Savory Sweet Potato Balls

Looking for a new appetizer that will knock the socks off your guests? Look no further. These savory sweet potato balls are so good. You will see them disappear so fast you’ll have trouble re-stocking your pretty serving dish.

Any time you can incorporate sweet potatoes into a dish, it’s going to pack lots of nutrients and fiber. Sweet Potatoes have vitamins like beta-carotene, Vitamin B6, Magnesium, and Calcium. It is also a great source of fiber with about 2.5 gm of fiber per half cup. So go ahead and encourage your guest to devour this appetizer.

When measuring the mashed sweet potatoes for this recipe, please note that they are already cooked and mashed before you measure the 2 cup quantity. I cook my sweet potatoes in my Instant Pot. Peel and THINLY slice your sweet potatoes. Place on a trivet in your Instant Pot. Pour 1 cup of water on top and close the instant pot lid making sure the vent is closed. Cook on manual for 3 minutes. Let naturally depress 2-3 minutes, then quick release. CAREFULLY drain out the water- it is super hot! I usually do this with hot pad to hold the pot and a large spatula to hold in the sweet potatoes while I am draining out the water.

Savory Sweet Potato Balls

A ball-shaped appetizer with a savory sweet potato filling rolled in panko, parmesan cheese, sea salt, and black pepper coating that crisps perfectly in the oven. The black pepper gives this savory appetizer just the right amount of heat to keep things interesting.

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Prep Time 35 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American

Servings 2 dozen balls

Equipment

• 1 Instant Pot with trivet
• 1 baking sheet
• large and small bowls
• measuring cups, spoons,
• spatula, small cookie scoop
• parchment paper

Ingredients

  

Sweet Potato Filling

• 2 C sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed I use my Instant Pot
• 1/3 C minced onion
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp rosemary leaves, slightly crushed
• 1/2 C sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded

Panko Crumb Coating

• 1 C gluten free panko crumbs
• 1 1/2-2 TBSP olive oil I like to use a Robust Flavor
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 C parmesan cheese

Instructions

 

• Gather your instant pot and trivet.
• Peel 2-3 sweet potatoes and thinly slice them. Place on top of trivet in Instant Pot. Pour 1 Cup of water on top. Seal lid and make sure the vent is sealed. Cook on Manual for 3 minutes. Then let it naturally depressure for 2-3 minutes. Then quick release. CAREFULLY drain out the remaining water as it is very hot!
• Place sweet potatoes in a large bowl and mash well. Measure out 2 cups and place into another bowl.
• Quickly sauté your onions for about 7 minutes in a little bit of olive oil(you want your onions to be soft). Add the minced garlic and continue to sauté for 20 seconds. Add this to the 2 cups of sweet potatoes.
• Add salt, pepper, rosemary leaves, and sharp white cheddar cheese. Mix all ingredients well. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a baking sheet place parchment paper.
• In a bowl, mix the panko crumbs with the olive oil, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese.
• Using a small cookie scoop, scoop little balls of the sweet potato mixture(just a few at a time) and drop into the bowl with the panko crumbs. Coat each ball well and place on prepared baking sheet.
  
• When you have all your balls done, baking in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
• These are best served warm. If you have a warming feature on your oven, you would want to keep them in there until you are ready to serve.
  

Notes

The prep-time on here includes the Instant Pot time.  If you are not using an instant pot, please adjust your prep time accordingly.

If you have a large party, I would double this recipe so you have plenty to go around.

Keyword appetizer, ball shaped, panko, savory, savory sweet potato balls, sweet potato, unique appetizer

I hope that you will enjoy making these savory sweet potato balls. If you don’t have an instant pot, you could always bake the sweet potatoes, then scoop out the insides to mash. And if you want to know which Panko crumbs I used for this recipe, I use 4C Food Gluten Free Panko Crumbs.

I am excited to hear how you like this recipe! Please come back after making this and let me know what you think.

Happy Baking!

Emma