Snacks & appetizers
Five-ingredient sweet potato balls
Snacks & appetizers · serves 1 · about 45 minutes
Core AIP · Elimination phase compliant
Not every nourishing thing has to be elaborate. These are five ingredients, no cooking beyond the sweet potato you already have, and ten minutes of mixing and rolling. They were written first as a baby food, small enough for little hands to practice the pincer grasp, and they double just as easily into a side for the adults at the table.
The base is mashed sweet potato, which is a source of beta-carotene, the pigment the body converts into vitamin A. What makes these balls hold together and satisfy is fat. Animal fat such as tallow, lard, or schmaltz, plus a spoon of coconut oil, carries the sweet potato and makes the nutrients in it easier to use. A little ground ginger warms the whole thing and supports digestion in the gentle way ginger does.
There is something quietly good about food this plain. Real ingredients, very few of them, shaped by hand. Keep a batch in the refrigerator for the moment in the afternoon when you need something steadying and do not want to think hard about it.
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked mashed sweet potato
- 2 tbsp animal fat (tallow, lard, or schmaltz)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- Pinch of pink salt
Method
Mix everything together until smooth. Chill until the mixture is firm enough to hold a shape. Roll into teaspoon-size balls. Store refrigerated.
The small size is intentional for little hands learning to pick things up. Double the batch and the same balls become an easy adult side dish.
*Adapted from grazedandenthused.com*
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*Provenance: source-derived (re-grounded). Method rebuilt in ARM's own words from the our-words-summary of the grazedandenthused.com recipe. Ingredient list and quantities used as factual reference. Health framing written fresh in Daniela's Midlife Vitality voice. Beta-carotene and ginger-digestion claims hedged and flagged for verify. No excluded ingredients in this source; no swaps needed. Affiliate links in the source ignored. No third-party text reproduced. Source file: 01-Projects/ARM/aip-source-archives/grazed-and-enthused/sweet-potato-balls-for-you-your-baby-paleo-aip-whole30.md*
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Further reading
Daniela Hess, MSEd, is a co-founder of Great Energy and an Autoimmune Educator and Functional Wellness Consultant who lives and thrives with Hashimoto’s. She is not a licensed medical provider.
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Download the Core Food List (PDF) Explore the food list