Sweet Potato Sunrise Smoothie
Sunrise Sweet Potato Smoothie

In all the boo-hooing I did about the garden failures we had this year, I neglected to talk much about the few bright spots we had. Holy Negative Nancy, Batman! So let’s talk about one of those bright spotsโ€”sweet potatoes!

This was our first year growing sweet potatoes, and we didn’t expect much, because the sweet potato slips we ordered didn’t look so hot upon arrival. But we got them in the ground, gave them lots of organic fertilizer (this is what we usually use) and water, and the plants exploded! They took over so much space! You typically wait until the plants die back to harvest sweet potatoes, but we were getting impatient to see what was happening below ground, so we dug a plant up a few weeks back and were greeted withย lots of huge, bright orange sweet potatoes. They weren’t going to win any beauty contests, but we were still super excited!

Sweet Potatoes

We let out a little “yip” of excitement, and rushed inside to cut into our beautiful orange root veggies. They wereย bright, beautiful, healthy, and super, dooper tasty! We decided right then and there that we will always grow sweet potatoes. Other than that initial burst of fertilizer, we really neglected our sweet potato vines, and they still produced us a really nice crop. We’re fans!

Sweet Potato Sunrise Smoothie

Now that the sweet potato vines are starting to die back, we’re harvesting them, and, well, eating them on a regular basis! I’ve been using sweet potatoesย almost everyday in some sort of fun concoction. I admit, you probably will see quite the influx of sweet potato recipes headed your way over the next few weeks. Don’t mind me, I’m just basking in the glow of one of the few successes from the 2015 gardening season. You gotta take your victories where you can get ’em, you know?

Sweet Potato Sunrise Smoothie

I think this smoothie is a particularly interesting way to use up sweet potatoes. If you have a high-powered blender (more about that in this post), you might be tempted to throw in a sweet potato raw into your smoothie and go to town. And that’s fine, raw sweet potatoes are perfectly edible. But to get the most nutrition and flavor out of sweet potatoes, they need to be cooked.

I actually like to roast some sweet potatoes on my food prep days and stash them in the fridge. That way I have them ready for breakfast bowls or smoothies anytime I want! Enjoy.

Sweet Potato Sunrise Smoothie

Sweet Potato Sunrise Smoothie

Yield: 1 large smoothie
Prep Time: 3 minutes
Total Time: 3 minutes

This Sweet Potato Smoothie tastes like a pie in a glassโ€”and it's perfectly healthy enough to have for breakfast!

Ingredients

  • 1 ripe banana
  • 1 cup roasted sweet potato (either chunks or puree is fine)
  • 0-1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1 cup unsweetened milk (animal, nut, soy, whatever!)
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Dash of cinnamon
  • Handful of ice cubes

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients in the basin of a blender—sweeten to taste depending on the ripeness of your banana. Blend on high until very smooth and creamy. Pour and enjoy!

Notes

Use plant-based milk to keep this recipe completely vegan.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 1 Serving Size: 1 smoothie
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 391Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 173mgCarbohydrates: 77gFiber: 7gSugar: 34gProtein: 12g

At Wholefully, we believe that good nutrition is about much more than just the numbers on the nutrition facts panel. Please use the above information as only a small part of what helps you decide what foods are nourishing for you.

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21 Comments

  1. Thank you! Been doing a 30 day challenge and had extra sweet potato. Was awesome. I don’t have a big sweet tooth so didn’t add the syrup and it was still great.

  2. I like to take the sweet potatoes that I grow, cook them in a crock pot for about 5 hours, peel them, puree them with a little water, and then freeze them in baggies to use in recipes later.

    1. You can eat the sweet potato leaves. They are popular in Asian dishes. I don’t know why you couldn’t use them as you would use spinach in recipes.

  3. What a great idea….maybe? Sounds interesting. I am in love with sweet potatoes myself lately. I love to bake them and put a little butter and cinnamon on mine. Delicious! And your sweet potatoes look great!

  4. I never would have thought to use a sweet potato in a smoothie, but I love them so I bet it would be delicious!

  5. I would never think to put sweet potatoes in for a smoothie. But, this would be awesome before/after a run! I’m hoping to start a garden next year so I’m sure I’ll be looking at all your resources on the topic ๐Ÿ™‚