Sweet Potato Hash with Sorghum Yogurt
This sweet potato hash is the kind of breakfast I love as the weather gets cooler: hearty enough to feel substantial, but still simple enough to make without turning breakfast into an all-morning project.
The sweet potatoes cook directly in the rendered bacon fat with a little butter. Covering the pan is the trick here. It traps enough steam to cook the potatoes through while the fat underneath allows them to sear and caramelize. Once they're tender, the onion, peppers, and garlic go in so they retain more of their texture and freshness rather than disappearing into the hash.
The sorghum yogurt is what brings everything together. Sorghum has a deep, almost earthy sweetness that works especially well with sweet potatoes and smoky bacon. Whisked into tangy yogurt, it becomes a simple sauce that's sweet, tart, and creamy all at once.
Serve this on its own for breakfast or brunch, or put a fried egg on top if you want to make it even more substantial.
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Hash
1 strip bacon, chopped
1 tablespoon (14 g) unsalted butter
2 large sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds / 900 g), peeled and medium diced
1 medium onion (about 1 cup / 150 g), medium diced
2–4 sweet peppers, depending on size (about 1 cup / 150 g), medium diced
1 clove garlic, minced
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Sorghum Yogurt
1 cup (240 g) plain whole-milk yogurt
2 tablespoons (40 g) sorghum syrup, or to taste
Pinch of kosher salt
Method
Place the chopped bacon in a large skillet over medium heat and cook slowly until the fat has rendered and the bacon is beginning to crisp.
Add the butter and let it melt into the rendered bacon fat.
Add the diced sweet potatoes and stir to coat them thoroughly in the bacon fat and butter. Spread the potatoes into an even layer across the pan, then cover with a lid.
Cook the sweet potatoes covered, stirring and turning them occasionally, until they're nearly tender throughout and beginning to develop deeply golden, caramelized edges. Keeping the skillet covered traps steam to help cook the centers of the potatoes while the direct heat from the pan gives you the seared exterior you're looking for.
While the sweet potatoes cook, medium dice the onion and peppers and mince the garlic.
Once the sweet potatoes are tender, add the onion, peppers, and garlic to the skillet. Stir everything together, cover again, and continue cooking until the onion and peppers are tender but still have some texture.
Remove the lid toward the end of cooking if there is excess moisture in the pan. Let the hash cook uncovered for a few minutes so any remaining moisture can evaporate and the vegetables can pick up a little more color.
Remove from the heat and season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Make the Sorghum Yogurt
Whisk together the yogurt, sorghum syrup, and a pinch of salt until smooth.
Start with a little less sorghum if you prefer and add more to taste. The sauce should have a noticeable molasses-like sweetness while retaining the yogurt's tang.
Serve the warm sweet potato hash with the sorghum yogurt spooned over the top or alongside.
Storage
Store the hash and sorghum yogurt separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
For the best texture, reheat the hash in a skillet rather than the microwave. A little butter in the pan will help bring back the crisp, caramelized edges.
Cook's Note: Steam and Sear
Cooking the sweet potatoes covered might seem counterintuitive when we're trying to make a hash, but it lets us accomplish two things at once. The trapped steam helps the relatively large pieces of sweet potato cook all the way through, while the bacon fat and butter underneath encourage browning where the potatoes meet the pan.
Don't stir constantly. Give the sweet potatoes time in contact with the hot skillet before turning them. That's how you get tender centers and those deeply browned edges that make a good hash so satisfying.
