I’ve been dying to post this all week because these Sweet Potato Corn Cakes are SOOO good and I just know that you’ll love them as much as I do… and if you don’t, I might be forced to ask myself what is wrong with you.
These are “every bite is better than the last one” good. They’re so good that they make you wonder why other food even exists when flavors this bright and vibrant are possible.
…and thats what I was thinking when eating the reheated leftovers a minute ago. So, can you imagine how good they were fresh? Probably not. It’s unimaginable. You have to experience it.
Anyway, enough gushing. Onto the important stuff.
First – This recipe makes a HUGE batch, so feel free to half it. I wouldn’t suggest trying to half a raw egg, instead just add more than half breadcrumbs (probably 3/4 cup) to make up for the extra moisture.
Second – These sweet potato corn cakes are fried. You’ll just have to accept that. I tried to bake some and they were horrid. Dry, poor texture, just not good. If you’re brave enough to try baking them yourself and actually have success, please share your technique… because I just couldn’t make it work.
Third – I demand that you to try these.
Sweet Potato Corn Cakes with Garlic Dipping Sauce
Sweet Potato Corn Cakes with Garlic Dipping Sauce
Servings 10 about 3 cakes eachIngredients
- 3 lbs sweet potatoes ($3.17)
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels ($0.30)
- 2 green onions ($0.19)
- 1/4 bunch cilantro, divided ($0.21)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.02)
- 1 tsp cumin ($0.05)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1 large egg ($0.25)
- 1/3 cup yellow cornmeal ($0.19)
- 1 cup plain breadcrumbs ($0.50)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil for frying ($0.43)
- 1 cup plain yogurt ($0.55)
- 1 clove garlic ($0.08)
Instructions
- Begin by cooking the sweet potatoes. The fastest way to do this is in the microwave. Prick the skin of each potato with a fork. Wrap one potato in a paper towel, place it on a plate, and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Carefully remove it from the microwave, squeeze it to make sure it’s soft in the center, and the allow it cool as you cook the next one. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them open and scoop the flesh into a large bowl.
- Slice the green onions and roughly chop a handful of cilantro (about 1/8th of a bunch). Add the green onions, cilantro, frozen corn kernels, salt, cumin, and cayenne pepper to the bowl with the cooked sweet potatoes. Stir until well combined. You can taste it at this point and adjust the seasoning as desired.
- Add the breadcrumbs, cornmeal, and egg to the bowl. These ingredients will bind the mixture together and keep it from falling apart while cooking. Stir until evenly combined. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the breadcrumbs to absorb moisture.
- While the sweet potato mixture is refrigerating, mix up the garlic sauce. In a small bowl combine the yogurt, one clove of well minced garlic, and a handful of cilantro leaves (roughly chopped). Stir until combined and then refrigerate until ready to serve.
- After the sweet potato mixture has refrigerated, it’s time to cook. Add enough vegetable oil to fully cover the bottom of a medium skillet. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until the surface appears wavy (if it begins to smoke, remove it from the burner immediately and turn down the heat). Shape the sweet potato mixture into small patties (about 2-3 Tbsp each) and cook about 4 at a time in the hot oil. Cook until golden brown on each side; about 2 minutes per side. After cooking, place on a paper towel covered plate to drain. Add more oil to the skillet as needed.
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Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Serve warm with the garlic yogurt dipping sauce.
Step By Step Photos
Start by pricking the skin of each sweet potato to allow steam to escape as they cook. No one wants to clean exploded sweet potato out of their microwave.
Wrap one potato in a paper towel and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Carefully squeeze it to make sure it’s soft in the center and then cook the next one. I used one paper towel for all four sweet potatoes.
They’ll be super hot when they come out of the microwave, so let them cool just a bit before cutting into them. Slice it open and scoop out the cooked flesh.
Place the cooked sweet potato in a bowl and add the frozen corn kernels (they’ll help cool the sweet potato the rest of the way), sliced green onions, roughly chopped cilantro, salt, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Stir it all together.
Now it’s time to add the binders. I used one egg, 1/3 cup of cornmeal (it helps bind and gives more texture than just breadcrumbs) and one cup of breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs are not in the picture (don’t ask). Stir it all together and then refrigerate for 30 minutes.
While the sweet potato mix is refrigerating, make the garlic yogurt sauce. Finely mince a clove of garlic and roughly chop another handful of cilantro. Stir those into a cup of plain yogurt. You can add a pinch of salt if you’d like. Refrigerate the sauce until you’re ready to serve.
After the mixture has chilled, it’s time to cook. Take about 2 Tbsp of sweet potato mix and shape it into a small patty. My mixture was still pretty wet/sticky, but it was shape-able.
Heat some vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. You want the oil to be quite hot before adding the cakes. It should look wavy on the surface. You can take a pinch of the sweet potato mixture and add it to the skillet to test it. It should sizzle heavily. Add about four patties to the skillet and cook until deep golden brown on one side, then flip.
Cook on the other side in the same manner. It should only take about two minutes per side. Try not to make your patties too thick otherwise the inside won’t heat through before the outside browns. About a half inch thick is good.
Place the cooked sweet potato cakes on a paper towel lined plate and cook the next batch. Add more oil as needed, always allowing it to heat up before adding more sweet potato cakes.
Why, hello there little warm, delicious sweet potato corn cakes…
Oh I love sweet potatoes. I just made some this past weekend. Check out my version (Indian spiced) at http://www.recipris.com. Love your blog btw! I’m going to try this garlic yogurt dip, yum!
…had some sweet potatoes that needed to be eaten ASAP (they were starting to sprout!), so I made these tonight. I didn’t want to buy cornmeal, so I just used extra breadcrumbs. For more flavor (and because I believe onions make everything better), I chopped & sauteed a vidalia onion and threw that into the mix as well.
Also, i had a few roasted garlic cloves that I substituted in the sauce.. made with plain greek yogurt.
it turned out fabulous! I only cooked 2 patties and then portioned & froze my extra mix.
Thanks for sharing such a tasty recipe.
These look so delicious! I am making them ASAP – I love sweet potatoes and am always looking for ways to make my husband like them too.
These are awesome! I made a batch one Sunday and took a few on a bed of spinach, plus some dressing on the side, each day that week for lunch. They held up surprisingly well. And they made for a hearty lunch. Thanks for sharing!
I made these to accompany chicken in a red curry sauce with broccoli and they were like a better/healthier version on a samosa! I didn’t have any cornmeal on hand so I used more breadcrumb, I can see how the cornmeal would be a better binding agent, but they still came out great. I also didn’t have any plain yogurt on hand so I used some fat free small curd cottage cheese with excellent results. I’ll be making these again.
I think any kind of beans (or peas this time of year in the South) would be good, but a big salad might be even better.
tmacalmon – Yellow Jasmine Rice would be really good with this, and maybe some seasoned black beans?
Anyone have any ideas for side dishes for this? I am at a loss.
Aisha – I think they probably would freeze pretty good, but they’re pretty sticky when raw so you might need to freeze them between two sheets of wax paper or something to keep them from sticking.
Do you think these would turn out okay if you froze them raw? I’ve loved a lot of your other recipes for the convenience of freezing them and being able to make them later when I want more
OMG! That’s it!
I just made these and they were delicious! I don’t like to fry things so I browned them in a pan with cooking spray for about 3 mins/side and then finished them off in the toaster oven. SO yummy!
Update: For the leftovers, I tossed arugula in a little lime juice & olive oil, then put the sweet potato cake with some of the garlic sauce on top. Amazing.
I just made these and they were delicious! I don’t like to fry things so I browned them in a pan with cooking spray for about 3 mins/side and then finished them off in the toaster oven. SO yummy!
Just made these tonight for my Mom’s 50th B-day. Made them as the main dish & we were seriously scraping the plate for more. Unbelievable. THANK YOU for introducing us to this amazing recipe.
Yum! So good. I used all cornmeal and omitted the breadcrumbs. I used red onion instead of spring onions cause that is what I had on hand. And I used hot smoked paprika instead of cayenne (1 tsp.) cause it makes everything taste yummy.
Thanks