Try this healthy and delicious Korean drink – Korean sweet potato latte recipe!

Korean sweet potato latte is one of the most popular fall/winter drinks in Korea.

It has a velvety smooth texture and has a slightly sweet and a tint of savory taste. While subtle, its roasted sweet potato fragrance will give you a warm and cozy feeling!

Today I’m sharing a super easy Korean drink recipe called Sweet Potato Latte (Goguma Latte, 고구마 라떼).

What is Sweet Potato Latte

Sweet potato latte is a popular Korean drink made with roasted (or steamed) sweet potato, milk and a little bit of sweetener.

While it’s called latte, this sweet drink does not contain any trace of coffee! So anyone can enjoy it. My daughter especially loves this drink!

Many of the sweet potato lattes served in Korea are made with purple flesh sweet potatoes. They call this Jasaek Goguma Latte (자색 고구마 라떼).

Purple sweet potatoes used to be quite rare, so it was like a novelty thing, but nowadays, it seems quite common in Korea.

FYI, the more typical varieties of sweet potatoes will have ivory or yellowy flesh with purplish skin, so you will naturally see a latte made with these sweet potatoes too.

The Best Sweet Potato Varieties for Sweet Potato Latte

Obviously the best varieties for sweet potato latte would “Korean sweet potatoes”.

It’s really hard to describe, but many people point out that Korean sweet potatoes are denser, sweeter and nuttier than the sweet potatoes commonly available in western countries.

Though, what are the chances that you can easily get Korean sweet potatoes at your local grocer?

So, naturally when I first shared my sweet potato latte recipe back in 2015, I used a sweet potato variety called beauregard.

This sweet potato has deep orange flesh with rose/gold skin and it is the most common sweet potato variety you can see in Australia.

Then a few days ago, I discovered a new variety that is perfect for this latte that is readily available at my local grocer.

It’s Hawaiian sweet potato! Also known as WSPF, purple yum or Okinawan sweet potato.

And wow! It resulted in amazingly tasty sweet potato latte! I would boldly say that I was able to replicate the flavor that I tasted a few weeks ago in Korea. (My sister even thinks that mine tastes better than the one we tasted in Korea! LOL)

I don’t know about other countries, but in Australia, Hawaiian sweet potatoes are pricier than other types of sweet potatoes. Probably because only 2% of sweet potato production is devoted to this variety.

Technically, you can make sweet potato latte with other sweet potatoes, but I highly recommend Hawaiian!

Sweet Potato Latte Cooking Tips

How to roast sweet potato

The most important thing in making sweet potato latte would be cooking sweet potatoes.

There are a few ways to do it, but I would recommend, roasting it rather than steaming or boiling it. It just brings out a more nutty flavor! And this is how you can do it.

Rinse the sweet potato skin thoroughly. Cut the sweet potato in half, length way. Try to even out the thickness, so that each piece cooks through at the same time.
Lay some baking paper on the baking tray. Place the sweet potatoes flesh side facing up. Punch little holes with a fork or the tip of knife.
Roast the sweet potatoes in the oven (180 – 190 C / 356 -374 F) until they are fully cooked. Depending on the size and the thickness of sweet potatoes, it can take between 30 mins to 50 mins. You can check the doneness by poking through with a cake tester.

After roasting the sweet potatoes, you will notice that their surface is covered with hardened flesh. (This would be more obvious, as shown above, if you use Hawaiian sweet potato rather than orange flesh variety.) But don’t discard this as I think this is the jewel of this latte.

4. Cautiously (as it will be hot) scoop out the required portion of the roasted sweet potato with a small spoon or fork. Set aside until needed.

How To Store Leftovers

Sweet potato latte can be served as on the go breakfast, afternoon snack or alternative to coffee or tea. Lately though, I’ve been having it as my lunch too. I have to say, it’s perfect for my diet as it’s quite filling.

If you made more latte and/or sweet potato than you need:-

You can refrigerate the unconsumed portion of the latte for a day or two. Just reheat and stir well prior to drinking.
You can also refrigerate the unused portion of roasted sweet potato for a day or two and make more latte later or use it in other cooking. I typically eat it on the day of roasting as my snack.

Now that all the basis are covered, I hope you give this a try soon and let me know what you thought of it!

Ingredients for Sweet Potato Latte (Serves 2 to 3)

200g / 7 ounces roasted sweet potato
2 cups / 500ml milk
1 Tbsp raw sugar (or more to your taste)
Frothed warm milk (optional but recommended) – I used this milk frother and I’m loving it thoroughly!
Cinnamon powder (optional but recommended)
Your choice of crushed nuts (optional)

*1 Tbsp = 15ml, 1 Cup = 250ml

How to Make Sweet Potato Latte

1. Combine the roasted sweet potato and the milk in a blender. Blend until smooth.

2. Pour the liquid into a small pot and add the sugar. Boil it up over medium-low temperature until the mixture warms up (about 5 mins) and whisk frequently.

3. Divide the serving per mugs. Top it up with frothed milk, cinnamon powder and your choice of nuts (optional). Serve immediately.

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