Sweet Potato Pancakes Made With Leftover Mashed Sweet Potatoes Recipe

By
J. Kenji López-Alt
Kenji Lopez Alt
J. Kenji López-Alt
Culinary Consultant
Kenji is the former culinary director for Serious Eats and a current culinary consultant for the site. He is also a New York Times food columnist and the author of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science.
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Updated August 29, 2018
More maple syrup being poured over a stack of sweet potato pancakes on a white plate with a fork next to a glass of orange juice.
J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

Why It Works

  • A combination of sour cream and milk gives a stronger, tangier flavor than plain buttermilk, which contrasts nicely with the sweetness of the sweet potatoes.
  • Baking powder helps the pancakes rise, while baking soda improves browning.
  • Leftover sweet potatoes get new life by turning into the star of the breakfast table.

So you've read all about the science of sweet potatoes and how to use their endogenous enzymes to make them extra-sweet and flavorful without the need to add much extra sugar to them. Yet, for some odd reason, there are still leftovers the day after Thanksgiving.* What do you do with them?

*If you're like me, then that odd reason is that the formula for the amount of food you make is always 1.5X+2, where X is the number of guests you are expecting.

Mashed sweet potatoes (and mashed regular potatoes) are tough to reheat without losing their creamy texture or worse, scorching them and winding up with a sticky mess on the bottom of your pan. Instead, why not turn them into moist and tender sweet potato pancakes for breakfast? The recipe is super quick and easy, made 100% from pantry staples, and is great enough that even my wife—no lover of standard pancakes herself—declared them delicious. I may have dug myself into a hole here, as I'm certain that I'll be required to pull out this recipe now and then even when I don't have leftover sweet potatoes.

It's not far off from a traditional pancake batter. Mashed sweet potatoes, eggs, a dash of maple syrup, and some melted butter form the base of the wet ingredients. Instead of buttermilk, I like to use a mixture of regular milk and sour cream for extra tang without having to thin out the texture of the batter too much (of course, if you've got buttermilk on hand, it'll work just fine). To this, I whisk in flour, baking powder (for rise), baking soda (for better browning), and a pinch each of salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

They cook up in a few minutes in a hot buttered griddle.

Ready for some gratuitous pancakes-with-syrup shots? Here you go:

Maple syrup being poured over a stack of sweet potato pancakes on a white plate with a fork next to a glass of orange juice.
More maple syrup being poured over a stack of sweet potato pancakes on a white plate with a fork next to a glass of orange juice.
Even more maple syrup being poured over a stack of sweet potato pancakes on a white plate with a fork next to a glass of orange juice.

Now, I don't know about you, but this seems like a particularly fine stack to pour syrup on the morning after Thanksgiving (or any fall morning, for that matter).

Hands with a fork and knife cutting into a stack of sweet potato pancakes with maple syrup.

We still get a pass on calorie counting and reasonably-sized portions on the morning after Thanksgiving, right? Right!?

Recipe Details

Sweet Potato Pancakes Made With Leftover Mashed Sweet Potatoes Recipe

Active 20 mins
Total 20 mins
Serves 2 to 3 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups leftover mashed sweet potatoes

  • 1/2 cup sour cream

  • 3/4 cup milk

  • 1 large egg

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup, plus more for serving

  • 4 tablespoons butter, divided

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour

  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

  • Pinch nutmeg

  • Pinch cinnamon

Directions

  1. In a medium bowl, combine sweet potatoes, sour cream, milk, egg, and maple syrup. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in the microwave or in a small saucepan and add to mixture. Whisk until homogenous.

  2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add wet ingredients to dry and whisk until just combined (do not overmix).

  3. Melt 1 tablespoon remaining butter in a large skillet over medium heat and swirl to coat pan. Add four 1/4-cup batches of batter, using the back of a ladle to smooth them out into 4-inch disks. Cook, swirling gently on occasion, until the first side is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Carefully flip and cook until browned on second side and pancakes are puffed, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer to a plate set in a warm oven and repeat until all pancakes are cooked. Serve immediately with extra maple syrup.

    A stack of sweet potato pancakes on a white plate with a fork next to a glass of orange juice and a pitcher of maple syrup.

Notes

This recipe requires 1 1/4 cups of leftover mashed sweet potatoes. The recipe can easily be doubled or tripled for a larger group. 1 1/4 cups of buttermilk can be used in place of the milk and sour cream.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
593Calories
32gFat
67gCarbs
11gProtein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 2 to 3
Amount per serving
Calories593
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 32g41%
Saturated Fat 19g94%
Cholesterol 146mg49%
Sodium 594mg26%
Total Carbohydrate 67g24%
Dietary Fiber 3g10%
Total Sugars 24g
Protein 11g
Vitamin C 9mg43%
Calcium 265mg20%
Iron 3mg16%
Potassium 435mg9%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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