With leftover mashed sweet potatoes, boost your breakfast nutrition by making sweet potato pancakes!

We’ve been eating sweet potato pancakes for as long as we have been eating sweet potatoes for dinner, and we can’t get enough!  The kids love them, and they even got rave reviews by the pickiest eater in my neighborhood, and that’s saying something!

The sweet potatoes we used for this recipe are commonly purchased in U.S. grocery stores under the names YAMS! We ARE using the orange fleshed potatoes for this.  Every time we post about sweet potatoes, when we mean yams, we get lots of confusion.

What is the difference between sweet potatoes and yams?

Potatoes come in a variety of forms.  Our grocery store sells two varieties of sweet potatoes.  Although both veggies you are getting at a common grocery store are sweet potatoes,  they call one a sweet potato, and the other a yam to distinguish them from each other for the consumer (you!). Botanically, the orange fleshed potato sold in grocery stores (called a yam), isn’t a yam at all (veggie nerds can see the full discussion on that here), but it does help to keep them separate for us common folk!  I will say, you should know the difference, because it is important if you’ve started ordering your groceries online or for pick up! Choosing a sweet potato, I’ve gotten the white fleshed sweet potatoes on more than one occasion!

For everyday life, here is how we use a sweet potato versus a yam:

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SWEET  POTATOES: (with white flesh) We use this potato less often. It’s looks similar to a russet potato, and is not as sweet as the orange fleshed “yams”.

• Just like a baked potato (butter, salt etc.)
• In Sweet Potato salad.

YAMS: (with orange flesh) This is the potato we use most often.  We love the flavor, the versatility, and the ability to add it to so many different recipes!  Canned yams have become popular as a Thanksgiving side dish in the United States, and as a result, a lot of kids decide they don’t like yams before they ever have the chance to try them fresh.  Canned yams are generally packed in syrup, and are much too sweet for a side dish (in my opinion).  Then, it’s often cooked with marshmallows or more syrup.  The texture is often hard to handle for kids; it’s very mushy and falls apart easily.

• Sweet potato fries
• In a casserole with brown sugar
• Baked in a slow cooker
• In muffins
• and of course, in pancakes like these!

Is one healthier than the other?  YES! Yams, with their rich orange color, has more vitamins.  The more colorful your fruits or vegetables are, the more nutrients they have.

So, why do we like to add mashed sweet potatoes to our pancakes?

• Sweet Potatoes are a great source of Vitamin A!  In one sweet potato, depending on the size and where it came from, you may get 35-90% of your daily recommended value of Vitamin A.
• Mashed sweet potatoes are very moist and is a great base for baked goods.
• Sweet potatoes give pancakes a nice sweet flavor without having to add refined sugars.

The best part about sweet potato pancakes is that you can add even more nutrients and fiber to your breakfast by topping it with fresh fruit! We like bananas, berries, plums, or peaches.  With fruit and sweet potatoes, we often don’t even need syrup.  A little bit of creamy yogurt or whipped cream can turn a boring pancake breakfast into one of our favorite desserts!

So, don’t delay! Have some sweet potatoes for dinner, so you can have some leftovers for breakfast!

If you love sweet potatoes, check out our sweet potatoes in the slow cooker! If you love pancakes, you must see the 23 pancake recipes we just love! 

Tell us in the comments, what is your favorite way to eat sweet potatoes?