Healthy Candied Sweet Potato Casserole
The holidays aren’t the holidays if sweet potatoes aren’t involved in our house. They are the perfect side for any holiday celebration. We like them plain and baked, mashed up like these ginger sweet potatoes, and for Thanksgiving, this healthy candied sweet potato casserole is a must. It’s lighter than most candied sweet potato casseroles, so you can enjoy the natural sweetness of a sweet potato without a lot of added sugar. And this candied sweet potato casserole is gluten-free and vegetarian too!
This recipe is a cleaned up version of a family favorite which I can remember being made with canned sweet potatoes, lots of butter, cream, sugar and marshmallows. It was like dessert for dinner. I think that sweet potatoes are perfectly delicious and sweet enough all by themselves. After all, word sweet is in their name, isn’t it?
Instead, the ingredients you will need to make this recipe are: fresh sweet potatoes, maple syrup, butter, milk, eggs, vanilla and cinnamon.
How to make a healthy candied sweet potato casserole:
- Use fresh sweet potatoes.
- Cut back on sweetener and leave refined sugar out completely. Alternatively, use maple syrup or honey to naturally sweeten this sweet potato casserole.
- Cut back on the amount butter and milk. Most casseroles call for pretty hefty amounts of butter and milk. In this recipe I use a little bit of both, and the mashed sweet potatoes still turn out nice and creamy.
- Use natural flavors to add more flavor. A little bit of cinnamon adds extra flavor to this casserole. You can also add a sprinkle of nutmeg, ginger or orange zest.
- Leave the marshmallows off. Make your own meringue and top the sweet potato casserole with it or top it with toasted pecans or walnuts.
How to Make healthy candied sweet potato casserole vegan:
- This recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free. You can make it vegan by substituting coconut oil for the butter and coconut milk or almond milk for the milk.
- Use chopped pecans or walnuts for the topping in place of the meringue.
Click on serving size to scale this recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes peeled and cubed
- 2 tablespoons [maple syrup]
- 1 teaspoon [sea salt]
- 1/2 teaspoon [vanilla]
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon [cinnamon]
For Meringue Topping
- 4 egg whites
- 2 tablespoons of coconut sugar or 3 if you like sweet
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350
- Add the potatoes to a sauce pan with water and boil until they become soft, about 15 minutes
- While sweet potatoes are cooking melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and add the milk to warm it.
- Once sweet potatoes are fully cooked, place them into a mixing bowl and add the butter, milk syrup, cinnamon and mash them with a potato masher
- Turn them into an oiled casserole dish and set aside
- Make the Meringue Topping
- Add room temperature egg whites to a clean stainless steel or glass bowl and beat at medium speed until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and beat on high until stiff peaks form
- Spread meringue mixture over sweet potatoes and bake for 30 minutes
Notes
- It’s important to use a clean bowl that’s at room temperature.
- Egg whites should also be at room temperature for best results.
- Coconut sugar will turn the meringue an off white color which will turn darker once baked
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and can vary based on cooking methods and ingredients used
Love that these use maple syrup! I’m a big sweet potato fan, but have never had the original casserole version because it always seemed like it would be too sweet. Can’t wait to try this!
I hope you like it! And yes the other way is very sweet!
Loving that meringue topping.
THanks Wendy!