Smothered Sweet Potatoes
These bites of delight are the perfect balance of sweet and savory. My mom would grace our tables with them for those infamous Sunday night dinners and holidays. They’ve always been one of my favorite dishes.
If you don’t believe me how good they are, I once made them for a work potluck and they requested them for every potluck after that.
I texted my mom to confirm the name of this dish and what I ended up doing was opening a whole can of worms. She sent me a photo of the recipe and it’s called Smothered Potatoes French Style from Southern Spice a La Microwave by Margie Brignac. The OG recipe calls for white potatoes (my mom has always used sweet potatoes), but some kind of way I mistakenly omitted green onions and added garlic. I’ve made them this way since 2012. At this point, I think we can say that recipe was the inspiration and I am a confused soul.
Besides the sweet potatoes being easy and delicious, they’re versatile in how you cook them which makes them perfect for large meals when an oven or stove is in high demand. My mom cooks them in the microwave, and I cook them in the oven. On occasion I have been known to cook them in a frying pan.
Smothered Sweet Potatoes Ingredients
1 ½ lb sweet potatoes
1 c chopped onion
2 tsp minced garlic
⅓ tsp salt
½ tsp coarse ground black pepper
3 Tbl olive oil
Smothered Sweet Potatoes Directions
Preheat the oven to 400.
Slice the sweet potatoes around the equator to make ⅓” thick rounds. Cut the rounds into ⅓” strips and then squares (some triangles).
Put the sweet potatoes on a ½ sheet tray with 1 chopped onion, 2 tsp minced garlic, ⅓ tsp salt, ½ tsp coarse ground black pepper, and 3 Tbl olive oil. Mix it with your hands until the seasonings are evenly distributed.
Spread the mixture into a single layer. The pan should be crowded. Put it in the oven for about 25-30 minutes. The potatoes will be tender when they are finished. They will not be brown.
Notes
When roasting vegetables, I usually say to make sure they have plenty of space. These potatoes are “smothered” so we aren’t trying to get them brown.
