Looking for a super simple, one-pot breakfast that comes together quickly? Then you're in the right place! This sweet potato porridge is nourishing, ready in 15 minutes in the Instant Pot (or can be made on the stovetop), and is delicious with sweet or savory toppings!
Jump to:
- What makes this porridge awesome?
- Ingredients and Substitutions
- Recipe Testing Notes
- How To Make This 15-Minute Porridge
- Watch How to Make This - Step by Step
- Expert Tips
- Common Questions
- Sweet Potato Porridge Variations
- Want to Save it for Later? Here’s how!
- Fun Fact
- What to eat with this 15-minute porridge
- Recipe
What makes this porridge awesome?
Well, I’m glad you asked! We love it for so many reasons, but here are a few key points.
- Fast & Delicious: Sometimes quick meals aren't tasty, but that isn't the case with this sweet potato porridge. Toasty maple syrup, warm cinnamon, and creamy coconut milk give this 15-minute (yup, that's the total time!) breakfast its fantastic taste!
- One Pot: This is truly a one-pot meal. Everything gets dumped into the Instant Pot, crockpot, or a large stock pot (yeah for another cooking process option!) and cooked together. Just give it a stir and leave it alone until cooked.
- Versatile: Even though sweet potatoes and maple syrup are, well, sweet, these breakfast bowls are delicious topped with a variety of toppings. Some sweet options are bananas, blueberries, and cashew butter while some savory options are eggs and avocado.
Looking for more things to serve for breakfast? Try Avocado Chia Pudding, Steak and Eggs on the Grill (another great sweet potato breakfast idea!), or our Bacon Cottage Cheese Egg Bake.
Ingredients and Substitutions
All substitutions are a 1:1 substitutes unless otherwise noted.
Sweet Potato: The star of the show! All you need to prep this is to peel it and cube it. It will completely cook in the pot.
Substitutions: Pumpkin puree, purple sweet potatoes, yam, or white sweet potato can all be used.
Canned Coconut Milk: I love to use canned coconut milk for recipes because it adds a similar creaminess to whole milk but with the fun flavor of coconut!
Substitutions: This is a rare case where any type of unsweetened canned or boxed coconut milk will work. You can also use any unsweetened plant-based milk like almond milk, or cow’s milk. The only milk I do not recommend is Trader Joe’s canned coconut milk.
Quinoa: I chose quinoa for this porridge because of its fiber and protein content.
Substitutions: You can use any color of quinoa, chia seeds, or oatmeal. You maybe can use farro or hemp hearts too, but they have not been tested. White rice can be used but the cooking time will need to be increased by 1 minute in the Instant Pot or 5 minutes on the stovetop.
Salt: Always use salt people! It enhances the natural sweetness of sweet potatoes.
Substitutions: Sorry, no substitution for this.
Cinnamon: I don’t think anything is a better pairing than sweet potato and cinnamon!
Substitutions: If you don’t have cinnamon, you could use pumpkin pie spice, apple pie spice, or ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg. You can also leave out the cinnamon if needed.
Maple Syrup: While you might only think of maple syrup as a fall season staple, I love to use it to sweeten just about anything I can. It’s a naturally occurring sugar that adds a wonderful caramelized flavor, just be sure to use pure maple syrup.
Substitutions: Honey or agave syrup can be used in place of maple syrup in this delicious breakfast.
Toppings: This porridge is delicious with sweet or savory toppings. Some of our favorite sweet toppings are blueberries, bananas (or other fresh fruit), cashew butter, almond butter, peanut butter (any nut butter!), and cacao nibs. Some favorite savory items are avocado, fried eggs, bacon or chorizo, and cilantro lime sauce.
Recipe Testing Notes
Throughout our testing of how to cook sweet potato porridge, we learned some key things that worked and didn't work. Here are the key takeaways!
Instant Pot, Crock Pot, or Stove Top
We tested this in both the Instant Pot, a crockpot, and on the stovetop in a large pot. Both worked well, but the Instant Pot and crockpot required no oversight during cooking.
The Instant Pot is our preferred method because of how fast it is and the crockpot was our second choice. If you don’t have an Instant Pot and want to make this in a crockpot or on the stovetop, check out our recipe notes!
Quinoa and Oats
In testing this recipe, we had great success with using both quinoa and rolled oats. But quinoa has double the protein per serving so we decided to go that route.
It'll Get Thick
Due to the starch in the potatoes, the mixture will get thick as it sits in the fridge. To thin it out, simply mix a little milk into the mixture and heat again.
How To Make This 15-Minute Porridge
Be sure to scroll all the way to the recipe card for the full sweet potato porridge recipe!
Step one: peel and slice the potato
To start, peel the sweet potato and dice it into cubes that are no larger than 1” by 1”.
Step two: add it all to the pot
Now add everything to the Instant Pot or stock pot and give it a stir.
Step three: cook the porridge
To cook in the Instant Pot, set it to cook on high for 6 minutes (it will take 5 minutes or so to build pressure). Once done, release the pressure manually.
To cook in a crockpot, set the timer to cook on low for 4-6 hours. Stirring every 2 hours.
To cook on the stovetop, bring the contents to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are fork-tender. Stir occasionally to keep the milk from burning.
Step four: mash the potatoes and serve
Once it’s cooked, use a whisk or fork to roughly mash the sweet potatoes and mix this mashed sweet potato with the coconut milk and quinoa. The sweet potatoes should mash up pretty easily but don't need to be perfectly smooth.
You can use a food processor to mash everything for this sweet potato porridge breakfast bowl, but we felt that made the texture too mushy.
Watch How to Make This - Step by Step
Expert Tips
This recipe is pretty simple but here are a few main tips to make sure it goes off without a hitch!
- The potatoes must be small: Because this recipe cooks the quinoa and the potatoes at the same time, the potatoes must be cut small. This ensures that the time to cook the quinoa matches the time to cook the potatoes. When cooked correctly, you should be able to mash the potatoes with the back of a wooden spoon.
- Stir to avoid burn: When using the stovetop method for this porridge, it's super important to make sure you keep stirring it. This ensures the milk doesn't burn on the bottom of the pot.
Common Questions
I recommend serving this hot. I think the texture of hot porridge is much better than cold, plus it’s just downright cozy!
Sweet potatoes are not necessarily better for you than regular potatoes, but each has its own unique characteristics that might make you choose one over the other. Both types of potatoes are very similar in calories, protein, and amounts of healthy carbs. Sweet potatoes, however, are an excellent source of vitamins, being particularly high in Vitamin A while regular potatoes are higher in potassium.
Porridge is of European origin that describes any dish cooked with whole grains, cereal, or legumes. It's generally made with oats or barley. Some examples are oatmeal and cream of wheat.
Sweet Potato Porridge Variations
Sweet potato and oatmeal: To make this version of the porridge, simply swap out the quinoa for oatmeal. Easy peasy!
Baked sweet potato oatmeal: I love a good oatmeal bake! To make this one, cook it as directed but without the quinoa. Then mash the potato mixture and mix it with 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, and 2 cups of oats. Bake this at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.
Sweet Potato Porridge for Baby: To make this dish baby-friendly (or whole family-friendly), leave out maple syrup and salt when making it. Then the baby gets the unsweetened version and you can top yours with as little or as much maple syrup as you like!
Leftover Porridge: This recipe is awesome to use with Thanksgiving leftovers, particularly old pumpkins! Simply use pumpkin in place of the sweet potato and add a little orange zest to bring new life to the leftovers.
Want to Save it for Later? Here’s how!
This sweet potato porridge makes great meal prep in the fridge but it's not freezer friendly. Here are some tips for saving it.
Fridge: Simply store any leftovers in an airtight container and store them in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Reheating: When ready to eat, reheat using either the microwave or the stovetop. To reheat in the microwave, heat an individual serving for 1 minute and then mix a little milk in to thin it out.
To reheat on the stovetop, add the leftovers and a little milk to a saucepan and heat on low to medium heat while stirring until warm.
Ways to Use Leftover Porridge:
If you don’t feel like enjoying leftover porridge, try making healthy sweet potato pancakes! To make them, follow these steps.
- Heat a skillet on medium heat with a little butter.
- Add the leftover porridge to a blender. Add 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract, and ½ a cup of milk and blend.
- Pour batter into the skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes. On the first side, this should be until bubbles appear on the top, meaning heat has made it all the way through the batter.
- Flip the pancakes and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from the pan and enjoy with your favorite toppings!
Fun Fact
Sweet potatoes, like many root vegetables, are easy to grow at home but need 90-100 days to grow from seedlings. They grow in white, yellow, purple, red, or orange color. And the funniest fact - you would need to eat 23 cups of broccoli to get the same amount of vitamin A as you get from one sweet potato! (source)
What to eat with this 15-minute porridge
These are some of our favorite sweet potato porridge pairings.
Did you try this and love it? Leave us a review, we would love to hear from you!
Recipe
15 Minute Sweet Potato Porridge
Equipment
- 1 Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 sweet potato peeled and cubed to be ½" - 1" thick
- 13.66 oz coconut milk
- ½ cup quinoa uncooked
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup
Topping Ideas: Bananas, cashew butter, blueberries, cacao nibs, avocado, eggs, chorizo, or cilantro lime sauce.
Instructions
To make in the Instant Pot:
- Add everything to an instant pot. Stir to combine.
- Close the lid and seal the valve. Set to cook on high for 6 minutes.
- Let this cook - it will take 5-10 minutes for the pot to build pressure.
- Once the timer goes off, manually release the remaining pressure.
- Use a whisk or fork to roughly mash the sweet potatoes while mixing them with the other ingredients.
- Transfer to bowls and top with your favorite toppings.
To make on the stove top:
- Add everything to a large pot. Bring to a boil while stirring constantly.
- Reduce to a simmer and cover.
- Continue to cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Cook until quinoa is soft and sweet potatoes are fork tender.
- Use a whisk or fork to roughly mash the sweet potatoes while mixing them with the other ingredients.
- Transfer to bowls and top with your favorite toppings.
To make in a crockpot:
- Add everything to the crockpot and stir to combine.
- Turn the crockpot to low and set to cook for 6 hours.
- Stir every 2 hours and check the potatoes at hour 4. If they are fork tender, then turn off the crockpot and roughly mash the sweet potatoes with a whisk or fork while mixing them with the other ingredients.
- Transfer to a bowls and top with your favorite toppings.
Elle says
This is seriously so fast! Perfect for meal prep.