What Are White Sweet Potatoes And How Do You Cook With Them?

Most of us are familiar with the fall-favorite vegetable that is the sweet potato. During the cozy autumn months, this treat gets baked into all kinds of yummy dishes, such as sweet potato casserole and sweet potato pie. While these recipes usually entail your classic, orange sweet potatoes, that's actually not the only kind of sweet potato out there. Another sweet potato that you may not have heard of before is the white sweet potato.

White sweet potatoes are a variety of sweet potato that have golden-colored skin and white flesh. They have a mild, nutty flavor somewhat similar to that of an orange sweet potato. Here's a deeper breakdown of white sweet potatoes are and what makes them different from orange sweet potatoes. Plus, we have a few ways that you can cook with white sweet potatoes if you decide to pick some up at your local supermarket.

Sweet potatoes, in general, have fewer calories than regular potatoes as well as slightly less protein. At the same time, they have a higher sugar content. However, when it comes to orange and white sweet potatoes and their differences, the differences are a little more subtle.

Although white sweet potatoes are related to orange sweet potatoes, they're not one and the same. For one thing, white sweet potatoes contain less beta carotene. Beta carotene is what gives orange sweet potatoes their color and is a chemical that your body can turn into vitamin A (from Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health).

In terms of taste and texture, white sweet potatoes are also drier than orange sweet potatoes. They're not quite as sweet as your standard orange sweet potato. However, they do have the same long shape as orange sweet potatoes, even though their skin and flesh are a lighter color. The result is that their qualities sit somewhere between your standard brown potatoes and an orange sweet potato.

Now that you've got a better idea of what white sweet potatoes are, let's talk about how to actually cook with them. White sweet potatoes are a versatile ingredient, and just like orange sweet potatoes, can be cooked in several different ways.

One way to cook white sweet potatoes is to mash them. To make this recipe, clean and peel 2 pounds of white sweet potatoes, chop them into chunks, and boil them until they're soft. Then, drain the potatoes and add them to a mixing bowl. Toss in 2 tablespoons of butter, 1 head of roasted garlic, ¼ cup of milk, and ½ teaspoon of salt and mash everything together. If you want, you can top the dish with sliced green onions as a garnish.

Other ways to cook white sweet potatoes include turning them into air fryer sweet potato fries, subbing them for orange sweet potatoes in a sweet potato casserole, roasting them, baking them, or turning them into a sweet potato salad. Head to your grocery store, pick up a back of these tubers, and get ready to start exploring the wonderful world of white sweet potato!