# Why do people add sugar to sweet potatoes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 26, 2009, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071 "2009-11-26T23:35:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2009, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071/1 "2009-11-26T23:35:28Z")
Setting here mindlessly watching a holiday season cooking show and someone was adding sugar to sweet potatoes. My spouse and I both like sweet potatoes and frequently cook and eat sweet potatoes but neither of us ever add sugar our sweet potatoes. So I turned and asked the spouse “Why do people add sugar to sweet potatoes?” and she said she had no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071/2 "2009-11-26T23:58:40Z")
I don’t. But then, I never make that sweet potato and marshmallow thing. I bake my sweet potatoes (usually the white ones) and eat them with butter. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071/3 "2009-11-27T00:07:53Z")
Because they’re Americans. Is any further explanation really necessary? ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071/4 "2009-11-27T00:19:34Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I don’t. But then, I never make that sweet potato and marshmallow thing. > \*\* > I bake my sweet potatoes (usually the white ones) and eat them with butter\*\*. :sigh: This is what I would do (and when it’s not Turkey Day, I do it) if not married to my husband. I don’t know why people add sugar to such an already sweet, flavorful vegetable. Next year I’m making two different kinds. It’s just that I already have so much on my (no pun intended) plate. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071/5 "2009-11-27T01:19:15Z")
I was put in charge of making sweet potatoes today. Normally, yeah, we just bake 'em and eat 'em with butter (and sometimes with a sprinkle of bourbon–yum!). But for today I wanted to make that sweet potato casserole with pecans on top that’s so yummy. So I found a recipe for it. 5 big sweet potatoes, 4 eggs, 3 cups brown sugar, 2 cups pecans, 1 pound (nearly) of butter later, I was impressed with the crustless pie I’d made, except for thinking it was really sweet for a pie. The dish was pretty tasty, but I could easily have cut the sugar down to one cup and had a tasty dish. I think next year I’ll do that. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071/6 "2009-11-27T01:22:42Z")
This is one of my pet peeves. Sweet potatoes are delicious, baked and served with a sprinkling of salt and perhaps a little butter. Candied yams (or sweet potatoes) with brown sugar and marshmallows are really disgusting. You wouldn’t add sugar to carrots or peas, both of which are sweet-ish vegetables. So why ruin something delicious like sweet potatoes by adding sugar and marshmallows? ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071/7 "2009-11-27T01:30:43Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Because they’re Americans. Is any further explanation really necessary? :rolleyes: I am an American and would never add sugar to a sweet potato.Are there any folks from other countries that add sugar ? ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071/8 "2009-11-27T01:31:53Z")
They are disgusting to some people but I personally love my sweet potatoes with pecans and brown sugar and pie spice and a little cream, with marshmallows on top. I only have it on Thanksgiving this way so its a treat meant to stir into the stuffing and cranberry sauce, with a smidge of turkey on the fork. People who get “peeved” by other people’s food choices just astound me. By the way, carrots? Really? Carrot cake? Carrot souffle? Carrot raisin salad? There are several sweet carrot dishes. I don’t know about peas but there are many sweet bean dishes too. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071/9 "2009-11-27T01:44:38Z")
To candy them. If you want to make candied sweet potatoes (why would you when candied yams don’t have all them ‘strings’) you put sugar on it. If you want a baked sweet potato, you don’t. I can understand not liking candied yams. I don’t understand the horrified disbelief. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071/10 "2009-11-27T01:51:32Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > “Why do people add sugar to sweet potatoes?” Because it is in the [pie recipe.](http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sweet-potato-pie-i/Detail.aspx) 🙂 Why not? I usually put lots and lots of butter on them, but brown sugar is interesting. Some people put ketchup on steak. As long as I don’t have to eat it, I have no problem with what other folks eat. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071/11 "2009-11-27T01:59:16Z")
I like sweet potato pie. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071/12 "2009-11-27T02:19:57Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I like sweet potato pie. It’s good stuff, I made two today. I continue to be surprised that it is eaten North of the Mason-Dixon and West of Fort Smith. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071/13 "2009-11-27T02:22:53Z")
> [@MadTheSwine](#): > > :rolleyes: > I am an American and would never add sugar to a sweet potato.Are there any folks from other countries that add sugar ? I don’t think it merits roll-eyes. As a non-American who now lives in the US, I find that people here generally like things much sweeter than I am used to (in the UK). It is not really a criticism to say that Americans like their food sweet - it is just a fact (compared with what I am used to). I remember an American saying on a radio program, “you must realize that when an American calls a wine “dry”, they mean compared with Coca-Cola”. Sometimes it is less obvious. My American wife was astonished to hear from my family that they find the good quality bread that we buy to be sweet. It had never occurred to her. But it is - and high-fructose corn syrup is probably the guilty party. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071/14 "2009-11-27T02:32:41Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > My American wife was astonished to hear from my family that they find the good quality bread that we buy to be sweet. Run that by again? Other folks, bear in mind these guys boil everything, including bread. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071/15 "2009-11-27T02:36:03Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Run that by again? > Other folks, bear in mind these guys boil everything, including bread. 🙂 I see the smiley, but the whole English boiling food thing is a myth. I cannot think of anything that we (Brits) boil that Merkins don’t. In fact, down here in the South, there is more of a desire to boil vegetables to death than I was ever used to. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071/16 "2009-11-27T02:39:43Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Run that by again? And did you really want me to explain the bread thing? If you buy sliced bread and go for the Arnolds/Pepperidge Farm etc. stuff, it is sweet. It contains HFCS. It is okay in sandwiches (where Americans often sweeten everything with their horrible sweet mustard anyway), but as just bread and butter to accompany something, the sweetness really comes through. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071/17 "2009-11-27T02:46:46Z")
Mustard? Sweet? Okay, you guys have to pay for those Lend-Lease destroyers, right now! 🙂 Are you speaking of honey mustard? I didn’t think that was ours. Seriously, I thought there were British recipes that had boiled bread in them. And don’t get me started on food called, “Toad in the Hole”, or Blood Pudding. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071/18 "2009-11-27T02:46:59Z")
As already noted, the pies come out better with the sugar. 🙂 For my baked sweet potatoes I add butter and either cinnamon or cinnamon sugar. It’s good. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071/19 "2009-11-27T03:03:13Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Mustard? Sweet? Yep - you prove my point. The regular mustard that you put on things like hot dogs (which are usually boiled, I would add) is sweet to British taste buds. > [@](#): > > Okay, you guys have to pay for those Lend-Lease destroyers, right now! Yeah, yeah. “saved your asses in two world wars” and all that. > [@](#): > > Seriously, I thought there were British recipes that had boiled bread in them. I cannot think of any, but I await my ignorance to be slain. > [@](#): > > And don’t get me started on food called, “Toad in the Hole” Sausages in baked pancake batter - what is the issue? > [@](#): > > or Blood Pudding. :eek: Well, it is not called that (“black pudding”), but it does indeed taste disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071/20 "2009-11-27T03:07:14Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > Yep - you prove my point. The regular mustard that you put on things like hot dogs (which are usually boiled, I would add) is sweet to British taste buds. French’s yellow mustard ingredients: INGREDIENTS: Distilled Vinegar, Water, No.1 Grade Mustard Seed, Salt, Turmeric, Paprika, Spice, Natural Flavors and Garlic Powder. No sugar or HFCS mentioned. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-add-sugar-to-sweet-potatoes/519071.md?page=2)