OMG, y’all. Stop everything. This is important. I knew I loved cornbread, but I didn’t know I could love it this much. I decided to add some sweet potato mash to my Everyday Cornbread, plus a couple of spices and sour cream for richness and… WHOA. It took everything in me not to eat the entire pan of this Sweet Potato Cornbread.
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This recipe is a hybrid between my Everyday Cornbread and these amazing Sweet Potato Corn Bread Muffins from the New York Times. The NYT’s addition of cinnamon and nutmeg was absolutely spot on and gave the cornbread an amazing aroma. Since I had already bought some sour cream to top my chili, I decided to incorporate that into the batter, like this recipe from Leite’s Culinaria. Neither of those recipes used nearly enough sweet potato for me, though, so I upped mine to 1.5 cups. I didn’t want to waste that lovely sweet potato!
What Does Sweet Potato Cornbread Taste Like?
This cornbread is definitely on the sweeter side as far as cornbread goes, but it also has a good amount of warm, aromatic spices to keep it from being too dessert-like. It pairs well with both sweet and savory flavors. The texture is rich and thick, so one piece will definitely add a lot to your meal!
What to Serve with Sweet Potato Cornbread
The subtle sweetness of this sweet potato cornbread pairs absolutely perfectly with the warm spices of a bowl of chili, pumpkin soup, chorizo stuffed bell peppers, or anything BBQ, like this BBQ Cheddar Baked Chicken, but I also have to say, it’s awesome with coffee. I’ve also been eating it for breakfast with a thick pat of butter and with a fried egg on the side.
How to Store the Leftovers
Make sure you allow the cornbread to cool completely to room temperature before placing the leftover pieces in a resealable container and storing in the refrigerator. This cornbread also freezes quite well! I suggest wrapping each piece in plastic or waxed paper, then storing all of them in an air-tight freezer bag or freezer-safe container. You can thaw them at room temperature or with a quick zap in the microwave.
Sweet Potato Cornbread
Servings 8Ingredients
- 1 lb. sweet potato ($1.56)
- 1.5 cups yellow cornmeal ($0.36)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour ($0.13)
- 1/2 cup sugar ($0.40)
- 1 Tbsp baking powder ($0.12)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg ($0.05)
- 2 large eggs ($0.52)
- 1/2 cup sour cream ($0.47)
- 3/4 cup milk ($0.23)
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 1/2 Tbsp cooking oil for the skillet ($0.02)
Instructions
- Peel the sweet potato and cut it into one-inch cubes. Place the cubes in a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil the potatoes until they’re tender and fall apart with pierced with a fork (about ten minutes). Drain the potatoes and set aside.
- Coat the inside of a 10" cast iron skillet with cooking oil. Place the skillet in the oven and begin to preheat the oven to 425ºF.
- In a large bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg until well mixed.
- Mash the drained sweet potatoes until fairly smooth. Transfer 1.5 cups of the mashed potatoes to a large bowl. Add the sour cream, milk, and 2 Tbsp oil, and whisk until combined. Add the eggs and whisk until combined again.
- Pour the sweet potato mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir the two together just until combined and no dry mix remains on the bottom of the bowl. It’s okay if the mixture is a little lumpy, just be sure not to over mix.
- Carefully take the hot skillet out of the preheated oven and scoop the batter into the skillet. Smooth out the top of the batter until it's even, then return it to the oven. Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until the center is puffed, the top is golden brown, and it's slightly cracked around the edges. Remove the cornbread from the oven, cut into eight pieces, and serve (preferably with butter).
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Equipment
- Cast Iron Skillet
- Mixing Bowls
- Whisk
- Liquid Measuring Cup
Nutrition
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How to Make Sweet Potato Cornbread – Step by Step Photos
Peel a 1 lb. sweet potato and cut it into one-inch cubes. Place the cubes in a pot, cover them with water, and bring the pot up to a boil over high heat. Let the sweet potatoes boil until they’re soft and fall apart when pierced with a fork (about 10 minutes). Drain the sweet potatoes and set them aside.
Once the sweet potatoes are done boiling, get the skillet ready and begin to preheat the oven. Rub about 1/2 Tbsp of oil inside a 10″ cast iron skillet, place it in the oven, then set it to preheat to 425ºF.
While the potatoes are boiling (or after they’ve drained), combine the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, stir together 1.5 cups yellow cornmeal, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp nutmeg. Stir them together until they are very well combined.
Mash the sweet potatoes until they’re fairly smooth. Transfer 1.5 cups of the sweet potato mash to a large bowl. Add 1/2 cup sour cream, 3/4 cup milk, 2 large eggs, and 2 Tbsp cooking oil.
Whisk the ingredients together until fairly smooth. You may still have a few small chunks of sweet potato, but that’s okay.
Pour the sweet potato mixture into the bowl with the mixed dry ingredients and stir them together just until mixed. It’s okay if it’s a bit lumpy, just don’t over mix it. The sweet potato cornbread batter will be fairly thick.
Carefully take the preheated skillet out of the oven, scoop the batter into it, then spread it around until it’s smooth on top. Return it to the oven and bake for 22-25 minutes.
Or until it’s puffed in the center, golden brown on top, and cracked around the edges. Cut the sweet potato cornbread into eight pieces and enjoy!
A little melted butter takes sweet potato cornbread to the next level.
Yes. Just yes.
I don’t have a cast iron skillet….what can I use instead?
I made a second batch in a muffin tin and they were great. You can use a pie dish, or a square casserole dish, but baking time might be slightly longer since those aren’t preheated in the oven like the cast iron.
Sounds amazing! Can I use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream?
It would probably taste fine, but I wouldn’t use a really low fat yogurt. The fat in the sour cream is what helps make this bread so tender and moist. :)
I used fat free Greek yogurt when I made it for the first time today and it turned out incredibly moist and tender. Since I haven’t tried it with sour cream, I’m not sure if it changed the flavor. It was delicious! I used baked sweet potatoes that I had in the fridge and that made the recipe go together really fast!
I made this to go along with some cowboy steak chili I had a brewing in the crock pot for a good 8 hours. I gave my guests the option to make this or regular cornbread. We came to pick this because we had never had it before. I’m kind of on the fence with it just because of a few things… I think I will make this again however I will probably 86 the cinnamon and nutmeg. I prefer my sweet potato savory vs sweet and full of spices. Also, this stuff is heavy! I bet if I threw a wedge it would knock someone out! haha. But it is also heavy in calories. I watch my calories and I cut my wedges in half so I do not get many calories esp if i’m eating a heavy calorie rich meal. But it is good. and I can not wait to alter it a bit to the point where I love it!
I may never make plain cornbread again. It is THAT good. I had some for lunch today with my Sweet Potato Chorizo Chili from the freezer, and the entire office hovered around me wondering what smelled so good.
This recipe would make amazing waffles! I have it in the oven now as muffins and had a little left over batter so I heated up my cast iron grill and fried it up. Oh my, delicious! I love to make cornmeal waffles using cornbread batter and that’s what I’ll be doing soon with this recipe.
FYI – I used a leftover baked sweet potato and it mashed down to a little over a cup. I added a little applesauce to make it 1.5 cups. Also used an all-purpose gluten free flour I had on hand. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
Great idea!!
Made this with potato soup, five stars.
I made this on Halloween night for my husband and 4 kids (ages 8,7,5, and 13 months), along with the Budget Bytes slow cooker black bean soup (it was a black and orange dinner for Halloween). Let me just say, WOW! It was delicious! The two dishes were perfect together. I have never made cornbread before, and I can’t believe how easy this was. I used canned sweet potatoes for a shortcut, and a glass Casserole dish because I don’t have a cast iron skillet, and it came out perfectly. The kids especially loved it (they even asked to have it for Thanksgiving). I’ll definitely be using this one again!
My cast iron skillet is 12″. I would imagine I just have to adjust the baking time?
Yes, it might bake a little faster, since it’s going to not be quite as thick.
SO GOOD! This tastes amazing with the chunky lentil soup! I used 1/2 cup of 0% Greek Yogurt instead of sour cream.
Really tasty . I usually make a savory cornbread with fresh corn , garlic, cilantro, and currents. I served it with a spicy black bean and butternut squash chili and it was just the thing to temper the heat.
Could you even bake the sweet potato? I would think those sugars would add an intense flavor hard to get with boiling. And I probably would you Stokes purples for this. Something different. Thanks..
Yep, you sure could! Any way that you can get the sweet potato to be mashable will work. ;)
If I wanted to replace the sour cream with plain greek yogurt, the regular milk with unsweetened almond milk, and the vegetable oil with coconut oil (things I already have in my pantry) would that be okay?
It will probably taste different, but it might still be good. I can’t say for sure because I haven’t tried it, but it will probably “work”. :)
I would love to make this for my family, but unfortunately I can’t eat wheat flour. Is it possible to make this with cornmeal only? Or another gluten free flour substitute? Thanks!
I don’t think it will work with cornmeal only and unfortunately I’m just not experienced with gluten free flours. Baking is kind of a delicate chemistry, and switching out all the flour for cornmeal would be a big change that would probably require other modifications to make work. :(
This was delish! I didn’t have sour cream but I used plain yogurt instead and it turned out great. I love the sweetness of it and enjoyed it with chili as well as for just a snack with a warm drink. So tasty!
Would think work as muffins?
It should. Baking time will probably be shorter, though. I’m going to try it soon myself because I want to eat this again! :D