins, roast, turn into soup or a salad, take off thin strips with a vegetable-peeler and deep-fry for crisps.
What to serve with sweet potatoes
Orange sweet potatoes have dry, dense, nutty-sweet flesh which works beautifully when roasted with maple syrup and extra virgin olive oil. Sweet potato has an affinity with spices and strong or smoky flavours so they are also good mashed with cumin or garlic, used in a vegetable curry with cauliflower, peas and onion.
Choosing and storing sweet potatoes
Sweet potatoes should be undamaged, firm, evenly coloured and heavy for their size. Do not refrigerate sweet potatoes — store in a well-ventilated place away from heat and light; use within a week of purchasing.
Looking for more desserts featuring vegetables or pumpkin recipes?
Julie Goodwin’s sweet potato soup
Slow cooker beef stew
Roasted sweet potato with green goddess dressing
Roast sweet potato soup
Julie Goodwin’s rissoles with sweet potato mash
Baked sweet potato with steak fajita filling
Air fryer sausages with sweet potato hash browns
Ocean trout salad with edamame miso dressing
Slow cooker chickpea and sweet potato curry
Haloumi schnitzel with sweet potato chips
Sweet potato cake with candied orange
Lamb neck chop and lentil stew with kumara carrot mash
How to make sweet potato/kumara mash
Air fryer Cajun sweet potato wedges
Sweet potato and fetta tart
Fudgy sweet potato brownies
Zucchini and sweet potato loaf
Smoked salmon and sweet potato cakes
Dusted doughnuts
Kumara pancakes with maple yoghurt
Sweet potato cannelloni
Curried kumara and lentil soup
Spiced lentil and kumara pies
Spinach and ricotta gnocchi with kumara and sage
Sweet potato rösti with roasted vegetables
Sweet potato and tuna rissoles with spicy hummus
Nut-crusted barramundi with spiced kumara wedges
Vegetarian Thai yellow curry
Kumara, prosciutto and smoked mozzarella flatbreads
Kumara rösti with portobello mushrooms
Spiced sweet potatoes with whipped chive butter
Sweet potato, mint and goat’s cheese tartlets
Spiced sweet potato tart
Sweet potato bubble and squeak
Red curry coconut chicken with sweet potato
Healthy kumara and turkey burgers
Beetroot, ricotta, & hazelnut tart with sweet potato pastry
Moroccan fish and chips
Jacket sweet potato sloppy joes
Chicken and kumara sandwiches
Eggplant and sweet potato curry
Spicy kumara sausage rolls
Kumara and ‘chorizo’ tacos
Makrut lime and red curry fish parcels
Broccoli and walnut stuffed sweet potato
Maple gingerbread muffins with kumara butter
Lamb, kumara and almond curry
Creamy lamb, kumara and ginger korma
Sweet potato, pumpkin and potato soup
Dukkah beetroot & kumara skewers
Indian-spiced quinoa cakes with tomatoes
Moroccan sweet potato bake
Roast kumara and pear salad with crunchy chickpeas
Spelt pizza with kumara & goat’s cheese