- Not a substitute for professional veterinary help.
Candied yams and sweet potato casseroles feature in many fall and winter meals—and many pet parents like to share their feast with their dogs.
Experts say dogs can safely eat yams and sweet potatoes, as long as they’re cooked plain. So, instead of giving your dog table scraps that may have added sugar or ingredients toxic to dogs, you can serve plain, cooked yams and sweet potatoes—or make your own dog-safe sweet potato or yam treats!
Below, learn all about how to safely feed your dog cooked sweet potatoes and yams, along with the potential benefits of these veggies.
Health Benefits of Sweet Potatoes and Yams
While many people consider yams and sweet potatoes the same vegetable, they actually come from different plant families.
Sweet potatoes are root vegetables with smooth skin and orange or white flesh. Yams are tubers with rough skin and white, yellow, purple, or pink flesh. In spite of this, cooked yams and sweet potatoes have a similar nutrition profile.
What’s more, both cooked yams and sweet potatoes are great for dogs—they’re high in fiber, low in fat, and contain vitamins and antioxidants, according to Dr. Paige Adams, a veterinarian with Etowah Pet Hospital in Marietta, Georgia.
Plain yams and sweet potatoes can add the following nutrients to your dog’s bowl:
- Fiber: A cup of cooked sweet potatoes contains 3.3 grams of fiber, while yams contain 5.3 grams. Natural fiber can help keep your dog’s digestive tract healthy and sometimes ease constipation.
- Vitamin A: Both yams and sweet potatoes contain vitamin A and beta carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A. Dogs need vitamin A to keep their vision, immune system, and skin healthy!
- Vitamin C: These vegetables both provide vitamin C. This vitamn helps regulate your dog’s immune system and fights oxidative stress, which causes cell damage.
- Potassium: Yams and sweet potatoes provide potassium, an electrolyte that can help keep your dog’s muscles, nerves, and kidneys healthy.
- Magnesium: Both vegetables contain similar amounts of magnesium, another electrolyte that plays a role in a dog’s energy levels, blood pressure, blood sugar, muscles, and nervous system.
Benefits unique to sweet potatoes
While sweet potatoes and yams contain many of the same vitamins and minerals, the amounts vary between them. Sweet potatoes provide more of the following nutrients:
- Vitamin A: Sweet potatoes contain far more vitamin A than yams—around 116 times more per serving!
- Calcium: Sweet potatoes have almost double the calcium of yams. Calcium is important for keeping your dog’s bones strong.
- Vitamin E: Sweet potatoes contain slightly more vitamin E than yams. Some research suggests vitamin E has anti-inflammatory properties and may help dogs with joint pain.
Benefits unique to yams
On the other hand, yams have a unique nutritional edge all their own, including these benefits:
- Less sugar: Yams don’t contain as much sugar as sweet potatoes. They have eight times less sugar per serving, which makes them a better option if you’re concerned about your dog’s sugar intake.
- More potassium: A serving of yams contains more than twice the potassium of a serving of sweet potatoes.
- Folate: Yams contain over three times the folate (vitamin B9) in sweet potatoes. Folate plays an important role in cell growth and function, including red blood cell production.
Risks of Sweet Potatoes and Yams
Dogs can eat yams and sweet potatoes cooked plain, but they shouldn’t eat these vegetables cooked in dishes meant for people. A dog’s digestive system can’t always handle human foods and spices.
Foods like candied yams or sweet potato casserole typically have added sugar and salt, which dogs shouldn’t eat. Some sweet potato or yam recipes may also contain spices toxic to dogs, like nutmeg or garlic.
Important: Prepare any food you give to your dog without oil, sugar, salt, spices, or other added seasonings.
Other potential things to consider before feeding your dog yams or sweet potatoes include:
- Risk of choking: Raw sweet potatoes or yams can be tough and hard to chew. Large chunks or pieces with skin, in particular, may lead to dental issues or cause choking.
- Diarrhea: A little added fiber in a dog’s diet is a good thing. But too much can actually cause digestive issues like diarrhea and upset stomach.
- Diabetes: Both of these vegetables contain natural sugars. This makes them less than ideal for diabetic dogs, who shouldn’t eat much sugar.
Types of Sweet Potatoes and Yams To Avoid
As a general rule, avoid giving your dog any of the following sweet potato or yam dishes:
- Sweet potato casseroles
- Candied yams
- Fried sweet potatoes or yams
- Baked or roasted sweet potatoes or yams cooked with butter, cream, salt, or spices
Your dog may not need to go to the vet if they grabbed a bite of candied yams or sweet potato casserole off the floor, as long as the dish didn’t contain any toxic ingredients.
Important: If your dog ate table scraps containing harmful ingredients, like raisins, chocolate, or the sweetener xylitol, call an emergency vet or the Pet Poison Helpline for guidance.
Tip: A pet insurance policy can save you from an overwhelming vet bill if your dog eats potentially toxic food or has another accident.
Safe Ways To Prepare Sweet Potatoes and Yams for Your Dog
Since table scraps and dogs don’t mix, it’s important to leave any sweet potatoes or yams your dog will eat plain.
Always cook these vegetables before offering them to your dog, adds Dr. Kathryn Dench, holistic veterinarian and chief science officer at Paw Origins.
Here are some safe cooking options for dogs:
Cubed or mashed
For a simple way to prep yams or sweet potatoes for a dog, peel off the skin and cut the flesh into bite-sized cubes. Then, bake or boil the cubes without added oils, salt, or spices. Make sure they’re soft to the touch and easy to chew.
Since both sweet potatoes and yams are high in fiber, Dr. Dench suggests adding them to your dog’s diet gradually. This gives their stomach time to get used to the new nutrients. From there, you can work up to the following serving sizes:
- Small dogs (under 10kg): 1–2 bite-sized cubes (about 1 tbsp) per day
- Medium dogs (10–25kg): 2–3 tbsp of cubes per day
- Large dogs (25kg+): Up to ½ cup of cubes per day
Tip: Instead of serving them as cubes, you can also mash up a serving for a dog-safe meal topper or gravy alternative.
Dehydrated
Sweet potatoes and yams don’t always have to be mushy. Dr. Adams suggests serving them dehydrated as great chew treats!
Try these instructions to get started:
- Wash, rinse, and dry your sweet potatoes or yams.
- Peel and cut the flesh into ¼ inch rounds or strips
- Dehydrate for at least four hours at 110-140°F.
- If your sweet potatoes aren’t chewy enough, put them back in, checking every 30 minutes or so until they’ve reached the perfect chewiness for your pup.
When they’re done, you can offer these veggie chews to your dog like you would a regular chew treat! Dehydrated sweet potatoes or yams will keep up to two weeks in a sealed container.
For more detailed instructions, check out Rover’s guide to dehydrated veggie treats for dogs.
Giving Dogs Human Food as Treats
If you’re feeding your dog a vet-approved wet or dry food, chances are they’re already getting all the nutrients they need. As a general rule, human foods should make up no more than 10% of your dog’s overall diet.
That said, dogs can eat plain yams and sweet potatoes like any other dog treat. When served plain as an occasional snack, these vegetables are a safe source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
Searching for creative ways to treat your dog to sweet potatoes or yams? Check out the following dog-safe recipes:
