Alton Brown’s 3-Ingredient Side Dish Is My Forever Favorite

It’s sweet, spicy, and savory, and I make it at least once a week.

I’ve been cooking the full Thanksgiving spread for my family for the last 15 years or so. As a rookie, I put way too much time into the sides—I’d spend hours assembling intricately layered gratins that ultimately got lost in the shuffle. Over time I began to realize that less is more when it comes to designing a well-rounded and realistic holiday menu, and that lesson started with a simple sweet potato dish from culinary legend Alton Brown.

I was first introduced to Alton Brown’s Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes by my brother-in-law, and the year he contributed them to our holiday feast, they were the star of the show. It's a genius recipe that accentuates the sweet and savory sides of sweet potatoes.

He assembled the dish in 15 minutes—all you do is mash the sweet potatoes with a little bit of butter and chipotle in adobo. It was the only side dish where no leftovers remained. Since then, Alton Brown’s sweet potatoes have become a year-round side dish that I make at least once a week. 

My favorite part of this recipe is how well it balances out the meal; it has just the right amount of heat to cleanse your palate. Plus, it’s a dinner-time chameleon—it seems to pair perfectly with any dish it’s served with. I love it served with steak, meatloaf, and roast chicken. 

How I Make Alton Brown’s Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes

The dish could not be simpler to make. First, peel two large sweet potatoes and cover them with cold water. Add some salt and bring the water to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain the sweet potatoes and return them to the pot with a generous amount of butter; I use three tablespoons. Using the residual heat, melt the butter into the potatoes as you mash them.

To finish, simply fold in one or two minced chipotle chiles in adobo along with one to two teaspoons of adobo sauce. You can add more or less depending on how spicy you like things. There is no honey in Brown’s original recipe, but I think one to two teaspoons of honey really rounds it out.

How I Tweak This Recipe

Like most of my favorite recipes, over the years I’ve tweaked this dish slightly to better suit my family’s tastes. I’ve swapped regular butter for cultured, which adds a pleasant tang and richness. I’ve switched up the heat from smoky chipotle to fruity Calabrian chiles and have incorporated a little hot honey to balance things out.

I started making this easy side dish so often that I decided to make a batch of compound butter that I could simply dollop into the sweet potatoes once they were fork-tender. I drop eight ounces (two sticks) of softened cultured butter into my stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, then add three tablespoons of crushed Calabrian chili peppers and two tablespoons of Mike’s Hot Honey. This gets blended in the mixer until everything is well combined, then I dollop it into the center of a sheet of parchment paper and form it into a log before storing it in the fridge, tightly wrapped.

When stored properly, it lasts in the fridge for about two weeks and in the freezer for up to three months. If you are sensitive to heat, you can adjust the amount of chilis used to your liking. The same goes for the honey—swap with plain honey if that suits your palate best.

When you want to make the smashed sweet potatoes, simply cut off about three tablespoons of this compound butter and mash them directly into your cooked sweet potatoes. I promise it will quickly become one of your favorite side dishes!

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