Sweet potato and courgette pan fry
Ingredients
Method
- Peel the sweet potatoes (or scrub them well) and cut them into 1.5 cm cubes. Cut the courgettes into half-moons or 2 cm cubes. Chop the garlic.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the sweet potato in a single layer and leave to brown for 3 minutes without stirring.
- Stir, cover and cook for 5 minutes over a medium heat. Remove the lid.
- Add the courgettes and cook for a further 6 to 7 minutes over a high heat, stirring occasionally.
- Add the garlic, spices and thyme, and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes, stirring.
- Season with salt and pepper and scatter over fresh herbs just before serving.
Notes
Colourful, meltingly tender and ready in 30 minutes, this sweet potato and courgette pan fry is just the sort of recipe that rescues a busy weeknight. The natural sweetness of sweet potato meets the freshness of courgette, all lifted with garlic, thyme and a pinch of golden spices. Serve it as a side dish or as a complete vegetarian meal. Here is our recipe, along with our tips for vegetables that turn golden rather than soggy.
Sweet potato, a root from the Americas
Despite its name, the sweet potato is not related to the ordinary potato. It belongs to a different family, the Convolvulaceae, like bindweed. Native to Central and South America, it was grown there long before Europeans arrived, then spread to Africa, Asia and the Pacific.
Its orange flesh, the most common type in shops, gets its colour from carotenoids, pigments that the body can convert into vitamin A. It also provides fibre and carbohydrates, with a naturally sweet flavour that caramelises beautifully in the pan.
Why pair sweet potato and courgette?
These two vegetables complement each other perfectly. Sweet potato is dense, sweet and soft; courgette is light, fresh and slightly crunchy. Together they bring a lovely variety of textures and colours, orange and green, to the plate.
But they also cook at different speeds. That is the whole secret of this pan fry: sweet potato needs about fifteen minutes, courgette only five to seven. So you need to add them one after the other.
Our tips for a golden sweet potato and courgette pan fry
Cut even pieces
Dice the sweet potato into cubes of about 1.5 centimetres, and the courgette into half-moons or slightly larger cubes of about 2 centimetres. Pieces of the same size cook evenly; the more tender courgette can take slightly bigger pieces.
Start with the sweet potato
Heat the oil in a large frying pan, then add the sweet potato in a single layer. Leave it to brown for 3 minutes without touching it, then stir from time to time. Next, cover for 5 minutes so it cooks through, before removing the lid so it crisps up again.
Don’t overcrowd the pan
This is the most common mistake. If the vegetables are piled up, they release their water and steam instead of browning. Use a large frying pan, or cook in two batches.
Salt the courgette at the end
Salt draws water out of courgette. Season it right at the end, just before serving, so it stays golden and firm.
The spices: cumin, paprika and turmeric
Sweet potato loves warm spices. In our recipe we use a simple blend: cumin, smoked paprika and turmeric. Cumin brings a warm, slightly lemony note, smoked paprika a chargrilled flavour, and turmeric a lovely golden colour and a mild, earthy taste. Add them once the sweet potato is nearly cooked, along with the garlic, so they don’t burn.
Don’t forget black pepper: it is turmeric’s best friend. To find out why, read our article on the health benefits of turmeric.
How to serve the pan fry
As a side dish
It goes wonderfully with roast chicken, a fillet of white fish, salmon, lamb chops or grilled sausages.
As a vegetarian main
To make it a complete meal, add some protein:
- Chickpeas, added at the same time as the courgette.
- Eggs: make little wells in the pan, crack the eggs into them, cover and cook until the whites are set.
- Feta, crumbled, or soft fresh goat’s cheese, added just before serving.
- Quinoa or rice on the side.
As a bowl
Spoon the pan fry into a bowl with rice or quinoa, baby spinach, a few spoonfuls of Greek yoghurt and toasted pumpkin seeds. A complete, colourful meal.
Variations
With red onions and peppers
Add a red onion cut into wedges and a pepper cut into strips at the same time as the courgette, for an even more colourful pan fry.
With coconut milk
At the end of cooking, add 100 ml of coconut milk and simmer for 3 minutes. The pan fry becomes a mild little curry, perfect with rice.
In the oven
You can also roast the vegetables: 30 to 35 minutes at 200°C (180°C fan) for the sweet potato, adding the courgette after 15 minutes. The vegetables will be even more caramelised.
When are these vegetables in season?
Courgette is a summer vegetable, in season from June to September in France. Sweet potatoes arrive in autumn, but they keep well and are available all year round. Late summer and early autumn is the ideal time for this pan fry, when both vegetables are at their tastiest.
Storage
The pan fry keeps for 2 to 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container. Reheat it in a frying pan rather than the microwave to bring back a little crispness. It is also delicious cold, as a salad, with a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.
A recipe for busy evenings
This pan fry has everything going for it on days when time is short: one pan, few ingredients, and cooking that needs almost no attention. While the sweet potato browns, you can make a salad or cook some rice. And if you make a little extra, the leftovers can become a wrap filling, an omelette base or a warm salad with feta and baby spinach the next day.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need to peel sweet potato?
Not necessarily: the skin is edible and turns crispy. Just give it a good scrub under the tap. For a softer texture, peel it with a vegetable peeler.
Can I make this pan fry ahead?
Yes, you can cut the vegetables the day before and keep them in the fridge in separate containers. The cooking itself is best done at the last minute.
Is this recipe suitable for children?
Yes. Simply leave out the smoked paprika if your children don’t like spices. The sweetness of sweet potato usually goes down very well.
