One of my “secrets” is that I’ve come to really love sweet potatoes. So many people make them once or twice a year at Thanksgiving or Christmas. I’ve gotten to the point where I make them a dozen or more times a year. One thing I enjoy is grilling loin chops and making sweet potato “discs” on the grill to go with them.
But this is about doing sweet potatoes for the holidays—Thanksgiving and Christmas—as a traditional side casserole dish that adds some sweetness to a holiday feast. And it’s really easy and inexpensive to do it with “real” sweet potatoes or yams rather than the canned variety.
I’ve only got a couple of photos of the process—and none of the finished dish. That’s because I’m so busy “multi-tasking” the holiday feast that I forget to take pictures and by the time everything is ready for the table, the family is crowding around antsy to get their plates loaded and eating. So, I promise to get those photos taken this Thanksgiving, OK?
Sweet potatoes ready for the oven
Here’s how easy it is to make this tasty dish:
Recipe: Holiday Baked Sweet Potatoes
Summary: Here’s an incredibly tasty side dish to your Holiday Feast made from scratch. It’s easy and it’s inexpensive.
Ingredients
- 1 ½-2 lbs sweet potatoes/yams (go for the yams, they’re the ones with the red skin and bright orange flesh)
- 1 stick (4 oz.) butter or margarine at room temperature
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup orange juice (optional) or 1 tbsp orange zest (optional)
- 1 tbsp cinnamon (I like a lot of cinnamon)
- ½ tsp chipotle powder (if you want a hint of heat)
- 4 cups miniature marshmallows
Instructions
- Get out a baking dish, cutting board, potato peeler, chef’s knife and medium mixing bowl and a smaller bowl.
- Spray the baking dish or smear margarine around the bottom and sides (it’ll help keep things from sticking and make clean-up a bit easier).
- Peel the sweet potatoes/yams.
- Cut the tips off the ends then carefully cut them in half lengthwise. Chop the sweet potatoes/yams into approximate 1” pieces—just come close; this ain’t rocket science.
- Dump the cut sweet potatoes/yams into the mixing bowl.
- Put the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, chipotle and orange juice/zest (if you’re using it) into the smaller bowl. Mix everything together well.
- Pour the mixture over the sweet potatoes/yams and mix everything together.
- Dump the mixed mess into the baking dish and spread it evenly. Cover with foil.
- Bake in a 350-375 oven for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, stir and then cover the sweet potatoes with a single layer of the miniature marshmallows. Put back in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Remove, take the foil off and enjoy. It’s that simple.
Preparation time: 10 minute(s)
Cooking time: 30 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 6
Pretty easy isn’t it. It takes about 10 minutes to prep and it can sit and wait on the counter for an hour or 2 until it’s ready for the oven. You’re going to have a bunch of things to cook and bake on the big feast day and this one is really simple and straight forward. It’s a lot better to make these from scratch—just like our ancestors did and doesn’t take anymore time or effort.
Here’s the rest of Cheap Bastid’s Thanksgiving Dinner Menu recipes:
For Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing recipe: http://www.cheap-bastid-cooks.com/cornbread-and-sausage-stuffing/
For “Mushroom Soupless Green Bean Casserole”: http://www.cheap-bastid-cooks.com/holiday-green-bean-casserole/
For the Turkey: http://www.cheap-bastid-cooks.com/the-bird-is-the-word/
Mama Stella’s Stuffing Bread: http://www.cheap-bastid-cooks.com/mama-stellas-stuffing-bread/
For the full Menu: http://www.cheap-bastid-cooks.com/a-cheap-bastid-thanksgiving/
The Cheap Bastid Test: The sweet potatoes/yams cost about $2.50-$3. The rest of the ingredients are going to cost you about $2. So for about $5 you’ve got a tasty, homemade dish for your holiday.
That’s the Cheap Bastid Way: Eat Good. Eat Cheap. Be Grateful!
Kathleen–we always love a hint of heat and, of course cinnamon is a “spicy” or hot spice. A little shake of chipotle adds some heat and a bit of smoke. I also use it in pumpkin, pecan and apple pies. And, the meatloaf and eggs was just one of those “Captain Obvious” brain-farts that’s really tasty and really reflective of how my tastebuds work. Thanks for the comments.