Crispy, Creamy, and Perfectly Cozy: The Sweet Potato Dishes to Make This Fall

These sweet potato recipes, including soups, stews, and desserts, prove that sweet potatoes can do it all.

By
Mimi Young
Mimi Young
Mimi Young
Editor
Mimi Young is an editor and pastry chef. She has also curated and written numerous recipe roundups for Serious Eats.
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Updated October 29, 2025
Roasted sweet potato cheesecake.

Serious Eats / Debbie Wee

OK, I admit that I can get pretty lazy when cooking sweet potatoes. More often than not, I roast them in my air fryer. But come fall—and well into winter, when sweet potatoes are at their best—I start buying them by the bagful and working them into everything I cook, including curries and pancakes. If you're anything like me, you could probably use some inspiration to expand your sweet potato repertoire. That's where the following recipes come in. They include rich, satisfying, vegetable-forward soups and stews; crispy, gluten-free latkes; tender, flaky biscuits; and even a sumptuous cheesecake. With such a wide array of options, you'll be happily eating sweet potatoes at every meal.

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  • Vegan Peanut, Sweet Potato, and Kale Soup With Coconut Recipe

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    Serious Eats / J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

    Inspired by the peanutty flavor of West African maafe (or groundnut soup), this vegan rendition takes an aromatic detour through Thailand with garlic, ginger, cilantro, chiles, turmeric, and scallions. Browning the coconut milk solids and toasting—then hand-grinding—peanuts into a chunky paste provides a rich depth of flavor. Sweet potatoes and kale bring sweetness and texture, making this soup a hearty meal that's delicious served over rice.

  • Vegan Sweet Potato and 2-Bean Chili With Hominy

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    Serious Eats / J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

    Toasted dried ancho, pasilla, and arbol chiles, along with canned chipotles in adobo sauce, build the foundation for a well-balanced chili, layered with sweet, smoky, and fruity notes. Soy sauce, Marmite, and tomatoes bring umami, while sweet potatoes add a tender, creamy sweetness, and hominy a nice chewy bite—giving this hearty vegan stew depth and complexity.

  • Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Latkes

    Three crispy sweet potato latkes on a ceramic plate alongside apple sauce and sour cream.

    Serious Eats / Julia Estrada

    I love all varieties of potato latkes, but sweet potato latkes—much like sweet potato fries—just hit different, with their wonderful burnt-sugar notes from the fried, crispy edges. Be sure to wring out as much liquid as possible so you start with well-dried shredded potatoes. A bonus of replacing all-purpose flour with rice flour, which absorbs less oil, is that the latkes aren't only gluten-free, but also crispier and crunchier.

  • Spiced Sweet Potato, Carrot, and Acorn Squash Latkes

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    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    Liven up your latkes with a combination of sweet potato, carrot, and acorn squash, which add nuanced flavor and different textures. Freshly grated ginger, along with smoky paprika, cumin, and coriander, brings a little heat and spice to complement the distinctively sweet flavors.

    Continue to 5 of 11 below

  • Sweet Potato Pancakes

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    Serious Eats / J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

    Why bother reheating leftover mashed sweet potatoes when you can turn them into tender pancakes for breakfast? This recipe is incredibly easy to put together—just a few pantry staples, plus melted butter, eggs, and milk. Sour cream adds tang to balance and complement the sweetness of the sweet potatoes and maple syrup.

  • The Best Sweet Potato Biscuits

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    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    No buttermilk? Not a problem when you've got sweet potatoes at your disposal. Thinning sweet potato purée with some milk provides just the right amount of hydration to make the dough easy to handle and keeps the biscuits nice and light. For nicely crisp bottoms, bake the biscuits in a cast iron skillet.

  • Sweet Potato, Sage, and Fried Egg Tacos

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    Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. Video: Serious Eats Video.

    The simplest ingredients often make the tastiest breakfast tacos. Here, it's high-quality store-bought tortillas, well-seasoned pan-fried sweet potatoes with fresh sage, and a runny fried egg. Finish them off with a drizzle of crema and hot sauce, a few radish slices, some chopped cilantro, and a squeeze of lime.

  • Arugula, Sweet Potato, and Walnut Salad With Dashi "Vinaigrette"

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    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    A shoyu-based dashi dressing brings a uniquely smoky, salty, and savory flavor that pairs beautifully with the peppery bite of arugula, the earthiness of sweet potatoes, and the subtle bitterness of fragrant toasted walnuts.

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  • Hobak Beombeok (Korean Squash, Sweet Potato, and Bean Porridge)

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    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    Chunks of cooked sweet potatoes, along with chestnuts and tender adzuki and kidney beans, add a delightful mix of textures to this warming porridge. It's worth seeking out small, purplish-skinned, white-fleshed Korean sweet potatoes, which are denser, drier, and often sweeter than American varieties, and have a creamier, fluffier texture when cooked. More commonly available varieties like Garnet and Jewel, however, will work fine.

  • Silky Sweet Potato Pie

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    Photograph and video: Vicky Wasik

    Cooked sweet potatoes are naturally rich and creamy, and need little more than a pinch of salt to enhance their deliciousness. In this luxurious sweet potato pie, we dial back the spices, using just a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg to let the sweet potato take center stage. The alkalinity of the cinnamon also helps prevent the vanilla bean-infused milk from curdling as it simmers with the sweet potato.

  • Sweet Potato Cheesecake

    Roasted sweet potato cheesecake.

    Serious Eats / Debbie Wee

    The inherent creaminess and caramel notes of sweet potatoes make them ideal for an autumn cheesecake like this statuesque version drenched in a maple-walnut caramel sauce. Blitzing the roasted sweet potatoes and cream cheese in a food processor ensures a silky-smooth texture. Adding Lyle's Golden Syrup to the sauce prevents it from crystallizing, and underscores the rich, buttery notes in the dairy.

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