Are low-carb sweet potato recipes genuine? Sweet potatoes might give you fearful flashes of high-starch and high-carb foods. However, you may often wonder about this potato alternative for low-carb dieting because of the popularity of sweet potato fries and other keto-friendly recipes.
Good news, our top 11 low-carb sweet potato recipes will likely blow your tastebuds away without adding too many carbs into your low-carb diet. Yes, you can actually eat some on keto, even increase the protein. Let’s find out about these low-carb sweet potato recipes.
Here’s a sneak peek five of the low-carb sweet potato recipes:
Let’s first show you how the sweet potato could be acceptable as part of a low-carb or just generally healthy diet.
Sweet potatoes are carb-heavy, but what type of carbs do they contain and can you reduce these amounts? Take a look at how you could eat sweet potato on a low-carb diet.
Honestly, the USDA shows that 100-grams of raw sweet potato has 86 calories, 20.1 g of carbs, and 12.6 g of starch (24). Also, the USDA shows that 100-grams of raw orange flesh sweet potato has 79 calories and 17.3 g of total carbs (23). For reference, a 5-inch long sweet potato or a cup of cubed sweet potato both weigh around 130 grams.
The National Library of Medicine states that a low-carb diet typically requires you to limit total carbs to under 26% of total calories or 130 grams daily (12). You’ll limit total carbs to 10% of total calories or 20-50 grams daily on an ultra-low-carb diet, like the keto diet. That means, sweet potatoes aren’t ideal for ultra low-carb diets, but could definitely fit into a more moderately low-carb diet.
It’s also a starchy vegetable but contains 3 g of fiber with plenty of vitamins and essential nutrients (4, 24). Sweet potato is rich in vitamins A, C, K, and B vitamins. You also get calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium.
However, MedlinePlus states that starches provide complex carbohydrates along with natural sugars and fiber to support your health (5). Complex carbs also turn into glucose to fuel your cells with energy.
The complex structure of these carbs means they take longer to break into glucose, slowly providing energy over time to keep you feeling satisfied and causing smaller glucose spikes, compared to simple carbs (15). In that sense, sweet potato provides good carbs including starch, fiber, and natural sugars which together supply a steady source of energy
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You can’t change the inherent nutritional content of a sweet potato, but you can look at the carb content differently by calculating net carbs, not total carbs. For example, some keto or low-carb diets focus on the net carb intake instead of the total carbs, since fiber isn’t broken down into glucose and absorbed into the bloodstream like starch and sugars are (14). Eating 25 grams of sweet potato will give you about 4 g of net carbs (24).
You subtract the fiber amount from the total carbs to get net carbs. A 25-gram portion is tiny, though. However, 25 grams of sweet potato as part of a one-serving low-carb recipe could work. If you’re not on a keto diet, 100 grams of raw sweet potato contains about 17 grams of net carbs, which could certainly fit nicely into a more moderate low carb diet.
On the other hand, you could reduce the carbs in sweet potatoes slightly with the right cooking methods. For example, boiling may cause some of the starch to leech into the cooking water (21, 24).
In addition, research in China found that boiling, steaming, and baking sweet potatoes reduces the starch slightly without removing too many nutrients (7). Boiling sweet potatoes reduced the most starches, and steaming came a close second. However, while boiling or steaming may reduce the carb content slightly, it is unlikely to make a major difference.
The USDA shows that a 100-gram serving of regular potato has 17.5 g of total carbs, and the red potato variant has 15.9 g of total carbs per 100-gram serving (16, 17). Both can certainly fit into low-carb diets which limit you to a total of 130 grams daily (12).
Healthy sweet potato recipes exist, some using sweet potato and others using lower-carb alternatives to give you the same flavors. Let’s discover easy, keto-friendly, high-protein, and baked sweet potato recipes to enjoy on a healthy diet. Each recipe’s macros are per serving.
Let’s focus on low-carb sweet potato recipes, the savory-edition for this list, with a few easy options you can make fast or store for later snacking.
Prima Vera Kitchen has a surprisingly delicious skillet recipe with sweet potato and asparagus (1). The recipe only uses minimal sweet potato amounts to keep the carbs lower. Also, one-pan dinner recipes are ideal for fast low-carb meals.
Macros: 233 calories, 9.1 g net carbs, 7 g fat, 32 g protein, and 0 g fiber (1)
Hypothyroid Chef has a delectable sweet potato twist you can make in no time and store for later snacks (6). Making these rounds will leave you with a crispy texture that tastes similar to fries. However, the recipe is lower-carb than many fries alternatives. Macros: 188.6 calories, 10.15 g net carbs, 15.41 g fat, 1.21 g protein, and 2.02 g fiber (6)
Peace, Love, and Low-Carb has a loaded sweet potato bites recipe for an easy fix for snacks or lunch bites (10). Bacon, sharp cheddar, and sweet potato transform into healthier, lower-carb bites with splashes of sour cream, green onions, salt, and pepper.
Macros: 232 calories, 14 g net carbs, 13 g fat, 4 g protein(10)
Read more: Breakfast Potatoes 3 Ways: Delicious Dishes To Start Your Day
Let’s discover some keto-friendly sweet potato recipes to use for ultra-low-carb diets. Remember that ultra-low-carb diets restrict total carbs (or net carbs if that’s what you prefer to focus on) to 20-50 grams daily (12).
Trina Krug has a simple keto-friendly sweet potato chips recipe (2). It lacks protein but works as a simple snack during the day. Alternatively, eat this as a side dish with a protein-rich meal. However, it takes only 25 minutes to make the chips.
Macros: 52 calories, 4 g net carbs, 4 g fat, 0 g protein, and 1 g fiber (2)
I Can’t Believe It’s Low-Carb has a keto-friendly sweet potato casserole to make (9). This casserole uses pumpkin, butternut squash, and cauliflower with cinnamon, nutmeg, and monk fruit to substitute the taste of sweet potato without adding carbs.
Macros: 130 calories, 5.1 g net carbs, 11.2 g fat, 2 g protein, and 3 g fiber (9)
Low-Carb-Ology shares a mashed recipe with ultra-low carbs using other ingredients to mimic the flavors of regular sweet potatoes (13). The recipe uses pumpkin, cauliflower, cinnamon, and cloves to make you believe you’re eating sweet potato mash.
Macros: 235 calories, 5 g net carbs, 23 g fat, 2 g protein, and 2 g fiber (13)
Protein-rich low-carb sweet potato recipes combine two benefits: low-carb and high-protein. Protein-rich foods are essential to following a healthy diet, especially if you want to improve muscle strength and functionality (25).
Prima Vera Kitchen has the tastiest skillet recipe with loads of protein per serving (8). Extra-lean ground turkey combined with sweet potato, peppers, and mozzarella make this recipe low-carb enough for a complete meal.
Macros: 306 calories, 17 g net carbs, 14 g fat, 31 g protein, and 3 g fiber (8)
Ambitious Kitchen has an unusually mouth-watering recipe idea with sweet potato (20). The sweet potato only acts as the crust, leaving you with plenty of protein-rich ingredients within your delicious pie. Meanwhile, the flavors work like a dream.
Macros: 143 calories, 9 g net carbs, 5.9 g fat, 10.5 g protein, and 2.3 g fiber (20)
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Oven-baked or roasted sweet potato recipes are beyond delicious, for more savory joys when you feel like more traditional comfort foods. These recipe ideas work well during the holidays or as a side dish for traditional comfort foods.
Wholesome Yum’s keto-friendly sweet potato casserole recipe is perfect for an oven-baked treat (11). The recipe uses allulose and butternut squash to replace higher-carb sweet potatoes for a similar flavor. Note, the pecan crust is a tasty addition.
Macros: 146 calories, 5 g net carbs, 13 g fat, 2 g protein, and 3 g fiber (11)
Prima Vera Kitchen has a delectable roast sweet potato with cashew nut recipe (19). The smoked paprika, garlic powder, parsley, salt, and pepper give the roast sweet potato a vivid edge as an ideal low-carb sweet potato side dish.
Macros: 139 calories, 16 g net carbs, 7 g fat, 1 g protein, and 3 g fiber (19)
Kalyn’s Kitchen has a roasted sweet potato and mushroom pan to trigger those Sunday afternoon comfort sides (22). The carbs are slightly higher per serving, but the recipe is ideal as a complete vegetarian meal with only a few ingredients.
Macros: 188 calories, 20.2 g net carbs, 9.2 g fat, 4.1 g protein, and 5.8 g fiber (22)
Boiling may reduce the starch-based complex carbohydrates in sweet potatoes by a small amount, which leech into the water. Chinese research confirms that boiling sweet potatoes reduces the starch content in four varieties, including Jinyu, Xinxiang, Yuzishu263, and Zimai (7). The USDA database indicates about 2 g fewer carbs per 100 grams of cooked compared to raw sweet potato (24, 21).
You get a variety of 25% lower-carb potato varieties in stores. A 125-gram portion of 25% less-carb potatoes contains 62 calories, 11 g of carbs, 0.1 g of fat, 2 g of protein, and 2 g of fiber (3). The net carbs per portion are only 9 grams.
The lowest carbs belong to red potatoes, with 15.9 g of carbs per 100 grams of raw potatoes (17). Orange flesh sweet potatoes, white potatoes, and regular sweet potatoes have 17.3, 17.5, and 20.1 g of carbs per 100 grams of raw potatoes respectively (23, 16, 24).
Sweet potato has fewer carbs by weight than rice, when comparing the most commonly cooked versions. A 100-gram portion of white, long-grain, cooked rice has 28.2 g of carbs (18). Meanwhile, a 100-gram portion of boiled sweet potato contains 17.7 g of carbs (21).
Our top 11 low-carb sweet potato recipes await your tastebuds. Use the right cooking methods, reduce the carbs by reducing the amount per serving, and be creative while counting carbs in other ingredients. Otherwise, choose your favorite recipe to make today.
This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on to make decisions of any kind. Any action you take upon the information presented in this article is strictly at your own risk and responsibility!