Thank you to California Ripe Olives for sponsoring this post!
With the holiday season just around the corner, I know that many of you will be looking for recipes to bring to your holiday gatherings. Well, I have the perfect dish for you. This sweet potato mac and cheese with olives is vegetarian-friendly and it will satisfy the appetites of your meat-loving friends as well.
The colder fall and winter months are when we celebrate root vegetables in our cooking. That’s why I incorporated mashed sweet potatoes into this mac and cheese. The sweet potatoes provide subtle sweet flavor and they add a lovely orange hue to the entire dish.
Adding California Black Ripe Olives to the sweet potato mac and cheese is an easy way to give the dish an extra punch of flavor. The savoriness of California Black Ripe Olives is a good contrast to the sweet potatoes and it balances the richness of the mac and cheese. All California Ripe Olives go through a unique curing process that gives the ripe olives fantastic flavor and great color. You can certainly see how these olives pop in my photos!
To give the mac and cheese more textural contrast, I also added panko breadcrumbs as a topping. Feel free to leave it out if you can’t find panko.
When serving the mac and cheese, I love drizzling a bit of chili oil to give the dish an additional spicy kick. I know it sounds unconventional, but it is a nice touch to elevate the dish!
CAN YOU MAKE THIS SWEET POTATO MAC AND CHEESE AHEAD?
Yes, you can make this dish ahead! Add all the mac and cheese to a baking dish, but leave out the panko breadcrumbs until you are ready to cook. Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Note that you may need to add a few minutes to the baking time.
MORE VEGETARIAN RECIPES
Baked Sweet Potato Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 12 ounces (340g) elbow macaroni
- 12 to 13 ounces (340g to 370g) sweet potatoes
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (5 ounces, 140g) shredded extra sharp cheddar
- 1 cup (4 ounces, 115g) shredded mozzarella
- 3 cups baby kale (see note 1)
- 1 cup California Black Ripe Olives, quartered
- Topping
Topping
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs (see note 2)
- chopped parsley
- chili oil (optional)
Additional Equipment/Ingredients
- 9×13 baking dish
- olive oil or butter to grease baking dish
Instructions
- Fill a pot with 2.5 quarts of water and add 2 tablespoons of kosher salt. Bring the water to boil. Add the elbow macaroni to the boiling water. Cook the pasta al dente–follow package directions, minus 1 or 2 minutes. The pasta will cook further when it is in the oven. As the pasta is boiling, fill a bowl 3/4 of the way full with ice water.
- Drain the cooked pasta. Transfer the pasta to the bowl with ice water. Let the pasta sit in the ice for 1 or 2 minutes before draining again. This stops the pasta from cooking further and prevents it from getting mushy or sticking to each other.
- Peel the sweet potatoes and dice them into 1-inch cubes. Add the cubed sweet potatoes to a large saucepan and fill it with enough water to cover the sweet potatoes by about 1 inch. Bring the water to boil, then simmer for about 8 to 10 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are fork tender. (See note 3 for Instant Pot cooking method.)
- Drain and transfer sweet potatoes to a bowl to mash. Do this while the sweet potatoes are still hot. Add the garlic powder, paprika, and cayenne to the mashed potatoes, and stir to combine.
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Position an oven rack to the center position. Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish with olive oil. Set the baking dish aside.
- Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large sauté pan or a pot over medium heat. Add the flour and stir to combine. In about 2 minutes, the butter and flour will bubble and puff up, turning into a light sauce (roux).
- Pour in half of the milk into the pan and whisk for about 1 minute to break up the clumps of flour. You won’t be able to break up the flour completely, and that’s okay. Add the remaining milk and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce should now be thick, like chowder.
- Add the mashed sweet potatoes and stir until well combined. Turn off the heat.
- Set 1 cup of shredded cheese to the side for topping. Then, add the remaining shredded cheese to the sauce. The cheese doesn’t need to melt completely. Add the pasta, sliced olives, and kale and stir to combine (see note 4).
- Pour the mac and cheese into the greased baking dish. Sprinkle remaining shredded cheese over the pasta.
- To make the topping, mix the melted butter with panko breadcrumbs. Sprinkle the panko over the mac and cheese.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cheese starts to bubble on the edges. Then, broil the mac and cheese for 3 to 4 minutes, until the top is golden brown (see note 5).
- Remove the mac and cheese from the oven. Sprinkle chopped parsley over the mac and cheese for garnish. Serve while the mac and cheese is still warm. Drizzle with chili oil, if you like.
Notes
- You can substitute baby kale with chopped kale, baby spinach, or chopped swiss chard.
- I can usually find panko in the Asian section of most supermarkets. You can also find panko in Asian supermarkets.
- Cook sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot: Add 1 cup water to the Instant Pot, then add a steamer basket to the pot. Transfer the cubed sweet potatoes into the steamer basket. Cover the pot and press the “MANUAL” button. Cook on high for 8 minutes. Let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes. Release any residual pressure and uncover the Instant Pot. Stick a fork into the sweet potatoes to check to see if they are tender. Transfer the sweet potatoes to a bowl to mash.
- If you don’t have a big enough sauté pan for this, toss the pasta, California Black Ripe Olives, and baby kale in a large mixing bowl. Prepare the sauce in the pan and pour the sauce over the mixing bowl. Stir until everything is incorporated before transferring to the baking dish.
- If you don’t have a broiler, you can bake the mac and cheese at 350ºF for about 25 to 30 minutes, until the top is lightly golden brown and the cheese is bubbling on the sides. You want the temperature to be lower so that the kale doesn’t overcook and turn brownish.
- Make-ahead directions: You can make the mac and cheese the day before. Follow the directions up to step 11. Cover the pan and refrigerate overnight. Add the panko to the mac and cheese when you are ready to bake. You may need to add a few minutes to the total baking time.
Nutrition
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by California Ripe Olives. You can visit their website for more information or follow them on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, or Twitter.
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