This sweet potato jalapeño mash is so flavor-packed. Baked sweet potatoes blended with butter, cream, smoky, charred jalapeños and a touch of maple syrup.

I’ve been obsessing about this sweet potato jalapeño mash for a whole blessed week.

Last Friday, Pat and I went to a nearby restaurant with our life-long friends to celebrate my dear friend Nichole’s birthday. The restaurant is in the city’s old fire station. The menu reflects the vibe and theme of the fire hall with killer appetizers, three kinds of chili, wood-fire grilled steaks and a beer list that would make your mouth drop. While waiting for our table we had some adult beverages downstairs in their lounge/bar area, talked and I obsessed about their reliable decor. Who wouldn’t want a sheet metal wrapped coffee table or nickel (as in 5¢) floors in their house?

When we were finally seated, the main seating area smelled of wood smoke and the sun was shining right through the old fire hall garage doors… lighting up the entire place. Maybe it was my slight beer buzz I had going on, but it was pretty magical-angels-singing-moment. I ordered the fire-grilled steak with a couple of sides, one of which was their creamy sweet potatoes. They came in this little dish, piping hot and smelling memorable. I honestly did not expect the infatuation that washed over me with every single bite that entered my mouth, I was even tempted to lick the inside of the dish. However, I went the lady-like route and used my finger to wipe it clean. I can’t believe I only admitted that.

So like any food obsessed blogger I simply had to make them.

This dish is truly simple, few ingredients but entirely mind blowing. Seeing jalapeño in the title I entirely expected spice. There is none. The seeds and ribs of the jalapeño are removed and all you have is a subtle, smoky jalapeño flavor. The rest is a golden, buttery and creamy sweet potato mash with only a touch of sweetness from maple syrup.

This sweet potato recipe is deeply good, I actually stood in the center of my kitchen and ate a bowl like it was ice cream. For real.

For this Sweet Potato Jalapeño Mash Gather:

sweet potatoes
jalapeno
butter
maple syrup
heavy cream
kosher salt

To start, I scrubbed 4 medium sweet potatoes and aligned them onto a rimmed sheet pan.

I baked them in a 375 degree oven for one hour or until a knife pierces the flesh easily meeting zero resistance.

Once the potatoes are roasted, let them cool until they are cool enough to handle. Then slice them open and peeled off their skins.

While the potatoes were roasting, I fired up my grill and charred 1 large jalapeño over medium heat until blistered and charred.

Then only throw it into a bowl, cover it tightly with plastic wrap and let it chill out for 10 minutes or so. The steam works its way under the skin separating it from the flesh of the pepper and thus, making it straightforward to peel. Peel, remove the seeds and ribs, then simply dice pretty small.

Throw the peeled sweet potatoes into a large bowl…

And give it a good mashing. For a smoother consistency, you could blend it in a food processor. I like it chunky {and I like not dirtying my food processor} so I opted to hand mash.

Throw in three tablespoons of salted butter…

1 tablespoon of pure maple syrup…

And pour in a 1/2 cup of heavy cream.

Stir until the cream is throughout the sweet potatoes and they’re lighter in color.

Throw in the diced jalapeño…

Season with a 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, stir and that is it. The cold cream will bring down the temperature of the sweet potatoes a tad, so you can heat these back up in a saucepan until hot.

It’s kind of hard making an orange mash speckled with green look good. So I didn’t even try. I only plopped it into a bowl and there it was.

Then I grabbed a spoon and went at’em.

I TRULY hope you try this sweet potato jalapeño mash. I’m bursting at the seams with adoration for this mash. It’s too simple to be so darn good! But alas it is. Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s 10:41 pm, I’m hungry and there are leftovers in the fridge calling my name.