WHY THIS SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE RECIPE WORKS
With our sweet potato casserole recipe, we wanted to get away from the fat, sugar, and spice of the traditional holiday dish and bring the sweet potatoes in the front. We ignore some topping options for our sweet potato casserole recipe (nuts, canned pineapple, maraschino cherries, corn flakes, Rice Krispies, bread crumbs). Still, we finally settled on a streusel made with dark brown sugar and slightly bitter pecans, which kept the sweetness to a minimum. And we cut back on the traditionally excessive amounts of sugar and cream in the filling and boosted the sweet potato flavour by roasting the potatoes.
GATHER YOUR INGREDIENTS
Sweet Potatoes
- 7 pounds sweet potatoes
Streusel
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into five pieces and softened, plus additional for greasing pan
- ½ cup all-purpose flour (2 1/2 ounces)
- ½ cup packed dark brown sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup pecans (4 ounces)
Filling
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons table salt
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 teaspoons lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
- granulated sugar
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 ½ cups half-and-half
KEY EQUIPMENT
- Kitchen Tongs
- Food Processors
- Paring Knives
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
Because natural sugar levels in sweet potatoes vary greatly depending on variety, size, and season, it's essential to taste the filling before adding sugar. If the mixture is bland, add up to 4 tablespoons sugar; if the potatoes are naturally sweet, you may opt to omit the sugar altogether. When sweetening the filling, keep in mind that the streusel topping is quite sweet. If you can find them, Beauregard, Garnet, or Jewel sweet potatoes have the best texture for this recipe.
For even cooking, buy potatoes that are uniform in size. Avoid ones larger than 1 1/2 pounds; they need a longer roasting time and tend to cook unevenly. The potatoes can be baked up to 2 days ahead. Scrape the flesh from the skins and refrigerate in an airtight container. To serve 4 to 6, halve all the ingredients and bake the casserole in an 8-inch-square baking dish for 35 to 40 minutes.
INSTRUCTIONS
FOR THE SWEET POTATOES: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Poke sweet potatoes several times with paring knife and space evenly on a rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminium foil. Bake potatoes, turning them once until they are very tender and can be squeezed easily with tongs, 1 to 1 1/2 hours (or 45 minutes for small sweet potatoes). Remove potatoes from oven and cut in half lengthwise to let steam escape; chill at least 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.
FOR THE STREUSEL: While potatoes are baking, butter 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Pulse flour, brown sugar, and salt in a food processor until blended, about four 1-second pulses. Sprinkle butter pieces over flour mixture and pulse until crumbly mass forms, six to eight 1-second pulses. Sprinkle nuts over mixture and pulse until combined, but some large nut pieces remain four to six 1-second pulses. Transfer streusel to a medium bowl and return an empty work bowl to a processor.
Once potatoes have cooled slightly, use a spoon to scoop the flesh into a large bowl; you should have about 8 cups. Transfer half of potato flesh to a food processor. Using a rubber spatula, break remaining potato flesh in a bowl into coarse 1-inch chunks.
FOR THE FILLING: Add melted butter, salt, nutmeg, pepper, vanilla, and lemon juice to potatoes in food processor and process until smooth, about 20 seconds. Taste for sweetness, then add up to 4 tablespoons granulated sugar, if necessary; add yolks. With processor running, pour half-and-half through feed tube and process until blended, about 20 seconds; transfer to bowl with potato pieces and stir gently until combined.
TO ASSEMBLE AND BAKE CASSEROLE: Pour filling into a prepared baking dish and spread into even layer with a spatula. Sprinkle with streusel, breaking up any large pieces with fingers. Bake until topping is well browned, and filling is slightly puffy around edges, 40 to 45 minutes. Chill at least 10 minutes before serving.
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