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.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
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…
Made this today & they were delish! I didn’t have clinatro on hand but they still came out yummy. I believe the breadcrumbs setting is probably the most important part of this dish. This recipe is printed and will be in my rotation. PS. I didn’t fry in veggie oil. I don’t use veggie oil..I used olive & it turned out great.
Made these, love these. So yummy and a nice texture. Thanks for the recipe, I know I will make these often!
These were so delicious! I’ve never been a fan of sweet potatoes, but this looked savory enough that I though I’d give it a try. It was my first time cooking with sweet potatoes and I’m so glad I did! I made it vegan by using a flax egg and coconut milk yogurt for the sauce, also used coconut oil for frying. So good, thanks for a great recipe!
Oh, and I served it with your coconut rice recipe take 2, went great together!
great idea with the coconut oil. I will try this next time
Delicious. Crispy on the outside smooth on the inside. The corn and onion and cilantro all play well together and just when you think it doesn’t need anything the yogurt sauce finish it off. :) definitely shape the patties small and by hand. I used pinko and had to add extra due to the size of my sweet potatoes. Also used coconut oil for frying. Will be repeating this often.
These are so delicious!!!
So the thing I hate the most is when someone goes love the recipe but I did this different and this different blah blah, because recipes should always be tried first the way you saw them, then adjust. However, I’m gonna be one of those people. Only because I like the idea of it, and I had one little sweet potatoes and russet potatoes. Its make what you got in the house week.
So I cooked my iddy biddy sweet potato and russet potatoes in microwave for 20 minutes till they were soft. And of course I had no corn *sigh*…please note this recipe looks and sounds amazing and I will try your idea….anyway, I cut carrot up really small, and regular onion, I managed all the spices YAY! I added some grated Parmesan because russets can have a bland taste and I did have to add more seasoning. And for my dip of course no yogurt but I had sour cream, garlic a little bit of mayo and crumbled feta. Turned out great! While I couldn’t make yours this evening I appreciate your idea and will make yours properly when I have the ingredients on hand, thank you :)
Alright….I guess I’ll challenge it and let you know how it goes lol wish me luck! Yikes! I’m making them with your honey spice chicken thighs.
My husband and I are trying the “use what’s in the house” and I have one sweet potatoe and russet potatoes, what are your thoughts on mixing the two potatoes? I would love to try it but not sure if russet potatoes would be to dry?
Hmm, I just can’t imagine how that would taste. I don’t think there will be a problem with it being too dry, though.
I only have Greek yogurt sour cream. Could I use that instead of plain yogurt?
Yep! The Greek yogurt would work best.
I’m not a big garlic fan… do you have any other sauce ideas that would go with these really well?
I really can’t wait to try them, I LOVE sweet potatoes and these sound fantastic.
Maybe just a cumin-lime sauce. Try mixing a touch of lemon juice, some ground cumin, and salt into the yogurt (or maybe even sour cream).
Just made these and they are SO good! This recipe makes tons – I halved it and got 15 decent size cakes.
We don’t have too many stores selling sweet potatoes nearby, but have many homegrown Okinawan sweet potatoes (the purple ones) Do you think they are too sweet to use with this recipe?
Hmm, I’m not sure! I’ve never tasted one of those before. :)
I want to make these for a wedding reception, the bride requested something that people could hold in their hands and wasn’t served family style. When you say ‘big batch’ about how many cakes did one batch make?
I’m pretty sure it made around 30 cakes (2 Tbsp each), or ten servings of 3 cakes.
Perfect! Thank you so much!!
This is one of my favorite recipes! Made it again today and altered it a bit…. Used fresh corn, whole wheat bread crumbs and baked it in muffin tins. Love love love!
Did the baking work? That would make it easier to serve these at parties. :)
Oops forgot the 5 STAR RATING! ;-)
BEYOND tasty!!!!! I tripled the garlic in the dip (I am a garlic FIEND). Mine hopelessly fell apart tho LOL… dang Panko!