Trader Joe’s Mashed Sweet Potatoes ♥ Product Review

Trader Joe's Mashed Sweet Potatoes product review ♥ A Veggie Venture. Weight Watchers Friendly (Purple Plan). Low Fat & Filling. Gluten Free.
Which frozen vegetables from Trader Joe's taste good? are worth eating? and worth the money? Let's look at a seasonal product, a bag from the frozen section called Mashed Sweet Potatoes.

Easy Vegetable from Trader Joe's. Low Fat & Filling. Weight Watchers Friendly (Purple Plan). Naturally Gluten Free.

This Is Not a Sponsored Review, it's just me, Alanna and your long-time veggie evangelist, sharing a Trader Joe's vegetable product that I like and think my fellow vegetable lovers might also find useful!


What's in the Bag?

The ingredient list is short: SWEET POTATOES. No more, no less, just sweet potatoes! The bag says the sweet potatoes are a USA product.

The label is hard to read but I think it says the frozen sweet potatoes are "best by" September 2021, that's a two-year shelf life. Since Mashed Sweet Potatoes are a seasonal product for Trader Joe's (available only at a certain time of year), if you love them, that means you should be good to go to stock up!

But here's what makes a bag of frozen Trader Joe's Mashed Sweet Potatoes special: the sweet potatoes have been par-cooked and frozen in small muffin-shaped pods!

Pods make it easy to pour out and cook just a few pods for a single serving or a couple of servings. Do put the rest of the bag back in the freezer, be sure to wrap and seal the bag tightly since now that it's been opened, the pods are much more subject to freezer burn, the accumulation of ice crystals that degrades the food quality. The easy way I use? Wrap the bag around itself to remove the air, then wrap with a rubber band/elastic.

How to Cook

The bag provides directions for cooking either two servings or the entire bag on both the stovetop and the microwave. Microwaves vary in cooking power, of course, but in our microwave, the whole bag was done in eight minutes with just one mid-cook stir. The pods thaw and soften, just stir to "mash". The microwave is definitely more hands-off, the stovetop directions call for continuous stirring during the ten-minute cook time.

The Taste

The sweet potatoes are unseasoned and definitely need seasoning! I added a tablespoon of butter, salt and some smoked pimento. The sweet potatoes themselves are oddly pallid, a pale version both color-wise and taste-wise of what I think of as bright orange, rich-flavored sweet potatoes.

How Many Servings?

The bag is an unusual size for frozen vegetables, 18 ounces versus the usual 16 ounces or 12 ounces. But one bag yields a full two cups of mashed sweet potatoes, by A Veggie Venture's apples-to-apples standards, that's four 1/2-cup servings. We were both satisfied with this serving size and are happy to have the leftovers for another meal. That said, Trader Joe's says the bag serves six, that would be 1/3-cup servings.

What to Do with Leftover Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Well, just eat 'em, of course!

But I already have the idea to update my own Sweet Potato Biscuits and hey, that must be a good idea, because Trader Joe's has a recipe for Mini Sweet Potato Biscuits too, also as the topping for Fall Harvest Pizza (we don't like the Butternut Squash Pizza Crust, however).

For something more savory, I'd form small patties and dust lightly with flour, then warm through and crisp up with a little oil or butter in a hot non-stick skillet, a side/bottom for morning eggs or a warm something atop a supper salad. Or hmm, just change up the shape and tuck into sweet potato tacos?

Make It Homemade?

It's no trick to cook and mash sweet potatoes, my first recipe dates back to 2002 and is still a no-brainer, hardly even a "recipe". It's even no trick to mash sweet potatoes with another vegetable to cut back what can be sweet potatoes' overwhelming sweetness, we're big fans of Rustic Mashed Sweet Potatoes & Carrots and Mashed Butternut Squash & Sweet Potatoes.

Frankly, any of us might also freeze homemade mashed sweet potatoes in muffin pans. But can we cook and mash sweet potatoes in six to eight minutes? To serve one or two? Trader Joe's frozen vegetables for the win, people!

Trader Joe's Mashed Sweet Potatoes: Recommended!

I like but don't love the Mashed Sweet Potatoes. Do know, I set a high bar for convenience foods. I like only a few and love even fewer. But will I keep a bag in the freezer? You Bet.

Trader Joe's Fans

If you love Trader Joe's, look for more product reviews here, Trader Joe's Product Reviews. Enjoy!





RECIPE for TRADER JOE'S MASHED SWEET POTATOES

Hands-on time: 2 minutes
Time to table: 10 minutes
Makes 2 cups

Just 3 ingredients!

1 18-ounce bag frozen Trader Joe's Mashed Sweet Potatoes
1 tablespoon butter
Sprinkle of seasoning, cinnamon, curry, smoked paprika, etc.
Salt & pepper, to taste

HEAT THE MASHED SWEET POTATOES Follow the package instructions to heat up the Sweet Potatoes either in the microwave or on the stove.

SEASON Once hot, stir in butter, seasoning, salt and pepper.

SERVE Time to eat up, just serve and enjoy!









Looking for healthy new ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of super-organized quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables. Join "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg to explore the exciting world of common and not-so-common vegetables, seasonal to staples, savory to sweet, salads to sides, soups to supper, simple to special.

© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2019


Alanna Kellogg
Alanna Kellogg

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

Comments