Spicy sweet potato cakes with herb and lemon tzatziki

October 13 2013
by emma

sweet potato cakes

I always feel kind of old fashioned thrifty when I use up leftover things as I did a while back with this dish, especially when they make up delicious, fried potato cakey things .. and despite the crispy appearance of these spicy little patties served with a garlicky, creamy sauce, they’re super healthy.  My sweet potato mash is also made with white potato and has a bit of butter and milk, so feel free to add those things if you’re making from scratch, however I’m sure these would work with just boiled or steamed, then mashed sweet potato.

Oh and these are packed with garlic flavour.  If you’re not keen, then omit the garlic from the patties themselves (it’s an important component of the tzatziki though).

Recipe for spicy sweet potato cakes with tzatziki:

1 heaped cup leftover mashed sweet potato
1 small egg, whisked lightly
2/3 cup Japanese panko breadcrumbs + extra
Pinch chilli flakes
Freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
2 tspns tahini
1 tblspn Continental parsley, finely chopped
1 tblspn spring onions, sliced
1 small clove garlic, crushed
Oil

Tzatziki:
1/2 cup Greek yoghurt
2 tspns macadamia nut or avocado oil
1 small clove garlic, crushed
1/2 tblspn Continental parsley, finely chopped
1/2 tblspn spring onions, sliced
1 tspn lemon zest
1 tspn lemon juice
Freshly ground sea salt and black pepper

Tzatziki:
Add all ingredients to a small bowl and mix until combined and creamy.  Set aside or store covered in the fridge if making beforehand.

Place a handful of extra breadcrumbs onto a plate and spread around.

Add mashed potato, egg, 2/3 cup breadcrumbs, chilli flakes, seasoning, tahini and herbs to a medium sized bowl.  Sauté garlic in a medium sized pan in a small amount of oil on low to medium heat until cooked.  Add to mashed potato mixture and stir ingredients until combined.

Shape potato mixture into 4 patties and dip onto plate with breadcrumbs, coating both sides.

Add a decent drizzle more oil to the same pan you cooked the garlic in and heat to medium then cook patties for 4-5 minutes on each side until golden brown.  Serve with tzatziki.

Serves: 2

12 Responses leave one →
  1. Mmm, I lived on sweet potatoes during the fall and winter months while I was in college. They’re cheap and delicious! I often wonder why I don’t go back to that now… there was absolutely nothing wrong with it… right?

  2. Oh fried potato cakey things – so delicious and so healthy 🙂 I love that sexy ‘frugal’ feeling I get when I manage to make leftovers just as (if not more than) appealing as the first night’s meal. When I am cooking for just the boyfriend and myself I always end up with leftover mashed potato so I can imagine these being very popular the next night (especially if I serve his with some fried bacon).

  3. Yum yum, I love sweet potato, and tzatiki would be the perfect accompaniment for sure ! I’ve got to make this for thanksgiving I think!

  4. I just made these and I am thrilled with the results.

    I made some modifications, adding thyme and shallot to the mixture and frying them up as small bite size medallions serving them as canapes topped with a dollop of honey yogurt and minced apples.

    The recipe is a great foundation and I can see it being diversified in many ways.

    Thank you for sharing this. I plan on keeping this s part of my repertoire.

    Zelda

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