By Aaron Hutcherson
- Total Time
- 1½ hours, plus freezing
- Rating
- 4(527)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Sweet potatoes and cheese are flavored with cumin, smoked paprika, black pepper and cayenne for warmth, smokiness and a little bit of a kick. Once these croquettes are breaded and deep fried, a crisp crust delicately encapsulates the soft and gooey mixture within. They are very straightforward to prepare, but the process makes them a labor of love, perfect for entertaining or simply showing off your kitchen prowess.
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Ingredients
Yield:About 30 croquettes
- 2pounds sweet potatoes (about 4 medium), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2teaspoons kosher salt
- 4ounces sharp Cheddar, shredded (about 1 packed cup)
- ½cup/65 grams all-purpose flour
- 1teaspoon ground cumin
- 1teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½teaspoon black pepper
- ¼teaspoon ground cayenne
- 1cup/130 grams all-purpose flour
- 3whole eggs, beaten with 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1¼cups/125 grams plain fine bread crumbs
- About 4 cups vegetable, canola, peanut or other neutral oil, for stovetop shallow frying
- Kosher salt
For the Filling
For the Croquettes
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (30 servings)
334 calories; 30 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 19 grams monounsaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 14 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 175 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Put the sweet potatoes and 1 teaspoon salt in a pot and cover with an inch or two of water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the potatoes, transfer to a bowl, mash with a fork, and let cool for at least 30 minutes. (You can also do this step ahead and let the mashed sweet potatoes cool in the refrigerator overnight.)
Step
2
Add the cheese, flour, cumin, paprika, black pepper and cayenne to the mashed sweet potatoes and mix until evenly combined. Use a medium cookie scoop (a scant 2 tablespoons) to portion the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Freeze until solid, at least 1 hour.
Step
See Also30 Vegan Broccoli Recipes - My Dainty Kitchen60+ Most Loved Thanksgiving Sides Recipes You Ought To Try - RecipeMagikInstant Pot Lentil Soup with Sweet Potato {Vegan} - Pressure Cooker RecipeCrockpot Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe3
Prepare to bread the croquettes: Set up a standard breading procedure in three bowls — flour, egg-and-oil mixture and bread crumbs.
Step
4
Dip each piece in the flour, shaking off any excess, in the egg mixture (turning it a few times to make sure it is completely coated), then in the bread crumbs. Set each breaded croquette on the baking sheet. Refreeze the finished, breaded croquettes until firm. (These can live in your freezer for months.)
Step
5
Add enough neutral oil to a deep-sided pot or pan to reach a depth of 1½ to 2 inches, and heat over medium until shimmering, or when a thermometer reads between 325 and 350 degrees. Working in batches, fry the frozen croquettes, stirring occasionally, until nicely browned all over and piping hot in the center, about 5 minutes. (When frying, it’s important to moderate the heat to keep as steady a temperature as possible. Adding frozen products to hot oil brings the temperature down, as does crowding.)
Step
6
Using a slotted spoon, remove cooked croquettes to a baking rack and immediately sprinkle with a little salt before serving.
Ratings
4
out of 5
527
user ratings
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Cooking Notes
nALB
Why peel and dice then mash? Why not roast whole, unpeeled, then peel and mash? Much easier.
lidaki
I will dredge in flour, dip in beaten egg, then breadcrumbs ready to bake in 425 oven w a final spritz of olive oil. Oven fried.
john
Air fry at 350 for 20 minutes
juddd
These are also called duquesas. Here's the faster way with no freezing:Bake/boil sweet potatoes whole until very soft. Peel, mash, cool. Mash in the cheese, salt, spices, BUT ALSO 3 egg yolks, 3 tbsp melted butter, and 1/4 cup full fat milk powder (such as Nido).Mash in the flour until you get a consistency to be able to roll by hand.Hand roll into one inch balls.Oven bake them (~20 min) at this point OR...Proceed to dredge in egg & panko and deep fry at 350.Great with apple sauce.
Tony
I made these today. I microwaved the sweet potatoes and I cook them in the oven instead of frying them. They came out very good
julianne
Roasted the potatoes whole, made in the oven at 425 for 15 minutes of so. Drizzled with honey and sriracha after they came out!
Danny V
So, I made way too many of these and I’ve got so many left in my freezer. I have an issue with frying them as they don’t heat the inside but the outside gets dark. They’re also kinda ‘meh’. Someone wondered if they made them too big and I wonder the same. But I tried something different tonight. I over-baked them at 425 for 20 minutes and wow. Better! Fully heated and I can taste more of the flavors. While it’s not something I will make again in the quantity that I made them, they’re nice.
Elaine
Mix the seasonings, flour, and cheese before adding to the sweet potato mash. Also add about 1 tsp salt to that mixture. They were very tasty!
Merna
Instead of trying, made these in the air fryer. They were delicious!!
cooking notes
Panko, 425 for 25 minutes, drizzle with hot honey
Stephanie D
I used panko and they turned out great!
Sally
Having spent this week of Chanukkah frying donuts I learned that heating oil to 350 and having the temp come down to 325 is perfect. At the lower temperature the insides have a chance to cook before the outside burns. Because this potato mixture is just warming (not cooking) it is less of an issue, but if you are adding egg, properly cooked interior is important. Let your oil come back to 350 before adding the next batch of frozen potato balls.
Erica
Made these gluten free (flour, breadcrumbs). It didn't affect anything, but I did bake at 425 for approximately 22 minutes instead of frying. Definitely just bake and then mash sweet potatoes ahead of time. I felt these need a sauce/dip. I happened to have Ina Garten's sundried tomato dip on hand and used that (I thought it was yummy, husband thought it was fine together but not great). I left half of the filling in the freezer to bread and bake another day.
Danny V
I’ve had these stored in the freezer for months. Baked for 20 at 350, they make a great side to white fish.
Ricard Granum
Roasting isn't that much easier, doesn't save time, and creates a different end result. It's peeling and dicing 4 med sweet potatoes. That's a couple minutes worth of easy work that's not much harder than foil wrapping. Boil time is 12 min vs 45+ baked not incl. preheat. The longer cook time on a larger potato means more time in that 150-170F zone where the starches convert to maltose, resulting in different sweeter profile in the end.
korri
Not recommended too soft seemed uncooked on inside
Rebekah
Made 90 for 2 parties. Baked & air fried (tried both) but they really do better deep fried. I had a lot of leftovers, which i froze and eat deep fried. Had trouble getting the egg to stick to the flour—it just slid right off and had to literally soak them for 30s to get it to stick. Because of this, the flour underneath doesn’t really bake w/o deep frying. I made with both panko and italian breadcrumbs and the panko was better. Needs some sort of sauce for sure—I did a hot honey. would do again.
carsi
Baked them. Bland, Not worth making again.
Maria
Instead of cutting up the sweet potatoes, I followed the advice below to cook them whole, although I altered this to steam the sweet potatoes whole for 25 to 30 minutes instead of baking them, which keeps them very moist. I then sprayed with oil and air fried as instructed below at 350 F for 20 minutes.
Kit A.
We did everything as recommended except that we flattened the balls to make sure the centers got hot, and then we went directly into the fryer after the breadcrumb stage (just brought them out slowly from the freezer). Will definitely make again!
KaneSugar
I might add some corn to the mix.
Ricard Granum
Roasting isn't that much easier, doesn't save time, and creates a different end result. It's peeling and dicing 4 med sweet potatoes. That's a couple minutes worth of easy work that's not much harder than foil wrapping. Boil time is 12 min vs 45+ baked not incl. preheat. The longer cook time on a larger potato means more time in that 150-170F zone where the starches convert to maltose, resulting in different sweeter profile in the end.
Danny V
I’ve had these stored in the freezer for months. Baked for 20 at 350, they make a great side to white fish.
Danny V
So, I made way too many of these and I’ve got so many left in my freezer. I have an issue with frying them as they don’t heat the inside but the outside gets dark. They’re also kinda ‘meh’. Someone wondered if they made them too big and I wonder the same. But I tried something different tonight. I over-baked them at 425 for 20 minutes and wow. Better! Fully heated and I can taste more of the flavors. While it’s not something I will make again in the quantity that I made them, they’re nice.
cooking notes
Panko, 425 for 25 minutes, drizzle with hot honey
Jo Ann
Can these be made ahead of time, frozen, and then thawed and served after heating them in an oven?
covid shut-in
ehh these weren’t very good, kinda bland. I didn’t fry them tho I used an airfryer. Maybe I made them too big also? I think they’re are better applications of a sweet potato.
lang
Easy recipe, I love how I can prep and then save in the freezer for the next time. We dip them with Mayo sriracha, next batch I’m going to drizzle honey for some sweetness.
moni
I did the air fry method as well (350F, 20 min) and all of them busted open as well. Might be better to go with a higher temp, shorter time.
Robin
OK -- but I'll try with potatoes next time.
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