Vegan Sweet Potato Sauce

This vegan sweet potato sauce is healthy, creamy and delicious. Enjoy it on pasta, rice, or even as a dip!

Pasta is one of my favourite comfort foods, but it’s really all about the sauce. You can’t have a good pasta dish without a good vegan pasta sauce! I usually go for my plant-based cheese sauce, but recently I wanted to try something different.

When I started experimenting with this vegan sweet potato sauce, I was a bit skeptical about making a sauce out of potatoes. I’ve seen so many vegan sauce recipes made from potatoes, so I thought I’d give it a shot. It turned out fantastic!

Aside from the delicious taste, I love that this sauce has a vibrant orange colour from the sweet potatoes. It’s also thick and creamy and super versatile. If you have been looking for a yummy vegan pasta sauce recipe, look no further!

This sauce is:

• Vegan
• Healthy
• Whole food plant based
• Gluten free
• Oil free
• Thick
• Creamy
• Savoury
• Versatile

What is in this vegan sweet potato sauce?

This sauce obviously has a base of sweet potato. Aside from that, you only need 7 other ingredients!

If you’re new to healthy vegan (whole food plant based) cooking, you may not have some of these ingredients at home. However, these ingredients are used in many of my recipes, so you can get a lot of use out of them!

Here is what you need for this recipe:

2 cups peeled and chopped sweet potato (260 g)

½ cup chopped yellow onion

1 large garlic clove

1 cup + 3 tbsp vegetable broth

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp tamari

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Tips for making this sweet potato sauce:

1. Make sure you boil the sweet potatoes until they are extremely soft. The pieces should start breaking apart when you pierce them with a fork. This will ensure that they can be easily blended into the smoothest sauce possible.
2. Do not skip the step of sautéing the onion and garlic. If you don’t sauté them, the taste of onion will probably be way too strong for your liking. I tried making this sauce with raw onion instead of cooking it first so that the recipe could be quicker and easier, but the taste just doesn’t turn out right.
3. While you are sautéing the onion and garlic, you don’t need to use the exact recommended amount of 3 tbsp of vegetable broth. Start with one tbsp and add more as needed so that the veggies don’t stick to your pan. You may not need the full 3 tbsp, or you may need slightly more. Cook the veggies until the onion starts to brown slightly and becomes more translucent.
4. When it’s time to blend all of the ingredients into a sauce, I recommend you start with only the cooked sweet potato and the 1 cup of vegetable broth. This will allow you to smooth out the potato before adding other ingredients.
5. The sauce may have a bit of a lumpy look if you don’t have a very high-end blender or food processor. Don’t worry about this because it won’t affect the taste and it is really only an aesthetic issue. As you can see in my images, the sauce has a textured, somewhat lumpy look, but it is really not noticeable while eating it.

What to use this sweet potato sauce for

This sauce is not just for pasta. Here are all the ways that I recommend you use it!

• Of course, as a pasta sauce
• As a sauce for a rice bowl
• As a dip for chips or crackers
• As a veggie dip

If you like this recipe, you should also check out this plant-based cheese sauce!

Print Recipe

Thick and Creamy Vegan Sweet Potato Sauce

This vegan sweet potato sauce is healthy, creamy and delicious. Enjoy it on pasta, rice, or even as a dip!

Total Time30 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: healthy, sauce, sweet potato

Servings: 2 cups

Author: Bree Sheree

Equipment

• Medium sized pot
• Pan
• Blender or food processor

Ingredients

• 2 cups peeled and chopped sweet potato 260 g
• 3 cups water
• ½ cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 large garlic clove
• 1 cup + 3 tbsp vegetable broth
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp tamari
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

Instructions

• Bring a pot of 3 cups water to a boil. Peel and chop your sweet potatoes while the water is boiling.
• Place your sweet potatoes in the boiling water for approximately 10 minutes, until very soft so that they can be easily mashed.
• Sauté onion and garlic in approximately 3 tbsp of vegetable broth, only adding 1 tbsp at a time as needed. Sauté for 5-8 minutes.
• Add all ingredients (but only 1 cup of vegetable broth) to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.*

Notes

*To make the sauce smoother, begin by blending the sweet potato and vegetable broth before adding the remaining ingredients. 

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 

Stir the sauce thoroughly before eating and heat it up before serving with pasta.