You’ve heard of alfredo sauce, tomato sauce, even pesto sauce to go with pasta. Now, get ready for sweet potato sauce. I heard about it secondhand from someone who had it in a restaurant. Sweet potatoes in a sauce? I was immediately intrigued, and set out to recreate it at home in a time when going to a restaurant was unthinkable (thanks COVID-19). It uses sweet potatoes and milk to create a creamy texture that’s unlike any you’ve tasted before. Adjust the spices to your liking, and change up the consistency by adding more or less liquid. Whip up this sweet potato sauce in under an hour and serve with your desired pasta and a side of green veggies for a meal you won’t forget!
Sweet Potato Sauce
Course: MainsCuisine: American6
servings30
minutes15
minutesIngredients
4 medium sweet potatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped into small pieces
1 tsp salt (adjust for taste)
1 tsp ground black pepper (adjust for taste)
Pinch of ground cayenne pepper (adjust for taste)
1 tbsp whole wheat flour
2 cups milk
2 cups boiling water
Desired quantity of medium-sized pasta, cooked
Directions
- Steam the sweet potatoes until they are soft. We like to do this by poking a few holes in them with a knife, placing them in our Instant Pot on a trivet with some water underneath, and cooking for 10 minutes at high pressure. If your potatoes are larger, you’ll need to cook them for longer. Release the pressure after 10-15 minutes, then peel and mash the sweet potatoes so that they are a smooth consistency.
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a pan. Add the garlic and the onions. When the onions start to turn translucent, add the salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper.
- After the onions have softened a bit, add the whole wheat flour and cook for 2-3 minutes, while stirring continuously.
- Add the milk, sweet potato and hot water, and continue stirring. Let the mixture simmer and thicken until it is your desired consistency. If it gets too thick, add another half cup of milk or water, and stir until it has incorporated into the rest of the sauce. Adjust the salt and black pepper to taste.
- Add the pasta to the sauce, mix to combine, and serve warm!
Notes
- If you’d like, use an immersion blender to make the sauce smoother before adding the pasta — it depends on how well you mashed your sweet potato and what kind of texture you want in the sauce.
- We like to serve this sauce with homemade gnocchi! Here’s a recipe from Damn Delicious that we like.
- If you aren’t adding the pasta immediately, know that the sauce will thicken over time. I suggest adding additional boiling water or milk and letting it just start to simmer before adding the pasta if this is the case. The starch in pasta will absorb some of the liquid in the sauce, so it will only continue to thicken.
This recipe was adapted from Grabbing the Gusto’s Smoky Sweet Potato Cream Pasta with Sausage and Kale.