As much as I love my original Sweet Potato Cornbread recipe, I love this savory Hatch Chile Sweet Potato Cornbread even more.
I love Hatch chile season because the grocery stores in New Orleans roast the fresh peppers just outside the front doors of the store, leaving the most deliciously smoky pepper aroma in the air. It’s really irresistible. They sell the peppers already roasted, but at only $0.69/lb. for fresh peppers, I decided to just roast my own in the oven using the oven’s broiler. If you don’t have Hatch chiles available in your area, you can substitute two 4oz. cans of diced green chiles to get a similar effect in this cornbread.
The original Sweet Potato Cornbread recipe is fairly sweet, so for this chile version I reduced the sugar by half, skipped the sweet spices, and added some green onions. The finished cornbread is so good that I’ve been eating a slice for every meal. It goes really well with fried eggs in the morning!
…Also, I can’t help thinking how good cheddar cheese would be with this. Either sprinkled on top or mixed into the batter. Mmmm cheeeeese.
Oh, and don’t forget to make a big pot of homemade chili to go with your cornbread! :)
Hatch Chile Sweet Potato Cornbread
Servings 8Ingredients
- 1/2 lb. fresh Hatch chiles (about 3 peppers) ($0.34)
- 1 sweet potato (3/4 to 1 lb.) ($0.97)
- 1.5 cups yellow cornmeal ($0.36)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour ($0.13)
- 1/4 cup sugar ($0.20)
- 1 Tbsp baking powder ($0.12)
- 1 tsp salt ( $0.05)
- 2 large eggs ($0.54)
- 1/2 cup sour cream ($0.58)
- 3/4 cup milk ($0.23)
- 3 Tbsp cooking oil, divided* ($0.06)
- 2-3 green onions, sliced ($0.17)
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with foil. Pour 1 Tbsp cooking oil into a small dish, dip your fingers into the oil, then rub the outside of the Hatch chiles with oil until they’re evenly coated. Save the rest of the 1 Tbsp of oil to coat the skillet.
- Place the peppers on the baking sheet. Adjust your oven rack so that the top of the peppers will be about 6 inches from the broiler, turn the broiler on to high, and place the peppers in the oven. Broil the peppers, turning them occasionally, until they are blackened on all sides (10-15 minutes).
- Once the peppers have charred on the outside, remove them from the oven and place an upside down bowl over the peppers to trap the steam. Let them cool under the bowl for about 10 minutes. Once cool enough to touch, peel back the skin of the peppers, cut off the stem, open the peppers lengthwise, and scrape out the seeds. Chop the remaining roasted pepper flesh and set aside.
- While the peppers are roasting, peel the sweet potato and cut it into 1/2 inch cubes. Place the cubes in a small pot, cover with water, place a lid on top, and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Let the sweet potatoes boil until very tender (about 7 minutes). Drain the potatoes then mash until mostly smooth. Set the mashed sweet potatoes aside.
- Coat the inside of a 10-inch cast iron skillet with the leftover oil from coating the peppers. Place the skillet in the oven and preheat to 425ºF.
- While the oven and skillet are preheating, stir together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together 1.5 cups of the mashed sweet potato, eggs, sour cream, milk, and 2 Tbsp of cooking oil until smooth.
- Pour the bowl of wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients, then stir just until combined and no dry flour remains on the bottom of the bowl. Add the chopped green chiles and sliced green onions, then gently fold until they’re incorporated into the batter.
- Carefully take the preheated skillet out of the oven and pour in the cornbread batter. Smooth the top of the batter, then return the skillet to the oven. Bake the cornbread for 22-26 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and cracked around the edges. Slice the cornbread into eight pieces and serve.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Green Chile Sweet Potato Cornbread – Step by Step Photos
To roast the fresh Hatch chiles in your oven, line a baking sheet with foil. Pour 1 Tbsp cooking oil into a small dish, dip your fingers into the dish, then rub the oil over the surface of the peppers (save the rest of the oil to coat the skillet). Adjust your oven rack so that the peppers will be about 6 inches from the broiler, turn the broiler on to high, then place the peppers in the oven. Broil the peppers, turning them occasionally, until they’re blacked on all sides. Total broiling time depends on your broiler, but probably about 10-15 minutes. Keep a close eye on them. Once out of the oven, cover them with an upside down bowl to trap the steam. This helps the skin separate from the pepper. After about ten minutes and peel off the skins.
Cut off the stem ends of the peppers, open the peppers lengthwise, and then scrape out the seeds. Finally, chop the chiles. If you don’t want to roast them yourself, you can use two 4oz. cans of diced green chiles in their place.
While the chiles are roasting, you can begin to prepare the sweet potato. Use one 3/4 to 1 lb. sweet potato. Peel the potato and cut it into 1/2 inch cubes.
Place the cubed sweet potatoes in a small pot, cover with water, and place a lid on top. Bring the pot up to a boil over high heat. Boil the potatoes until they are VERY tender (about 7 minutes), then drain.
Mash the sweet potatoes until they’re fairly smooth and set them aside.
Use the remainder of the 1 Tbsp cooking oil in the dish (from the peppers) to coat a 10-inch cast iron skillet. Place the skillet in the oven and preheat to 425ºF.
While the oven and skillet are heating, stir together 1.5 cups yellow cornmeal, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp baking powder, and 1 tsp salt in a large bowl. Make sure they’re very well combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together 1.5 cups of the mashed sweet potato (it’s okay if you have slightly less as it can be hard to estimate how much you’ll get out of the original potato), 2 large eggs, 1/2 cup sour cream, 3/4 cup milk, and the remaining 2 Tbsp cooking oil. Whisk these ingredients together until they’re fairly smooth. There will likely be a few small clumps due to the sweet potato.
Pour the whisked wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir them together just until they are combined and no dry flour remains in the bottom of the bowl. Do not over stir.
Add the diced Hatch chiles and 2-3 sliced green onions. Fold the chiles and onions into the batter.
Carefully take the preheated skillet out of the oven, pour in the cornbread batter, and smooth out the top. Return the skillet to the oven and bake for 22-26 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and cracked around the edges.
Like this. OMG. A little butter on top doesn’t hurt…
Slice the Hatch Chile Sweet Potato Cornbread into eight pieces and serve.
That slice had NO chance at survival.
Hi there, LOVED your original sweet potato cornbread and can’t wait to try this updated version with the chilies and onions! I unfortunately do not have a skillet to bake this in; could I use a glass pan instead? Would I need to change cooking time/temperature? Thanks!
Yep, you sure can! You’ll probably want a 9×9-inch dish. Keep the same cooking temperature and the time shouldn’t change much, but it’s always a good idea to keep an eye on it because ovens can vary, so just take it out when it’s golden brown and a little cracked on top. :)
This looks like a great recipe and I will definitely try it. But I will use Pueblo chiles rather than Hatch chiles because they are better, IMO.
Ha to each their own! :)
hi,
from hamburg, germany
we don’t normally eat cornbread around here – but this recipe is great !!!
just had some fresh out of the oven and love it.
i used polenta instead of cornmeal and normal peppers and spiced it with some dried chillies.
thank you for the recipe :)
susanne
I’m glad you liked it!! :D
So when can I expect a rellenos recipe? ;) Not rellenos casserole, real rellenos in a somewhat easy to follow recipe.
You’re lucky to be able to buy small quantities pre-roasted in grocery stores! Most places around here (North Central NM) will only roast your chile if you purchase a whole sack. They weigh around 25 pounds and cost anywhere from $15 to $30, so the price is excellent, but it’s more aimed at families and/or the green chile aficionado who buys five or more and uses it as an all purpose condiment (I’m not joking) than the single person who occasionally cooks with it.
Granted, we have a lot more chile options. I don’t think they ship all five heat levels of Hatch fresh to other states, and finding specific varieties of chile is pretty darn easy here. The only one I have yet to locate is Padron, aka Spanish Roulette. It’s traditional to pick them when they’re about 2″ long (still very green), roast them in hot olive oil, and serve them hot with salt. As many as 95% are wimpy like Pepperoncini, but a few are closer in heat to a Jalapeno or even a Serrano, and they all look the same.
I would like to be added to your email list. I will be making the Balsamic Chicken Skillet, Marinated Beans, and Hatch Chile Sweet Potato Cornbread for dinner for my Wife. I am sure she will enjoy.
LOVE Hatch season–and really miss all of my years in Austin when every restaurant featured wonderful dishes with these mild and delicious chilies. Fortunately, even on the east coast, grocery stores have them in stock, although in my area they only seem to import the hotter ones. It’s all good–I balance them half and half with milder Anaheims.
How do you store the cornbread to keep it fresh? I’m single and it always ends up getting hard and dry before I can even eat half of it.
I make sure to let it cool to room temperature completely first, then keep it in a ziploc bag in the fridge. I reheat in the microwave. :)
I can not do sweet potato. what can I change in the recipe to omit the sweet potato?
You could try butternut squash, or just try adding the Hatch chiles and green onion to a regular cornbread, like my Everyday Cornbread.
Oh, this knocks cornbread out of the park.
This looks great!I love cornbread and hatch chiles. I just started seeing the Hatch chiles at the market. I am Vegan so I will try veganizing with almond milk and flax egg.
I’m curious to know how your vegan experiment turns out!
This looks really good. Even up here in WA state we get fresh Hatch chiles at this time of year.