--- title: "Batatas, or Sweet Potatoes" url: /batatas-or-sweet-potatoes/ canonical_url: https://flowers-recipes.com/batatas-or-sweet-potatoes/ language: en alternates: pl: https://flowerek.com/bataty-czyli-slodkie-ziemniaki/ de: https://barbaras-kochbuch.de/bataten-oder-suesskartoffeln/ en: https://flowers-recipes.com/batatas-or-sweet-potatoes/ x-default: https://flowers-recipes.com/batatas-or-sweet-potatoes/ published: "2011-01-26" last_updated: "2011-01-26" type: article author: Basia prerequisites: - /category/blog/ related: - /spanish-scented-contest-winners-and-a-beet-cocktail/ - /time-for-leeks-roundup/ - /event-time-for-leeks/ - /sweet-potato-and-parsnip-gnocchi/ categories: - Blog - "Odds & Ends" - Vegetables tags: - "sweet potatoes" - vegetables - ingredients rating: score: 10 best: 10 votes: 1 comments: 3 summary: "What are batatas? Meet these sweet, tender potatoes from the Americas: what's in them, how to cook them, and why I love them." --- # Batatas, or Sweet Potatoes What are batatas? Meet these sweet, tender potatoes from the Americas: what's in them, how to cook them, and why I love them. **This page in other languages:** [Polski (pl)](https://flowerek.com/bataty-czyli-slodkie-ziemniaki.md) · [Deutsch (de)](https://barbaras-kochbuch.de/bataten-oder-suesskartoffeln.md) **Published:** January 26, 2011 · **Author:** Basia · **Rating:** 10/10 (1 votes) ## Related pages > **For AI agents:** every page of this blog is available as Markdown at the same address with .md instead of the trailing slash (e.g. /tiramisu-cake.md). The links below lead to the HTML pages. - [Category: Blog](https://flowers-recipes.com/category/blog/) - [Spanish-Scented Contest Winners and a Beet Cocktail](https://flowers-recipes.com/spanish-scented-contest-winners-and-a-beet-cocktail/) — A beet cocktail may sound a bit strange, but it's actually a refreshing drink full of vitamins. The colder, the better! - [Time for Leeks – Roundup](https://flowers-recipes.com/time-for-leeks-roundup/) — A roundup of the Pora na pora (Time for Leeks) event: 70 leek recipes from 34 food blogs, sorted by blogger and by type - [Event: Time for Leeks…](https://flowers-recipes.com/event-time-for-leeks/) — I'm starting a leek event and collecting recipes with this healthy winter veggie. Join me and share your favorite leek d - [Sweet Potato and Parsnip Gnocchi](https://flowers-recipes.com/sweet-potato-and-parsnip-gnocchi/) — Sweet potato and parsnip gnocchi with arugula, toasted walnuts and a creamy gorgonzola sauce: a colorful, cheerful winte ## Posts What are they? They come from South and Central America, and they're potatoes, or at least they look like it. They're just slightly reddish, sweet and delicate in flavor. They're probably available all over the world by now, although they're most common in the tropics, where they're grown the most. For some people they're still not very familiar. What a shame! As you can guess, batatas owe their sweet taste to a fairly high sugar content (somewhere, I don't remember where anymore, I read that it's about 3%). 100 g of raw batatas contain (I'm relying on the immortal [Wikipedia](http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%BC%C3%9Fkartoffel)) about 111 kcal, 69 g water, 24 g carbohydrates, 1.6 g protein, fiber, vitamins A, C, E, K and the B group, plus calcium, zinc and potassium. As you can see, they're very nutritious. Batatas remind me a little of pumpkin and a little of carrots. I don't know why myself. Probably because of their characteristic sweetness. Sometimes I use them instead of pumpkin, and sometimes instead of potatoes. You can boil them, bake them, fry them, or make them into puree. You can prepare them peeled or with the skin on. They taste great with fish and white meat, e.g. chicken or turkey, which is why they're often used as a side dish or as stuffing for the turkey on Thanksgiving in the USA. Cooked or baked and cut into cubes, or turned into dumplings (e.g. [gnocchi](https://flowers-recipes.com/sweet-potato-and-parsnip-gnocchi/) or kopytka, Polish potato dumplings), they go wonderfully with pasta and salads. According to [Wikipedia](http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%BC%C3%9Fkartoffel), in Asia batatas are also used to make desserts and alcoholic drinks, and their leaves are prepared like spinach. I don't cook with batatas all that often, but I like them because they're so versatile, they taste good, and they give dishes an unusual flavor. ## Comments (3) - **Paula** · 2011-01-26 13:00 Looks like it's going to be a delicious feast! Take care, Paula - **Atria** · 2011-01-26 17:26 I rarely make sweet potatoes either, I've made them maybe twice. Now I have a great recipe for spicy sweet potatoes.. but man, I have no idea why they cost so much.. - **flowerek (Author)** · 2011-01-26 18:41 · reply Atria, too bad they're expensive. Maybe you could make just a part of a portion of the dish, just to try it? I'm curious whether you mean the same dish as in my latest post, namely Bea's gnocchi http://flowerek.com/male-dankaprzekaski/gnocchi-z-batatow-i-pasternaku/ Paula, the post is ready. Come on over :) --- [Recipes A to Z](https://flowers-recipes.com/recipes/) · [Sitemap](https://flowers-recipes.com/sitemap.xml)