Fill Empanadas With Sweet Potatoes For A Savory And Sweet Bite

Empanadas are a delightful version of one of the universe's best types of foods: tasty goodness wrapped in dough! There are dumplings, potstickers, samosas, and more, but the extra love goes to empanadas for being a dish teeming with variety in offering both savory and sweet options and many methods for customization. You can make a spicy chicken empanada with green chile or even use your empanada press to make a number of handheld desserts. One especially fun filling that you can use in both savory and sweet empanadas is the sweet potato. This rich-tasting and versatile root vegetable has many nutritional benefits and can easily be prepared for a savory snack or luxurious dessert.

Using sweet potatoes in empanadas is an excellent idea for both the taste and texture that the vegetable adds to your meal. When cooked, the sweet potato softens and can have a silky texture that mixes well with a variety of herbs, spices, meats, and even other vegetables. Although called "sweet," there are so many ways to make sweet potatoes savory. A thoughtfully prepared sweet potato filling wrapped in empanada dough that is then pressed and cooked to perfection is such a satisfying food in every bite. This can be made spicy with hot sauce and peppers or tempered with cheese — the choice is yours. For dessert style empanadas, sweet potatoes also provide a wonderful base for a myriad of decadent combinations.

The options for savory, spicy, and sweet flavors — or a clever combination of all three — are really what make sweet potatoes an ideal empanada filling. On the savory side, you can really play up a more creamy potato texture by mashing your sweet potatoes with a variety of fresh herbs and spices to round out the flavor. If you prefer less of a smooth texture, try preparing your sweet potato empanada filling as you would in a brown butter sweet potato and savory rosemary streusel recipe. For a texture that falls somewhere in between these two, consider the method for making twice-baked sweet potatoes and how that can easily translate into a prime empanada filling.

For dessert-style empanadas, there are so many different options to choose from when preparing the sweet potato filling. Take a twist on a guava and cream cheese empanada recipe and swirl your sweet potatoes with mascarpone and brown sugar. You can even use warming spices to give it a pumpkin pie-inspired flavor profile. Whether mashing with sweeteners or dicing and adding a maple glaze, there's no limit to how you can mix up your sweet potatoes to fill an empanada. Try adding other complementary fruit fillings to your sweet potatoes such as spiced apples or tart cherries for a richer complexity of flavor. However you prepare your sweet potato empanadas, they're sure to impress.