Sweet Potatoes Remain a Staple Holiday Food

Sweet potatoes remain a staple holiday food in the Upper Cumberland.

According to internet service provider Satellite Internet, Tennessee’s most googled Thanksgiving recipe is Sweet Potatoes.

Michelle Parrott with the Putnam County UT Extension Office said Tennesseans may search for new recipes as a way to spice up the normal Thanksgiving sides.

“So, I think people are really looking for different recipes sometimes. A lot of the times, they like tradition as well, and even low-fat,” Parrott said. “So I really think they are on there looking for sweet potato recipes for a variety of reasons these days.”

Parrott said sweet potatoes have a long history in the United States.

“Well if you look back in history, you can honestly see the sweet potato as a staple of a side at Thanksgiving dating back to the 1880s, mid-1880s to late 1880s,” Parrott said. “You can see for hundreds of years now people have just seen this potato as part of their Thanksgiving dish.”

Parrott said sweet potatoes provide various nutrients, including Vitamin A and C.

“Sweet potatoes are great for us truly. Sometimes not so much if you add that extra cup of sugar and things like that. But when you are looking at nutrition facts, they are low in calories,” Parrott said. “They have some really great carbohydrates and fibers for us because they have a really high dietary fiber content in the sweet potato. As well as a lot of potassium.”

Parrott said some recipes remain classics in the Upper Cumberland.

“But definitely a sweet potato casserole is just a classic dish that you will see a lot of the times. As well as candied sweet potatoes. And that is just something where you would make sliced potatoes,” Parrott said. “And you could put them either in the oven or on the stovetop. But you have brown sugar and water in those and you cook those down.”

Parrot said various seasonings can bring out different flavors in the sweet potatoes, including cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.

“If you are looking at another zesty kind of dish, you could use an orange zest or a lemon zest with the sweet potatoes. That really brings out a lot of the flavoring,” Parrott said. “As well as some ground ginger. So we really have a wide variety of seasonings that we could use.”

Parrott said roasted sweet potatoes go well with Italian seasoning as well. People can prepare sweet potatoes in many different ways, like baking or roasting.

“I’ve even seen people make sweet potato biscuits. I think that’s a great idea because it’s different,” Parrot said. “And I think it’s nice to have that different flavoring at your meal, even down to sweet potato fries.”

Parrot said people may just enjoy the sweet potato for its big flavor.