How To Keep Your Sweet Potato Casserole From Getting Too Sweet

Chef Mike Anderson explains that cook time is an important component of the cooking process. “The longer and slower you cook sweet potatoes, the sweeter they get,” he says. “Cutting them into smaller pieces and cooking them at a higher temperature will keep the sweetness from being overwhelming.”

In addition, Thrifty Fun suggests doubling the recipe and omitting any extra sugar, adding a touch of vinegar to offset the sweetness, or bulking up the herb quotient. And Taste of Home suggests adding miso to amp up the savory component of the dish. EatingWell embraces tang, noting that sour cream or buttermilk could add acidity to offset the sweetness. Simply Recipes advocates for a nutty pecan topping or adding orange zest, which elevates dormant flavors and brightens the whole shebang. Some other suggestions include minimizing the amount of maple syrup or brown sugar, halving the toppings, or swapping sweet potatoes for yams, which are naturally a bit less sweet.

Conversely, if you *want* a super-sweet casserole, you can always embrace that and turn your sweet potato dish into a full-on dessert. For his part, Anderson says he’ll never do away with the marshmallow topping, referencing his Southern upbringing. “Marshmallows. Marshmallows all day long,” he says. “But the miniature ones, not the big ones. It has to be the miniature ones because the big ones take longer to cook, and they like to catch fire.”