Are you in the holiday spirit yet? If not, our guest blogger, Jennie, is about to change that! Jennie is a Diamond Nuts Culinary Ambassador and the blogger behind the popular food blog One Sweet Mess. She’s here to share one of our new favorite Thanksgiving side dishes, Cranberry-Walnut Sweet Potato Hash!

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Happy fall, Diamond Nut fans! I know some of you are reluctant to retire your flip-flops, but I’m ready to welcome sweater weather and everything that comes with it: pumpkin spice everything, wool socks, cocktails by the fire, and, my favorite – Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is everything I love about the holiday season. A huge buffet loaded with endless amounts fall-inspired dishes without the headache or stress of gift giving—it’s a win-win situation.

What really excites my family and me at Thanksgiving—nope, not the turkey—are the side dishes. We like to have a variety of dishes to choose from. One or two just won’t cut it, so I go a bit over the top when it comes to creating my menu. The one dish that causes my family to revolt and become outraged if it doesn’t make an appearance is my sweet potato casserole. It’s absolutely delicious, but also extremely predictable, so this year I’ve decided to blow their minds a bit and introduce a new, re-invented sweet potato dish.

This Cranberry-Walnut Sweet Potato Hash has been family tested and approved. Smoky bacon, sweet cranberries, and toasted walnuts get tossed with crispy pan-fried sweet potatoes for a Thanksgiving win! The lovely thing about this dish is that it comes together in 30 minutes and won’t take up any space in your over-worked oven on the big day.

Recipe:

Servings: 6
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 6 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 6 cups (about 2-3 large) sweet potatoes, cut into ½-inch cubes
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons fresh chopped thyme
  • ½ cup dried cranberries
  • 1/3 cup toasted chopped Diamond Walnuts
  • 3 scallions, thinly sliced

Instructions:

  1. Cook bacon in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until crispy, about 7-10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside. Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon grease, discarding the rest.
  2. Turn the heat down to medium and add the sweet potatoes to the pan with the reserved bacon grease. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Try to refrain from stirring the potatoes too often so they have a chance to become crispy.
  3. Add the onions and red pepper flakes to the pan with the sweet potatoes. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and chopped thyme; cook, stirring often, for an additional 2 minutes, or until the garlic is fragrant and sweet potatoes are tender.
  4. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the dried cranberries and chopped walnuts. Season with salt and pepper to taste and then garnish with sliced scallions.

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