This chocolate sweet potato frosting is thick, rich, smooth, and luxuriously delicious!
Did I mention the part about how you only need two ingredients???
You’ll want to spread this rich chocolate sweet potato frosting over everything!
Cupcakes, mug cakes, brownies, layer cakes, birthday cakes…
The chocolate frosting is so delicious and easy to whip up that it’s almost impossible to believe the ingredients – no butter, no shortening, and no powdered sugar!
Also make these Sweet Potato Brownies
Chocolate sweet potato frosting ingredients
Literally the only two ingredients in this recipe are sweet potato and chocolate chips!
It’s important to bake the sweet potato instead of microwaving or steaming, because this will yield the richest, sweetest flavor. It also will ensure the frosting is not watery.
I like to use vegan chocolate chips, but you can use your favorite. Feel free to experiment with dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or semi sweet chocolate chips. Maybe even white chocolate chips!
For vegan sweet potato frosting, look for dairy free chocolate chips. The recipe can also be gluten free, soy free, egg free, nut free, and paleo with sugar free chocolate chips.
Can you make the recipe without chocolate chips?
If you want to experiment with using cocoa powder instead of chocolate chips, I would recommend adding a fat source, such as almond butter, for richness.
Or try my Healthy Chocolate Frosting or Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.
If you don’t have chips on hand and don’t want to make a special trip to the grocery store, another option is to take a chocolate bar and break it up into small pieces to use instead of chocolate chips.
How to make sweet potato frosting
Bake your sweet potato, then let it cool a little, so it’s not super hot.
Scoop the sweet potato flesh into a food processor. Discard the skin, or eat it on its own. Sweet potato skin is a good source of fiber.
Carefully melt the chocolate chips, either in the microwave or using a double boiler. Chocolate can burn quickly, so be sure to take the chips out of the heat before they are fully melted and stir until smooth.
Add the melted chocolate to the food processor. Blend until thick and smooth.
The frosting can be piped through a piping bag or ziploc fitted with an icing tip, so it’s perfect for cake decorating!
Leftover chocolate chips? Make Protein Pudding
Sweet potato frosting nutrition
While chocolate chips are not exactly a health food, the sweet potato offers vitamin A, fiber, vitamin C, vitamin B, potassium, copper, and niacin.
It’s also a much healthier choice than most packaged or buttercream frosting recipes, like the ones from Duncan Hines, Betty Crocker, or Pillsbury.
To compare, an equal serving of Pillsbury chocolate fudge frosting has more than twice as many calories and carbs, with three times the sugar and no fiber or protein.
Above – watch the sweet potato frosting recipe video
Sweet Potato Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet potato, baked (not steamed or microwaved)
- 12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Let the sweet potato cool after baking, so it’s not super hot. (Here is the hands-down best way How to cook sweet potatoes.) Scoop just the flesh into a food processor. Carefully melt the chocolate chips. Add them to the food processor, and blend everything together until smooth. View Nutrition Facts
Notes
Have you made this recipe?
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Ways to use the frosting
Avery says
Hi Katie, this sounds like a great idea! Does this frosting pipe well if I was to frost a cake with it?
Susie says
Your recipe needs an edit because it says, “discard the FLESH” instead of the skin – yikes!
Heather says
Is there an estimate on the measurement of the sweet potato, as I already have some puree in my freezer and could try it with that, but I’m not sure how to use.
CCK Media Team says
One large sweet potato yields about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of mashed sweet potato.
Karen Smith says
This sounds amazing! Is there a cup measurement or a weight measurement as the sweet potatoes vary greatly in size.
CCK Media Team says
One large sweet potato yields about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of mashed sweet potato, but it’s a very forgiving recipe, so no need to measure exactly!
Karen Smith says
Thank you!!!
Kat says
Do you think it would be possible to just beat this together with a whisk (or fork or something)?
Or is the processor necessary for the correct texture?
Thanks. 🙂
CCK Media Team says
The sweet potato would not be anywhere near as smooth, but you can definitely do that if you don’t mind the texture.
Pooja says
If there is left over frosting, does this freeze well?
CCK Media Team says
We don’t recommend freezing frosting in general because you will lose a lot of the creaminess. But technically it can be frozen.
Karen says
Oh, I’m totally intrigued and will need to try this in the fall when sweet potatoes are plentiful!
Vicki says
Can you use pumpkin in place of sweet potato?
CCK Media Team says
We have never tried. If you do try, we’d guess that something like roasted kabocha squash might work best. Be sure to report back if you experiment!
Denise Koveikis says
Sounds great! Can well drained Sweet potato be used to make the frosting?
Nina says
Brilliant! I can’t wait to try this.
Evey says
Alternatively, you could just use semi-sweet, as it doesn’t contain any “vegan no no” ingredients, like dairy. Milk is usually only in milk, white, gold and even in ruby (unfortunately) chocolate. Enjoy Life is a decent, albeit pricey brand for those who may suffer from allergies to soy, among other things, dairy included, for those of you who are vegan. Sorry… kind of a chocolate connoisseur and hobby chocolatier, of sorts and know a thing, or two about chocolate. Not a pro, by any means, but I do buy a decent brand of couverture chocolate and I know how to temper and do some fancy things. :o) Take the advice, or leave it. :o) That’s all. Have a great day, y’all and Katie, keep these delicious recipes going. Though I’m not a vegan, I do enjoy and use some of your recipes, simply for the more natural, nutritional and lower macros/calories.
Missy Pierce says
Could I use sweet potatoes from a can?
Jeannine Westervelt says
would sugar free chips work in this frosting ?
Frank says
I just made a batch of this and used it to frost a vegan chocolate cake. It worked wonderfully! I had several tablespoons left in the bowl, so I puzzled over what I might do with it. Then I remembered that I had some whole wheat bagels! I toasted one and spread the frosting on top. It melted and tasted fantastic!
CCK Media Team says
Your bagel spread sounds amazing!
Stacy Mead says
If you throw the chocolate chips into the food processor with the hot sweet potato, there’s no need to melt chocolate chips first
BeanLord says
Made this and am really impressed by the consistency. It turns out pretty similar to normal frosting recipes that get their texture from loads of powdered sugar. I actually subbed unsweetened baker’s chocolate for about a third of the chocolate chips, and it’s still pretty sweet. If you want a sugar-free frosting, I think it would turn out well with all unsweetened chocolate plus some stevia/sweetener of choice.
Homeschool Mom says
Evey, I wonder if you live in a different location than I do? I’m in the midwestern U.S., and most semi-sweet chocolate sold in stores here does have milk, milkfat, or milk powder as an ingredient. We have to go out of our way to find dairy-free chocolate. Trader Joe’s grocery store currently carries semi-sweet chips that don’t have dairy ingredients.
I made this tonight and it was good! The flavor and texture was best when the frosting was completely cooled. It worked well with 1 c sweet potato flesh and 8 oz chocolate chips as I only had a smaller sweet potato to work with. Glad I found this recipe!
Due to the sweet potato, I assume leftover frosted cake should be in the refrigerator?
Deanna says
This frosting is very tasty and has a nice texture, I did add a little vanilla because I used dark chocolate chips.