Give Sweet Potatoes An Extra Hit Of Flavor With This Baking Staple

This unexpected and underrated baking staple addition to sweet potatoes can give them extra flavor, and no, we're not talking cinnamon or brown sugar. There's a new complementary pairing in town for this tuber vegetable: vanilla. Whether you use vanilla extract (like Ina Garten's go-to store-bought vanilla extract), vanilla bean paste, or a fresh vanilla bean pod with the seeds scraped out, the flavor works beautifully. And while vanilla is often associated with sweets, this doesn't automatically mean adding it to sweet potatoes will make them taste like dessert; it works for savory sweet potatoes too. Whether a dish is sweet or savory, vanilla performs the same job: It enhances flavor and brings balance to the other ingredients. Its smooth, warm aromatic compounds help soften sharp, bitter, or spicy notes without ever becoming identifiable. 

For savory sweet potatoes seasoned with complementary spices, dried herbs, or aromatics like chili powder, paprika, turmeric, garlic powder, or onion powder, vanilla rounds out flavors. Liquid vanilla products like extract and paste also contain a smidgen of alcohol, which lends a deeper caramelized flavor to the sweet potatoes as the alcohol evaporates during cooking — a good reason to also grab some vanilla extract the next time you're grilling.

Mashed, roasted, twice-baked, in a soup, or in a casserole — vanilla works no matter how you choose to prepare your sweet potatoes. When it comes to preparations other than mashed, go for about 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste or about ½ fresh vanilla bean pod with the seed scraped out for every pound of sweet potatoes, and simply incorporate it with the other seasonings and spices.

For mashed sweet potatoes — also trending online as "vanilla bean whipped sweet potatoes"— the technique for incorporating vanilla is slightly different. The vanilla gets steeped in a saucepan with unsalted butter and heavy cream before it's thoroughly whipped into the mashed sweet potatoes, along with any additional seasonings or spices. You get the most unbelievably luscious texture from whipping the potatoes, which is complemented perfectly by the caramel flavors from the vanilla. If you're going to try vanilla added to any sweet potato recipe, let it be this one! You can also reach for Trader Joe's limited-time Vanilla Bean Whipped Sweet Potatoes if you want an easy shortcut.

Serve the vanilla-infused sweet potatoes alongside meats that pair well with a hint of sweetness. Pork chops or pork loin, salmon, fried chicken with hot honey mustard, or, of course, honey baked ham or Turkey at Thanksgiving are just some great pairings.