Sweet Potato Leaves

Of all my years of growing sweet potatoes, I never knew the leaves were edible. I did my own research and decided they were safe to eat so last night I cooked some.

Aren’t those leaves gorgeous?

Bugs don’t seem to bother sweet potato vines much and the squirrels haven’t bothered them so we have a ton of them!

I picked a few just to try. I rinsed them and cut them into large pieces. Since the vines take off and grow all over the yard, they’re mostly growing in the grass so they aren’t gritty and dirty like a lot of greens are.

I added a little butter and grapeseed oil to a skillet, added maybe 2 tablespoons of chopped onion and the greens, and sauteed them. Enough liquid cooked out of them that I didn’t have to add more liquid. At the end, I added a bit of salt and then on the plate drizzled them with cranberry balsamic.

I didn’t take a picture on the plate but I’m going to cook more tonight so I’ll post a picture then.

Cooked, they had a texture similar to collard greens – thicker and very tender. To me, spinach and mustard greens almost get mushy when cooked . . they’re so fragile. Kale holds together a bit better but the sweet potatoes and collards, in my opinion, don’t get mushy at all. The sweet potato leaves may be one of my favorite greens.

I’m going to go out and cut some this morning and get them in the freeze dryer and see how that works. If they work well, I’m going to be kicking my back side for not having done more sooner. Frost is going to get here before I get enough put up for winter.