Recipes

Sweet Potato Cakes with Coconut Lime Sauce

Serves 4

| Prep Time: 15 mins

| Cook Time: 30 mins

| Total Time: 45 mins

You may need: Island Spice

Discover The Recipe

When thinking of Caribbean food, most think of bold flavors from spices that for centuries were traded through Caribbean ports, enveloped by spicy heat from local peppers. Tropical fruits like coconut, banana, and mango also come to mind, often reminding us of our extravagant vacation drinks. Many of the best Caribbean recipes achieve a perfect flavor balance by also adding a little acid from citrus like lime, orange, or lemon to some sweetness from coconut, bananas, or derivatives of sugar, such as molasses and cane juice. The result is that, even simply-prepared dishes like this Sweet Potato Cakes with Coconut Lime sauce recipe taste sublime.

In this dish, we use our proprietary spice blend called 'Island Spice'. We developed this all-purpose blend by looking at a number of Caribbean recipes across the region from Jamaica to the Antilles and examining key flavors used in their cuisine. We've added key aromatics like ginger, garlic and onion to the native spice allspice, and also drop in subtle flavor hints from fresh herbs rosemary, thyme and parsley. This dish is relatively easy to make even on a weeknight and is both vegan and gluten-free. You can also try this spice to make our 'Jamaican Run Down' (fish stew) recipe.

Ingredients

Sweet Potato Cakes:
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled
Coconut oil (or avocado, grapeseed, olive oil)
1.5 Tbsp Piquant Post Island Spice
1 tsp salt + pepper (optional)
1 Tbsp flat-leaf parsley (chopped)
2 Tbsp cilantro (chopped)
pinch of cayenne pepper, or to taste (optional)
Coconut Lime Sauce:
1 (14.5 oz) can full fat coconut milk
1 tsp fresh ginger (grated)
1 tsp Piquant Post Island Spice
1/2 tsp salt + pepper (optional)
2 Tbsp fresh cherry peppers (minced)
1 lime, zested + juiced (~1 tbsp)
2 cups fresh spinach

Notes

If you have more time and want less prep work, you can slice the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise and roast. It will take longer to get them fully cooked, but then you don't have to peel and slice into cubes before roasting.

Make sure you cook the potatoes until soft enough to pierce with a fork into the middle. Otherwise, your cakes will have some harder lumps in them. Our short period of frying won't soften undercooked sweet potatoes.

Lastly, optional ingredients add a little character and flavor but don’t sweat it if you don’t have them.

Instructions

Preheat oven 375 deg. Cut sweet potatoes into 2-3" cubes. On a foil- or parchment-lined roasting pan, drizzle potatoes with 1 Tbsp melted coconut oil or another oil. Cook potatoes for 20 mins or until soft and cubes can be pierced with a fork. Remove and let cool.

While sweet potatoes bake, heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a medium saucepan on Med. Once hot, add ginger, 1 tsp Island Spice, and cherry peppers and cook for 1 min. Stir in coconut milk and reduce heat to Med-Low & simmer until liquid volume reduces by half (~about the same time it takes for sweet potatoes to bake & cool).

When sweet potatoes are cool to touch, put in medium mixing bowl and smash with a potato masher or a large fork (mash should be soft). Add 1.5 Tbsp Island Spice, salt & pepper, parsley, cilantro, and cayenne and stir to mix. Form 3" patties with hands (wet hands first to reduce stickiness).

Heat a large non-stick pan or cast iron skillet on Med-High. Add enough oil to cover bottom of pan. Cook patties for 2-3 mins on each side or until just golden brown. Finish coconut sauce by adding lime juice + zest and spinach, then stirring until wilted. Serve in shallow bowls filled with sauce and top with patties. Garnish with more cilantro & lime wedges (optional).

Alternatives & Substitutions

Don't feel like sweet potato cakes with coconut lime sauce? Our Island Spice blend is a Swiss-Army knife. We think you'll find lots of ways to use it. You can use the Island Spice directly as a dry rub on chicken, fish, shrimp, or pork.
Island Spice also pairs beautifully with seafood. Try making our authentic Jamaican 'Run Down' (fish stew) or Cajun Shrimp Pasta recipes. Or try our Jamaican Brown Chicken Stew or Tostones de Pana!
Try making our decadent, vegan Portobello and Black Eyed Pea Gumbo instead!
Make some Caribbean Island Lime Shrimp... simply sub in an equivalent amount of Piquant Post Island Spice for all the dried spices in the recipe.
Try making a Caribbean spiced version of these Million Dollar Deviled Eggs.
Also, try using it in place of paprika for a savory flavor boost in any of your favorite recipes.
Post pictures of your masterpiece meal on social media and tag us. We repost!