Skip to main content

Sweet potato casserole

Great sweet potato casserole ideas, including recipes.

At one point in my life I put my foot down about placing marshmallows atop my sweet potato casserole. I could no longer stand to see the beautiful orange color be hidden under something so boringly white and dirty brown, after being cooked. Of course I was overridden by my husband who would sneak those fluffy white cylinder shaped balls onto my casserole while it was baking. It was that moment, upon pulling out my ruined sweet potato casserole, that I made it my goal to educate him on variety and exorcize that marshmallow demon.

I began by preparing for the ritual. My sweet potatoes lined up on the counter washed and waiting to be steamed. My Dutch oven sat on the stove top, the water it held coming to a slow boil. Quickly, before he could catch on, I sliced the bright orange tuber width ways and placed them on top of a rack that stood over the water at the bottom of the Dutch oven. There they steamed for 30 minutes, so that they would be pleasantly soft and the skins would slide off of them.

I thought it best not to anger the marshmallow demon that resided in my husband, at least not at first. I decided to keep the casseroles sweet in the beginning, and move onto the hard core stuff later. I mistakenly thought that if it was sweet enough, without hiding the natural flavors, he could start the withdrawals. The first step was not a success, even though it was as sweet as I was willing to go with it, still he topped the sweet potatoes with apple and butternut squash with the demon.

I was still not going to give in. I decided to go a little less toward the sweet side. Maybe it needed to be a gradual thing. I choose to go with the sweet and cheesy sweet potato casserole, and top it with chopped, roasted pecans. The added topping seemed to have worked, that or we were out of marshmallows, for they were not added this time.

The third attempt was tricky. Here was the transition from the sweet to the savory dishes. This one needed to be the perfect balance of the two; hence making sweet potato shepherd's pie. He informs me he has no comment on how it tastes. You could see the tremors in his hands. It was working. The trick is to use canned sweet potatoes that have syrup; this will help keep the sweet balance of an already savory dish.

Now it was time to break out the big guns. I had one last chance to make him see that the sweet potato casserole doesn’t have to sit in an oven soaking in butter and sugar, and topped with marshmallow. I went as far from sweet as I could get and made a savory entree of risotto with sweet potato puree, Kale, and Smoked Mozzarella casserole. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I watched him get a larger second helping of the casserole. I had won. I had beaten his demon.

The casserole is a wonderful, time saving entree. It has been enjoyed by families all over the world for hundreds of years, in many different varieties. Yet for some reason the popular belief is that the sweet potato casserole should be made in one traditional manner and only during the holidays, though sweet potato casserole can be enjoyed at anytime of the year. Maybe I can understand it, come Thanksgiving, with all the things we feel we must cook up, the brown sugar, butter, sweet potato, and marshmallow casserole is the simplest. And this past Thanksgiving, my husband managed to sneak it in.

The Recipes

Sweet potato with apples and butternut squash casserole recipe | Top

Ingredients
2 lbs sweet potatoes
1 1/2 lbs butternut squash, peeled and cubed
2/3 cup light brown sugar, divided
3 large eggs, beaten
6 Tbs butter, melted, divided
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 tsp Ground Cinnamon, divided
1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup chopped pecans
2 golden delicious apples, peeled and thinly sliced

Servings: 4

Procedure

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
  2. Steam sweet potatoes in a large Dutch oven for 20 minutes. Allow to cool before removing skin and cubing.
  3. While the sweet potatoes are cooling, boil the squash for 10 minutes, then drain.
  4. Mix together 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, eggs, 2 tablespoons of butter, vanilla, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. measure off 1/4 cup of the mixture and set it aside for the squash.
  5. Either by hand or in a food processor, blend the reaming brown sugar and egg mixture with the sweet potatoes until very smooth.
  6. Pour the sweet potato mix into a greased 13x9-inch baking dish, spread out evenly and top with the pecans.
  7. Either by hand or in a food processor, blend the squash with the reserved 1/4 cup of the brown sugar and egg mixture.
  8. Pour the squash mix over the pecan layer. Arrange apple slices on top of this.
  9. Combine 1/3 cup brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle over the apples. Drizzle 4 tablespoons of melted butter over top.
  10. Bake 45-50 minutes, or until the center is slightly firm to the touch.

Sweet and cheesy sweet potato casserole recipe | Top

Ingredients
5 lbs sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean
2 Tbs butter or margarine, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup apple cider or apple juice {spiced with brown sugar is available}
1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper (to taste)
1 cup gruyere cheese, shredded (or you could use Swiss cheese or any other cheese you prefer)
1 Tbs fresh parsley, chopped

Servings: 6

Procedure

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
  2. Cut the tubers widthwise and place on a rack inside of a dutch oven atop a stove. Pour enough water to cover the bottom of pan, up to the bottom of the rack, but not touching, bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. SImmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until soft.
  3. Remove from oven and let cool until you can handle them, then peel off the skins.
  4. Mash the potatoes with the butter, cider, salt and pepper to taste, until smooth.
  5. Grease baking dish (about 2-2 1/2 quart size) and spoon the mashed potatoes in.
  6. Sprinkle with the cheese and bake, uncovered, at 375° F for 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
  7. Garnish with the parsley before serving.

Cooking tips

Mashed sweet potatoes can be prepared ahead of time and kept frozen for 1 month. When ready to use, thaw completely, place into a baking dish, top with cheese, and bake at 350° F for about 40 minutes.

Sweet potato shepherd's pie |Top

Ingredients
2 1/2 lean ground beefz
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 onion, finely chopped
crushed ice
2 cloves garlic,
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup beef broth
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp rosemary
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 hard-boiled eggs
2 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry sherry
1 (40 oz) can sweet potatoes
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Servings: 8

 

Procedure

  1. In a large skillet, brown ground beef, and drain.
  2. In a medium saucepan, melt 1/4 cup butter. Saute onions and garlic for 3 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and stir in flour. Gradually add in the broth. Place back onto heat and bring to boiling, stirring constantly, until thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Slowly add the eggs.
  3. Combine the sauce, rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper to meat.
  4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, lightly grease 8-inch springform pan.
  5. Place half the meat mixture into the prepared springform. Arrange hard-boiled eggs, end to end, in a circle in the center of the pan; cover with remaining meat. add spinach by spreading over meat.
  6. Drain the sweet potatoes. put the sweet potatoes in food processor, puree with remaining butter, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Spread 1 cup puree over spinach. if desired put remaining puree in pastry bag fitted with 1/2-inch star tip; pipe in decorative pattern over all, or place the entire puree over top the spinach. Place springform onto a jelly-roll pan.
  7. Bake for 35 minutes.

Risotto with sweet potato puree recipe|Top

Ingredients
2 sweet potatoes, about 1/2 lb each
8 cups unsalted chicken stock
2 Tbs butter
1 Tbs plus 2 tsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bunch kale, rinsed but not dried, stems removed, leaves cut crosswise into 1-inch-wide strips
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cups Arborio or Carnaroli rice
4 oz smoked mozzarella, coarsely grated lemon peel
1 oz aged Asiago cheese, finely grated
Freshly ground pepper

Servings: 4

Procedure

  1. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
  2. Cut the sweet potatoes in half, widthwise, and place them on a rack in a Dutch oven, or very large pot. Fill the bottom of the pan so that it doesn't touch the bottom of the rack, with water. cook on high for 20-30 minutes. Remove and allow to cool before removing the skins. Place the pulp into a blender and add 1/2 cup of the chicken stock. Puree until smooth. If needed add more stock to get that creamy consistency.
  3. Place the puree into a small saucepan and heat it slowly. Once it is hot, whisk in the butter. Set aside, keeping it warm.
  4. In a medium pan, heat the 2 tsp olive oil over a medium heat, add the garlic a stir for 1 minute.
  5. Add the kale, cover and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the kale is tender and a bright green in color. Stir occasionally. Remove cover and lightly salt, keep it warm over a very low heat.
  6. Heat the remaining stock in a medium saucepan,until it is steaming but not boiling. Keep it hot.
    heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, in a large saucepan,over medium-high heat. Add onion, cook about 5 minutes or until they are translucent. Add rice, stir vigorously. cook about 5 minutes or until it begins to turn a milky white . Add 1 cup of the hot stock. Stir the rice until all of the stock is absorbed. repeat this procedure with the stock, adding 1 cup at a time and stirring, until the rice is plump, tender, and creamy, this will take 15 to 20 minutes. It should use 6 to 7 more cups of stock.
  7. Next add the sweet potato puree, stir until all of the rice is coated. Add the mozzarella and kale. Stirring until the cheese has melted.
  8. Serve immediately topped with grated Asiago and a little freshly ground pepper.

Cooking tips

  • If you run out of stock, use near-boiling water.
  • Because mozzarella is stringy, it's important that the cheese is grated rather than added in chunks.