Sweet potato casserole with pecan crumble
Silky, cinnamon-warm sweet potatoes under a crunchy brown sugar pecan topping, the holiday side you can put together two days early.
- 90 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 10
- About $1.43 a serving
- 410 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. Whatever’s left keeps for tomorrow.
Ingredients
For 10 servings.
- 4 lb sweet potatoes, about 6 medium
- ½ cup butter, divided, plus a little for the dish
- ⅓ cup milk
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1½ cups pecans, chopped
From your pantry
- ¾ cup brown sugar, divided
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¾ tsp salt, divided
Each serving has about 410 calories, 5 g protein, 52 g carbs and 21 g fat, and costs about $1.43 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 350°F and butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
the sweet potatoes and cut them into 2-inch chunks.
Peel. Peeling means removing the skin with a vegetable peeler or a small knife. It takes off tough or bitter skins, though potato and carrot skins are fine to leave on unless the recipe insists.
How you’ll know: The color underneath is even all over, with no patches of skin left behind.
Put them in a large pot, cover with cold water by 1 inch, and over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Turn the heat to medium and 15 to 20 minutes, until a fork slides through a chunk with no push.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 18 min
well, return them to the pot off the heat, and mash with 4 tablespoons butter, ¼ cup brown sugar, the milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and ½ teaspoon salt.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Spread the sweet potatoes evenly in the dish.
Dolly’s tip: To make ahead, cover and chill the dish up to 2 days, and keep the topping in a separate container so it stays crunchy.the last 4 tablespoons butter in a small over low heat, then in the pecans, ½ cup brown sugar and ¼ teaspoon salt.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Low heat
Scatter the pecan mixture evenly over the sweet potatoes.
uncovered 25 to 30 minutes, until the topping bubbles and the edges are hot, or 40 to 45 minutes from the fridge.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Timer: 28 min
Dolly’s tip: If the pecans darken before the middle is hot, lay a sheet of foil loosely over the top.Food safety: Keep a make-ahead dish in the fridge until it goes in the oven, then reheat it until it’s steaming hot in the middle, 165°F. Check the center, not the edges; it’s the last part to heat.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
When you host a dinner, Dollop builds the menu around your guests’ allergies, works out a cooking timeline back from when everyone sits down, and puts it all on one grocery list.
