This mashed sweet potato recipe comes from my friend Lori LaCombe, who is, in the most literal sense, a fitness machine. Every so often I catch her in the gym and wonder how someone that small moves that much weight. She cooks the way she trains: no fuss, real ingredients, nothing complicated. This is her side dish, and it has been on our table ever since.
What makes it different from most mashed sweet potatoes is what is not in it. No marshmallows, no brown sugar crust, no cream. Just roasted sweet potatoes and butternut squash in equal measure, good olive oil, a little honey, and enough pumpkin pie spice to make the kitchen smell like October. The squash is the trick, honestly. It lightens the texture and keeps the whole thing from going dense and cloying the way straight sweet potato mash can.
Why Roast Instead of Boil
Most mashed sweet potato recipes start with a pot of boiling water. This one does not, and the difference is worth the extra oven time.
Boiling waterlogs the potatoes. They come out wet, and then you are adding butter and cream to compensate for the flavor the water pulled out. Roasting does the opposite: it drives moisture off and concentrates the sugars already in the vegetables, which is where all that caramelized, almost-toasty flavor comes from. By the time the squash and sweet potatoes come out of the oven, they taste like something before you have added a single other ingredient.
That is also why this works without any dairy. The olive oil carries the spice and gives the mash its body, and the roasted vegetables bring enough flavor on their own that there is nothing to paper over.
The One-to-One Ratio
Three large sweet potatoes to four cups of cubed butternut squash comes out to roughly equal parts by weight, and that balance is deliberate.
Sweet potato on its own mashes up thick. Add honey to that and it tips into dessert territory fast, which is how you end up at the marshmallow casserole. Butternut squash is lighter and more watery, so it loosens the mash without a splash of cream doing that job instead. It also brings a nutty, slightly savory note that gives the dish somewhere to go besides sweet.
Tip the ratio toward the potatoes and it gets heavy. Tip it toward the squash and it starts tasting like squash. Equal parts is the version worth making.
Ingredients You Will Need
- 3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 4 cups butternut squash, cubed
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup minimally filtered honey
A note on the cilantro, because it surprises people: it is not a garnish here, it goes into the food processor with everything else. The bright, green, slightly citrusy note is what keeps a bowl of sweet orange mash from tasting one-dimensional. It is not what anyone else does with this dish, and it is the reason ours tastes like ours. If you are one of the people for whom cilantro tastes like soap, flat-leaf parsley does the same structural job.
These mashed potatoes would taste delicious made with Alfalfa Honey
Which Honey to Use
A quarter cup of honey in a dish this simple is not a background ingredient, so the varietal you reach for actually shows up on the plate.
Alfalfa Honey is our pick. It is light amber, creamy, mild, with a hint of vanilla that sits beautifully next to the pumpkin pie spice without fighting it. Sourced from beekeepers working alfalfa fields in Upstate New York, it is the kind of honey that sweetens without announcing itself, which matters here: two teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice is already a lot of flavor, and a bolder honey would just be one more voice in the room.
If you want the honey to be more assertive, Autumn Honey takes this in a darker, earthier direction that suits a holiday table. Going the other way, any of our Eastern Shore honey varietals will work here. For more on how varietals behave once heat is involved, our guide to baking with honey covers the substitution math.
How to Make Healthy Mashed Sweet Potatoes
One: Roast the root vegetables
Peel the sweet potatoes and squash and cut them into small cubes, keeping the pieces roughly the same size so they finish together. Combine and toss them with the olive oil, cover with foil, and roast for 45 minutes. Pull the foil off and give them another 30 minutes uncovered. That second stretch is where the edges take on color, so do not shortcut it.
Two: Blend, no potato masher needed
Once soft, place the mixture in a food processor with the remaining ingredients: sea salt, pumpkin pie spice, cilantro, and honey. Pulse until all is combined and it looks like mashed potatoes. Pulse, do not run it continuously. Sweet potatoes have enough starch that over-processing turns them gluey.
Make It Your Own
Our recipes are meant to be a starting point. Do not feel like you have to make these exactly the way the card says. Some directions worth taking:
- A pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg on top, for warmth beyond what the pumpkin pie spice already brings
- Dried blueberries or your favorite dried fruit scattered over the top for color
- Toasted pine nuts or pepitas on each serving, which is the textural contrast this dish is quietly asking for
- An extra honey drizzle at the table
- Kosher salt, pepper, and garlic powder for a savory version that drops the sweetness way back
- Swap the honey for maple syrup to make it vegan
What to Serve It With
This is a side dish that plays well with almost anything roasted or grilled:
- Roasted poultry: a natural fit alongside classic pot roast or roast chicken
- Grilled meats: the sweetness cuts smoke nicely, so try it with grilled honey chicken kebabs or a honey glazed lamb rack
- Vegetarian mains: good next to lentil soup or an asparagus carrot stir fry
- Breakfast: leftovers next to scrambled eggs is better than it has any right to be
If you are building out a bigger fall spread, honey glazed butternut squash uses the same warm spice profile, and our fall honey recipes collection pulls the whole season together. Want more sweet potato? Stuffed sweet potatoes and sweet potato chili take the same vegetable somewhere else entirely. And for a lighter side, these air fryer kale chips are hard to stop eating.
How to Store Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Let the dish cool completely before it goes anywhere. Warm food in a sealed container makes condensation, and condensation makes watery mash.
In an airtight container in the refrigerator, these keep about four days. For longer storage, freeze them in a freezer-safe container with some headroom at the top for expansion, label it with the date, and use within three months. Reheat gently over low heat, adding a splash of water or plant-based milk to bring the texture back. They will have tightened up in the cold, and that is normal.
Make This Recipe Today
This is the mashed sweet potato recipe I keep coming back to, and I have Lori to thank for it. It is easy, it is honest food, and it does not need a marshmallow to justify itself. Give it a try and let me know what you think. If you make it, share a snapshot with us using #beeinspired on Instagram. We love seeing your photos.
FAQs About Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Honey
Should I boil or roast sweet potatoes for mashing?
Roast them. Boiling waterlogs sweet potatoes, which washes out flavor and leaves you adding butter and cream to make up for it. Roasting drives moisture off and concentrates the sugars already in the vegetable, so the mash tastes like something before you add anything else. In this recipe the cubes roast for 45 minutes covered with foil, then another 30 minutes uncovered so the edges take on color.
Why is there butternut squash in mashed sweet potatoes?
The squash keeps the texture from going dense. Sweet potato on its own mashes up thick and can turn cloying, especially with honey in the mix. Butternut squash is lighter and more watery, so it loosens the mash naturally without any dairy. It also brings a nutty, slightly savory note that gives the dish somewhere to go besides sweet. We use equal parts by weight: three large sweet potatoes to four cups of cubed squash.
Which honey is best for mashed sweet potatoes?
Alfalfa Honey is our pick. It is light amber, creamy, and mild, with a hint of vanilla that sits alongside the pumpkin pie spice rather than competing with it. Since a quarter cup of honey in a dish this simple is not a background ingredient, a mild varietal lets the sweet potatoes lead. If you want the honey to be more assertive, Autumn Honey takes it in a darker, earthier direction that suits a holiday table.
How do I keep mashed sweet potatoes from turning gluey?
Pulse the food processor, do not run it continuously. Sweet potatoes carry enough starch that over-processing breaks it down and turns the mash sticky and elastic. Short pulses until the mixture just comes together and looks like mashed potatoes is all you want. If you prefer more texture, a hand masher gives you a rustic result and makes the gluey problem almost impossible.
Can I make mashed sweet potatoes without cilantro?
Yes. The cilantro goes into the processor rather than on top, and its job is to add a bright, slightly citrusy note that keeps a bowl of sweet orange mash from tasting one-dimensional. If cilantro tastes like soap to you, flat-leaf parsley does the same structural work. You can also leave it out entirely and lean savory instead with kosher salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Can I make mashed sweet potatoes ahead of time?
Yes, and they store well. Let the dish cool completely first, since sealing warm food creates condensation and watery mash. Refrigerated in an airtight container they keep about four days. To freeze, use a freezer-safe container with headroom at the top for expansion, label it with the date, and use within three months. Reheat gently over low heat with a splash of water or plant-based milk to loosen the texture back up.
How do I make this mashed sweet potato recipe vegan?
Swap the honey for maple syrup in equal measure. Everything else in the recipe is already plant-based: the fat is olive oil rather than butter, and there is no cream or milk anywhere in it. Maple syrup is thinner than honey and reads a little more woodsy against the pumpkin pie spice, but the dish holds together exactly the same way.
