These crispy sweet potato goat cheese puffs are great as a party appetizer or just a fun side to dinner.
I’m going to bet that there will be quite a few posts today about Madonna’s performance, some Budweiser commercial, so and so’s horrible play…blah, blah, blah. But guess what? I don’t have cable, I didn’t watch a second of the superbowl and so I have nothing to say about it.
I do have some cheesy balls for you though.
Crispy, cheesy on the outside, creamy and sweet on the inside.
Personally, I think that sounds way better than anything having to do with football.
I find that experimenting in the kitchen is best done on a full stomach (kind of like grocery shopping) so that I hopefully avoid shoving whatever’s just come out of the oven straight into my face once it’s cooked.
There was no hope with these.
I ate lunch right before and still downed 3 immediately. As in, they didn’t even make it into the pictures.
Sorry, I’m not sorry.
While I don’t have any picky eater kids at home, I couldn’t help but think how awesome these would be for them after popping a couple in my mouth. I know I wasn’t a huge sweet potato fan when I was younger, but if someone had mixed them with goat cheese and rolled them in parmesan and breadcrumbs, I’m pretty sure I would’ve eaten a few and not complained. Or more likely, I would’ve put up a front and still complained but secretly loved them. Yeah, I was that kind of kid.
Not that I wanted to watch the game at all last night, but it’s kind of a shame I didn’t have a superbowl party to bring these to. I’m thinking they would’ve gone like hotcakes.
Instead, I sat home alone, watching Mad Men, playing words with friends and eating these on my couch in sweats. Not sure what’s more pathetic, the fact that I had no where to go or that I actually preferred it that way so I had more of the cheesy balls to myself.
So, who ended up winning anyway?
Sweet Potato Goat Cheese Puffs
Ingredients
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled & chopped
- 1 ounce goat cheese
- 1 teaspoon rosemary, minced & divided
- 1 cup parmesan cheese grated & divided
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt water and place potatoes in pot. Cook for 15 minutes until fork tender, drain.
- Place cooked potatoes in a large bowl.
- Add goat cheese, butter, milk, 1/2 cup of parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon rosemary and a generous amount of salt & pepper to taste. Mash together.
- Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes until chilled.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat.
- In a small bowl, beat the egg.
- In a shallow bowl, combine breadcrumbs, remaining parmesan cheese, remaining rosemary, salt & pepper.
- Roll potato mixture into small balls (ping pong size or smaller).
- Coat balls in egg and then transfer to breadcrumb mixture, rolling around until completely coated. Place on baking sheet.
- Spritz balls with olive oil or baking spray and bake for 15 minutes.
- Turn oven onto Hi-Broil and bake for 5 more minutes until golden brown and crispy.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Kidding.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
Gina:
These sound wonderful and might just be the thing I’m looking for to round out (punny!) the menu for a Hawaiian-inspired wedding buffet. Have you tried freezing the balls before putting the breadcrumb mixture on them? I will be making them soon as a dry run, but in your opinion would I be out of my mind to make them for 175?
I haven’t tried freezing them before. They’re a bit messy so to be honest, 175 would scare me! haha They would make a great addition to a buffet, but I would definitely suggest a dry run, like you said so you can see for yourself first :)
So is there anything sweet added to this sweet potato side dish or is it just a savory dish?
The ingredients are what you see in the recipe, it’s a savory sweet potato side dish.
I made these last night. AMAZING!! I changed up the spices a bit and used greek yogurt instead of butter and added jalepeno bits. My boyfriend loved them. Great way to mix up sweet potato recipes!
I love hearing how everyone has been changing these up just a little and still loving them. So glad you liked it! :) Love your addition of jalapeno. Might try that next time!
Wow these were mighty fine. I made this for a family dinner tonight. I replaced goat cheese with feta + cream cheese because my grocery was out. DELICIOUS! All of them were gone!
So glad you all liked them!
Good morning! I could see myself eating these sweet potato balls for breakfast with a fried egg…or really any time of day. After trying them with goat cheese and parm, I’d probably throw in some gruyere as well. Thanks for the idea and congrats on having this recipe featured on Tasty Kitchen!
Just noticed that, thanks for letting me know! Always a nice surprise :)
Is it bad that I am kind of excited Jordan is going away this weekend and I can make some of these without him complaining. Seriously delicious!
Holy cow. Sweet potatoes and goat cheese… two of the greatest things ever! These look so amazing, I will definitely be making them.
Now this is a recipe! I am soooooooooooooo going to make these!! Maybe I’ll do a double batch sweet potatoes for me, and white for hubby and teen. They don’t like sweet potatoes, crazy huh?
Now tyhis is an amazing recipe! I am soooooooooooo making this! I can not wait!!
Wow I am so excited to hear I am not the only one who:
1) Hated sweet potatoes growing up. I just associated them with the nasty marshmellow mess at Thanksgiving and
2) Didn’t watch the super bowl. OK I lied. I watched the last 5 minutes.