When boiled and refrigerated, sweet potatoes develop resistant starch, a fiber that resists digestion in the small intestine. This process makes sweet potatoes even healthier and can help manage blood sugar levels, making them a great choice for people with (or without) diabetes. In this Diabetic Sweet Potatoes recipe, we'll explore how boiling and refrigerating sweet potatoes can improve their health benefits and how to incorporate this simple method into your diet for better blood sugar control.
Diabetic-friendly sweet potatoes are not only delicious but also incredibly versatile. They can be served stuffed with your favorite fillings, tossed in salads, or enjoyed as a tasty side dish with a drizzle of tahini dressing. You can even use them to create a rich, flavorful sweet potato pasta sauce. Whether you're looking for a nutritious meal or a simple side, sweet potatoes are a great addition to any diabetes-friendly diet, providing essential nutrients while keeping blood sugar levels in check.
This recipe was inspired by these Healthy, Savory Mashed Sweet Potatoes as well as this Sweet Potato Soup with White Beans.
Jump to:
- 👩🏽⚕️ General Tips for Making Potatoes More Diabetic-Friendly
- 🌾 Benefits of Resistant Starch
- 📖 How to Make Diabetic Sweet Potatoes with Resistant Starch
- 🍠🥔 Substitutions
- ✔️ Expert Tips
- 🫧 Boiling versus Steaming
- 🍠 Can I create resistant starch with baked sweet potatoes?
- 🥔 Can I create resistant starch with regular potatoes?
- 🛒 Shop Recipe Cookware and Ingredients
- 🙋🏽♀️ Recipe FAQs
- 🍽️ More Healthy Sweet Potato Recipes
- 🍲 Pairing
- 👩🏽🍳 Made this recipe?
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
👩🏽⚕️ General Tips for Making Potatoes More Diabetic-Friendly
To make potatoes that won’t spike blood sugar as much, here are some effective tips to lower their glycemic index:
- Choose a Lower-GI Potato Variety: Potatoes like red or new potatoes generally have a lower glycemic index (GI) compared to russets. Sweet potatoes are also a great option, offering a similar GI advantage but with the added benefit of being much richer in antioxidants.
- Cook and Cool for Resistant Starch: After cooking, cool the potatoes in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Cooling changes some of the starches into resistant starch, which digests more slowly, lowering the impact on blood sugar. You can gently reheat them afterward without losing the resistant starch.
- Add Healthy Fats: Adding healthy fats—such as a drizzle of tahini, a healthy vegan dressing with heart-healthy fats, or a sprinkle of hemp hearts—can enhance their benefits by slowing digestion. This helps reduce blood sugar spikes by slowing the release of glucose into the bloodstream.
- Include Fiber-Rich Vegetables: Adding cauliflower or turnips to your potatoes not only lightens the dish but also adds fiber, which slows down the absorption of carbohydrates.
- Serve as Part of a Meal: Make potatoes part of a balanced meal. Pair them with a high-protein side dish to further help balance blood sugar levels.
These small changes can make mashed potatoes more blood sugar-friendly while keeping them delicious and satisfying!
🌾 Benefits of Resistant Starch
Normally, starches are broken down into glucose during digestion, but resistant starch isn't digested in the small intestine, meaning it doesn't cause a spike in blood glucose levels. It reaches the large intestine, where it is fermented, promoting the growth of good bacteria while reducing harmful bacteria. This improves gut health and can help with better glycemic control. Other benefits of resistant starch include increased satiety, improved digestion, relief from constipation, and reduced cholesterol. Since resistant starch ferments slowly, it produces less gas compared to other types of fiber.
📖 How to Make Diabetic Sweet Potatoes with Resistant Starch
Ingredients & Health Benefits:
Sweet potatoes are rich in vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene), which is important for vision, immune function, and skin health. Sweet potatoes are also a good source of fiber, which helps with digestion, blood sugar control, and reducing the risk of heart disease. The antioxidants in sweet potatoes, such as beta-carotene and anthocyanins (in purple varieties), have anti-inflammatory properties and may help reduce the risk of chronic diseases like cancer. Additionally, sweet potatoes have a low glycemic index when prepared properly, making them a great option for those managing blood sugar levels.
Instructions:
This is an overview. The full recipe is at the bottom of the post.
- Cook the potatoes: Place them in a large saucepan with water to cover by about 3 inches high. Bring the water to a simmer and cook the potatoes over low heat for about 25 minutes or until just cooked through. To check potatoes for doneness, insert a knife into one.
- Drain the potatoes and set them aside to cool.
- To maximize resistant starch formation, refrigerate cooked potatoes for at least 8 to 12 hours. This cooling period allows the starches to reconfigure, increasing the resistant starch content and making them more blood sugar-friendly. You can reheat the potatoes if desired without significantly reducing the resistant starch.
- For serving (Stuffed Sweet Potatoes): Leave the skin on for more fiber, antioxidants, and better blood glucose control. Slice the potatoes in half lengthwise and microwave or reheat them in the oven. Top with your favorite protein-rich options, such as Black Bean or Tofu Chili, or try my Vegan High-Protein Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with crispy roasted chickpeas and tempeh for a satisfying meal.
- For Serving (Salad): Alternatively, you can remove the skin, peel, and chop the sweet potato into bite-size pieces for a salad or veggie bowl.
- For Serving (Warm Grain Bowl): Reheat the chopped sweet potato in the oven on a nonstick baking sheet at 350°F (175°C) for about 10-15 minutes, or until heated through. For added flavor and moisture, drizzle with olive oil if desired.
- For Serving (Soup): Remove the skin and add the sweet potato flesh to a blender with the other ingredients to make a creamy White Bean Sweet Potato Soup. Blend until smooth and heat for a comforting, nutrient-packed meal.
- For Serving (Pasta Sauce): Remove the skin and add the sweet potato flesh to a blender with the other ingredients to make a creamy Sweet Potato Pasta Sauce. Blend until smooth, then heat and toss with your favorite pasta for a delicious and nutrient-dense meal.
🍠🥔 Substitutions
- Potato - Substitute Beauregard, Jewel, Stokes Okinawa, red garnet, Japanese white, red, or new potatoes, or choose your preferred variety of potato or sweet potato.
For more diabetic-friendly vegetable recipes, visit my Cruciferous Recipes page.
✔️ Expert Tips
- Cooking time for sweet potatoes can vary depending on their size. Smaller sweet potatoes typically take 20-30 minutes to cook when baked or boiled, while larger ones may require 45 minutes to 1 hour or longer. For quicker cooking, choose smaller potatoes.
- Do not overcook the sweet potatoes, as they can become mushy. The ends tend to cook faster since they are thinner, so check for doneness by piercing the thickest part with a fork. If it slides in easily, the sweet potatoes are ready. If not, continue cooking and check every few minutes until they are fully cooked.
- Allow the sweet potatoes to cool completely at room temperature before refrigerating them. This helps prevent condensation from forming, which can make them soggy. Once cooled, store them in an airtight container before placing them in the refrigerator.
- Leave the skin on for more fiber, antioxidants, and better blood glucose control. While the texture of soups and sauces may be different, keeping the skin provides extra health benefits, making your sweet potato even more nutritious.
- To reheat chilled sweet potatoes, see the FAQs below.
- Smoothies: Peel, portion, and freeze cooked sweet potatoes and use them to make gut-healthy smoothies!
- Storage: Refrigerate for at least 8 to 12 hours, or preferably overnight, to allow for maximum resistant starch formation. Store for up to 5 days. Or freeze cooked sweet potatoes in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
🫧 Boiling versus Steaming
Boiling may retain most of the antioxidant power of sweet potatoes, compared to even steaming. Boiling can also thin cell walls and gelatinize starch, making the nutrients more bioavailable.
- Nutrient Retention and Glycemic Index: A study published in The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that boiling potatoes tends to result in a lower glycemic index than other cooking methods like baking or frying, which is beneficial for blood sugar management. This occurs because boiling promotes the gelatinization of starch, creating a structure that slows down carbohydrate digestion and absorption, thereby reducing the glycemic response.
- Bioavailability of Antioxidants: This study explored how cooking methods influence the antioxidant content in potatoes. The findings suggested that boiling can enhance the bioavailability of certain antioxidants, including phenolic compounds, as the softened cell walls allow for better nutrient release.
- Vitamin C Retention: Research has shown that steaming can preserve more vitamin C in potatoes compared to boiling. This difference is likely due to the reduced contact with water, which minimizes nutrient leaching. However, unpeeled potatoes lose only about 7% by cooking, and for antioxidant capacity and bioavailability, boiling still performs comparably well.
These studies indicate that while steaming retains more vitamins in potatoes, boiling may offer advantages for enhancing antioxidant bioavailability and lowering the glycemic index, which can be beneficial depending on individual dietary needs.
🍠 Can I create resistant starch with baked sweet potatoes?
The process of creating resistant starch can also be used for baked sweet potatoes. After baking, simply cool the potatoes in the refrigerator for at least 8 to 12 hours. The cooling process transforms some of the starch into resistant starch, which is not digested in the small intestine and does not raise blood glucose levels. This process works for other types of cooked starches, like rice and pasta. For best results, refrigerate the potatoes overnight and enjoy them in meals like Vegan Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, Warm Quinoa Salad, or as a side dish with Asian Tahini Dressing.
🥔 Can I create resistant starch with regular potatoes?
Use this process of creating resistant starch for both regular potatoes and sweet potatoes. After cooking, simply cool the potatoes in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours. This cooling period allows some of the starch to turn into resistant starch, which is not digested in the small intestine and helps improve blood glucose control. You can apply this method to both types of potatoes.
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🙋🏽♀️ Recipe FAQs
To reheat whole cooked potatoes in the oven, preheat it to 350°F (175°C). Place the potatoes directly on the oven rack or a baking sheet and heat for about 20-25 minutes, or until they are warmed through. Check occasionally to make sure they don’t dry out.
To reheat whole cooked potatoes in the microwave, place them on a microwave-safe plate and use a wet paper towel to wrap the potato to retain moisture. Microwave on high for 3-5 minutes, flipping halfway through, until they are heated through. If the potato isn’t hot enough, continue microwaving in 30-second intervals until fully reheated.
🍽️ More Healthy Sweet Potato Recipes
🍲 Pairing
Add a plant-based protein side:
Add a healthy dressing:
👩🏽🍳 Made this recipe?
Let me know your thoughts on Diabetic Sweet Potatoes by leaving a ⭐️ rating below or sharing it on Instagram.
📖 Recipe
Diabetic Sweet Potatoes
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Ingredients
- 3 medium sweet potatoes
Instructions
- Clean: Place the sweet potatoes under cool running water. Use a vegetable brush or your hands to scrub the skin gently, removing any dirt or debris.
- Cook: Place them in a large saucepan with water to cover by about 3 inches high. Bring the water to a simmer and cook the potatoes over low heat for about 25 minutes or until just cooked through. To check potatoes for doneness, insert a knife into one.
- Drain the potatoes and set them aside to cool completely.
- Chill: To maximize resistant starch formation, refrigerate cooked potatoes for at least 8 to 12 hours. This cooling period allows the starches to reconfigure, increasing the resistant starch content and making them more blood sugar-friendly. You can reheat the potatoes if desired without significantly reducing the resistant starch.
- For reheating: Oven: Preheat to 350°F (175°C). Place the potatoes directly on the oven rack or a baking sheet and heat for about 20-25 minutes, or until they are warmed through. Check occasionally to make sure they don’t dry out.Microwave: Place them on a microwave-safe plate and use a wet paper towel to wrap the potato to retain moisture. Microwave on high for 3-5 minutes, flipping halfway through, until they are heated through. If the potato isn’t hot enough, continue microwaving in 30-second intervals until fully reheated.
Notes
- See the blog post for how to use diabetic sweet potatoes in recipes.
- Cooking time for sweet potatoes can vary depending on their size. Smaller sweet potatoes typically take 20-30 minutes to cook when baked or boiled, while larger ones may require 45 minutes to 1 hour or longer. For quicker cooking, choose smaller potatoes.
- Do not overcook the sweet potatoes, as they can become mushy. The ends tend to cook faster since they are thinner, so check for doneness by piercing the thickest part with a fork. If it slides in easily, the sweet potatoes are ready. If not, continue cooking and check every few minutes until they are fully cooked.
- Allow the sweet potatoes to cool completely at room temperature before refrigerating them. This helps prevent condensation from forming, which can make them soggy. Once cooled, store them in an airtight container before placing them in the refrigerator.
- Smoothies: Peel, portion, and freeze cooked sweet potatoes and use them to make gut-healthy smoothies!
Nutrition
This information is provided as a courtesy and is an ESTIMATE only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased can change the nutritional information in any given recipe.
Teri says
You have got the best recipes and all the information you provide is much appreciated. I love to make your recipes , plus I learn a lot . Thank you so much for sharing.
Teri
Nisha Melvani, RDN says
Thank you for letting me know. I appreciate you being here.
Sherry Malhotra says
Can I boil sweet potatoes in my instant pot and still retain the goodness of boiling?
Nisha Melvani, RDN says
Yes!