Easy Sweet Potato Casserole

Easy Sweet Potato Casserole has become a family favorite of ours. My family begs me to make this dish every Thanksgiving. So today, I’m sharing these easy fall dish that is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Easy Sweet potato casserole

When I was a child, both my grandmother and my mother always made candied yams for Thanksgiving. Candied yams is a traditional thanksgiving dish. First, they used canned yams. I don’t mean to offend if you use canned vegetables. I actually love to can food. But the yams always seemed mushy and soggy. Candied yams then top them with marshmallows, cherries, even pineapple. It was never a favorite of mine. I just didn’t care for the combination. So for years, when people passed them to me, I passed them right along.

Fast forward to my twenties. I can recall watching a morning program where Martha Stewart was a guest and was sharing her version of sweet potato casserole. Oh my, this dish looked divine and I’ll never forget what she said. She said it tasted like sweet potato pie without the crust. Now that I had to try. (I dare say, it is better because of the praline topping). So that day I headed to the store for my first try of sweet potato casserole. It was a huge hit at Thanksgiving. To this day, my family will pass over the pies to have the sweet potato casserole. I often get asked to bring it to Fall parties. Trust me, it’s delicious! What really makes this superb is the praline topping.

Making Sweet Potato Casserole

Over the years, I’ve tweaked Martha’s recipe based on my own experience. I’ve also been influenced by other versions. You will need a nice deep casserole dish. I personally love baking it in stoneware because it is so easy to go from oven to table. I also highly recommend using raw, fresh sweet potatoes. You can cook them any way you like (bake or boil). However, I have found that boiling them makes them much easier to mash because they are very tender. Baking also takes much more cook time.

Now, if you want to save yourself some time in the kitchen or want to save some real estate on your stove on Thanksgiving Day, you can always cook the potatoes the day before and store in the fridge. Then you can take them out when you are ready for them and create your casserole. I’ve been asked if you can prep the whole casserole the day before. Yes, you can. However, you’ll need to make sure you put it in a metal pan instead of glass or stoneware. Putting an ice-cold dish in a piping hot oven can cause the glass to shatter. Also, you may need to increase the cook time to an hour if your casserole is refrigerator cold.

Sweet Potato Casserole

One of my favorite kitchen tools I’ve ever come across is this brown sugar keeper. If you haven’t discovered this, you don’t know what you are missing. It contains a terra-cotta disk that keeps your brown sugar soft and fresh. And it isn’t just for brown sugar! They also sell little terra-cotta discs that keep lots of things soft and fresh. Things like cookies, baked goods, marshmallows, baker’s coconut and granulated sugar. Anything that you want to keep soft. Best of all you can use them forever. Just wash them with soap water whenever you want to put it in a different food container.

Brown sugar

How To Make Sweet Potato Casserole

You will need about 3-4 lbs of sweet potatoes. It is up to you if you want to peel before or after boiling. I prefer to peel after so they aren’t too waterlogged. Once peeled, transfer the potatoes to a large bowl. Mash your sweet potato with a potato masher. I typically don’t mind lumps in mashed potatoes, but for this recipe, I recommend working out as much of the lumps as you can. In a separate small bowl, beat your eggs, then add them to your potato mixture. Then you will add your pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, milk, sugar, salt, pumpkin pie spice, butter, and mix well. You will then pour the mixture into an ungreased casserole dish.

In a separate bowl, you will create a sugary praline topping. You will mix brown sugar, butter, flour, and pecans until it resembles a coarse mixture. The sprinkle atop the potato filling. You’ll bake it in the oven uncovered for about 45 mins. If you love this recipe, you should try another Fall favorite of mine Slowcooker Pumpkin Spice Latte. I make it every Thanksgiving as well! Your friends will ask you for that recipe also.

Easy sweet potato casserole

Easy Sweet Potato Casserole

Sweet potato casserole is a lot like sweet potato pie without the crust. This delicious sweet potato dish with praline topping is sure to be a crowd pleaser.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 8

Equipment

  • Deep casserole dish
  • potato masher

Ingredients
  

  • 4 Large Sweet potatoes peeled, cut into large chunks
  • ½ Cup Milk
  • 2 Large Eggs Slightly beaten
  • ½ Cup Brown Sugar packed
  • ½ tsp Kosher salt
  • ½ Stick Unsalted butter (4 tablespoons), melted
  • 2 Tsp Vanilla extract
  • 1 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

For the Topping

  • ½ Cup All-Purpose Flour
  • ½ Cup Brown Sugar Packed
  • ½ Stick Unsalted Butter melted
  • ¼ Tsp Kosher Salt
  • ¾ Cup Pecans Chopped
  • 1 tsp cinnamon ground

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°
  • In a large stockpot, add peeled, cubed sweet potatoes with a pinch of salt into boiling water. Bring boil to high heat and then reduce heat and cook until potatoes are very tender (about 20 mins).
  • Drain potatoes in colander and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
  • Smash potatoes using a potato masher.
  • In a small bowl, slightly beat eggs then add to the potato mash.
  • Add milk, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, salt, melted butter, vanilla into the bowl with potato and egg mixture. Stir ingredients well until fully combined.
  • Transfer to an ungreased baking dish. Spread the mixture out so that it is even across the dish.
  • In a small bowl combine the ingredients for the topping – brown sugar, pecans, all-purpose flour, butter, salt, and cinnamon. Mix until it resembles coarse crumbs.
  • Sprinkle topping over the pumpkin mixture.
  • Place into the oven uncovered. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.
Keyword casserole, casserole recipes, chocolate dessert, fall, praline, side dish, sweet potato, thanksgiving

Storing and Leftovers

If you have any leftovers you can store them in an air tight container for three to four days. Leftovers are easily warmed up in the microwave or in the oven.

Friends, thank you so much for joining me today. I know that 2020 has been an exceptionally hard year. But I encourage you to make the best of it. FaceTime or Zoom with family and friends. Write some gratitude lists as a family. Focus on what is going right instead of all the things that wrong this year. There are always reasons to be grateful. Until next time friends. Have a safe and blessed Thanksgiving.

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Easy Low Carb Meatloaf

This yummy recipe leaves out all the heavy carbs and grains for a protein-packed, easy low-carb meatloaf that will be your new family favorite.

Easy low carb meatloaf

I’ve got a new recipe for you. Well, it is new to you but old to me. That’s because this is actually my grandmother’s recipe. I’ve been making this for years and when I got on the Keto diet, I thought I should share it with others for those looking for a low-carb meatloaf recipe. Hold up, don’t run away. I hope you give this recipe a chance. I know there are a lot of people out there who cringe at the idea of meatloaf. Admittedly, I’m not a meatloaf fan of the other recipes I have tried in the past. This is the only one I like!

Meatloaf is a nice hardy dish to serve your family. Here in the south, it is comfort food. I love serving it with a steaming heap of buttery mashed potatoes and some greens like Southern-style green beans or roasted Brussel sprouts and bacon. By the way, if you are looking for another easy weeknight recipe, take a look at my Easy Chicken Tetrazzini recipe before you go.

Making Easy Low Carb Meatloaf

One thing that is nice and different about this meatloaf is that it is low carb. If you are doing a special diet like Paleo, Atkins or Keto, this is going to be great for you. Obviously, if you are doing Paleo, you’ll want to try and use grass-fed beef. Lots of meatloaf recipes call for breadcrumbs, stuffing, or other grains to form the loaf shape. This recipe uses absolutely no breadcrumbs or other grains. The only carbs in it are from bell pepper, onion and a small amount of tomato sauce. Instead of using breadcrumbs to hold the meat together in a loaf, this recipe uses protein – one large egg. The egg acts as the binding agent.

The other thing that makes this meatloaf unique is that it uses ground breakfast sausage. I highly recommend using Jimmy Dean Breakfast sausage. I like to use the sage version for added flavor, but you could also use the regular or even the hot if you wish.

It takes about an hour in the oven to cook the 2-pound loaf. However, it only takes a few minutes of prep time. You can even prep it the day before, then pop it in the oven when you’re ready to start dinner. I personally don’t need a sauce with this meatloaf because it is so flavorful, but you can add your favorite meatloaf sauce to it.

easy low carb meatloaf
easy low carb meatloaf

This recipe calls for simple ingredients. Ground beef, breakfast sausage, green bell pepper, white onion, one egg, a small amount of tomato sauce and salt and pepper. Just combine and press into a regular-sized loaf pan. Then you’ll cook it for one hour in an oven preheated to 375. Let the meatloaf rest for about five minutes before serving. This keeps it juicy and allows the juices to recirculate through the meat.

Storing the Meatloaf

This is a great meal for leftovers. Because of the sausage (high-fat content), the meat doesn’t dry out when reheated. You can reheat it in the oven again or use the microwave. Also, you can store in the fridge for up to three days in an airtight container. I have also frozen it before and it freezes well for up to a month. Honestly, I’ve never stored it longer than that. If you are freezing it, just make sure you wrap it really well to prevent freezer burn.

dinner
dinnerdinne

Easy Low Carb Meatloaf

This yummy low carb meatloaf is all meat and few carbs and is sure to become a weeknight favorite!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lbs Ground Beef
  • 1 lbs Breakfast sausage Jimmy Dean preferred
  • 1 Lrg Egg
  • 1/2 Bell Pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 Sm White Onion, chopped
  • 3-4 oz Tomato sauce about half of an 8 oz can
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 375°
  • In a large mixing bowl, add beef, sausage, onion and bell pepper. Knead well until combined to avoid bites of only sausage or beef. You can use clean hands or use a pastry cutter to help combine them.
  • Add one egg and knead until fully combined.
  • Add tomato sauce and knead until fully combined.
  • Transfer meat mixture into an ungreased loaf pan. Press into pan to pack meat tightly. Level the top.
  • Place in oven and bake for one hour at 375°
  • Let meat rest for 5 mins before serving.
Keyword atkins, beef, beef dishes, comfort food, ground beef, healthy meals, italian sausage, keto, leftovers, low carb, meat, meatloaf, southern recipes, weeknight favorite
meatloaf

Pioneer Woman’s Baked Ziti

Pioneer Woman’s Baked Ziti is a meat lover’s dream. Two kinds of meat and triple cheese make this the ultimate Italian-American comfort food.

pioneer woman's baked ziti

This post is a sponsored post, meaning I have collaborated with Pioneer Woman in return for financial compensation and free products for testing purposes. This post also contains affiliate links. Should you make a purchase through a link I provide I may receive a small percentage at no cost to you.

Baked Ziti is one of our favorite dishes. It’s the ultimate in Italian-American comfort food. If you like the way lasagna is baked, you’ll love baked ziti. It’s similar, but without the tediousness of layering pasta. Served casserole style, it’s filled with zesty tomato sauce, Italian sausage and gooey cheesy goodness.

Today, I’m going to share Pioneer Woman’s recipe for baked ziti. This was the first time I’ve tried it and it was yummy!!! Ree girl, this was awesome!

The Pioneer Woman

If you’ve never heard of the Pioneer Woman, I pity you just a tad. Ree Drummond is a famous blogger who shares her life on a ranch in Oklahoma. On her blog, she cooks up some good ole’ eats that anyone can cook. These days she also has her own show on The Food Network. I love her down to earth writing style that makes you feel like her best friend. Be sure to follow her blog…after mine, of course!

Making Baked Ziti

Traditionally ziti uses ziti pasta which resembles small tubes, but I’ve also used penne pasta in a pinch and found it works just as well. In Italy it’s ziti al forno, which translates exactly to “baked ziti.”

I received a complimentary jar of the Rustic Bolognese sauce. It’s very tasty and reminds me of a homemade sauce, minus the hassle! I grew up on Prego. Over the years, I’ve used all kinds of sauces. I highly recommend trying Pioneer Woman’s new line of Italian pasta sauces which now come in the following varieties:

  • Marinara
  • Italian Sausage & Peppers
  • Rustic Bolognese
  • Four Cheese
  • Garden Vegetable

In the past, I’ve used a different recipe for baked ziti, but after today, I’m switching. This is a meat lovers dream! It calls for a pound of ground beef and a pound of Italian sausage! I’ve written the recipe to use ground Italian sausage because it is readily available to me at my store. If you can’t find it, you can always use regular link Italian sausage. I recommend cutting the casing lengthwise with a knife and then peeling off for easy removal. Then brown, like normal.

baked ziti

Pioneer Woman Baked Ziti

A delicious Italian-American casserole filled with zesty tomato sauce, cheese, Italian sausage basked into bubbly goodness.
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lbs Ziti Pasta Uncooked
  • 2 Tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1 Cup Chopped Onions
  • 3 Cloves Garlic Minced
  • 1 Lbs Italian Sausage Ground
  • 1 Jar PIONEER WOMAN Pasta Sauce
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 15oz Ricotta Cheese
  • 1 Cup Parmesan Shredded
  • 1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese Shredded
  • 1 Lbs Lean Ground Beef

Instructions
 

  • Heat oven to 375
  • Cook pasta as directed on package, omitting salt
  • Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add onions and garlic; cook 3-5 minutes or until crisp-tender, stirring frequently
  • Crumble sausage, then ground beef into skillet with cooked vegetables. Cook until ground meats are evenly browned, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
  • Mix egg, ricotta, and parmesan until blended
  • Drain pasta and spoon into a large bowl. Add pasta sauce mixture and ricotta mixture; mix lightly. Spoon into 13×9-inch baking pan sprayed with cooking spray; top with mozzarella.
  • Bake 20 mins or until heated through
Keyword bacon casserole, cheesy casseroles, italian, italian sausage, pasta, tomato sauce
pioneer woman's baked ziti
pioneer woman rustic bolognese

Pin For Later

Pin now for later! Also, don’t forget to subscribe so you can get great recipes delivered right to your inbox! If you’re looking for more comfort food, you absolutely need to try my Shrimp & Crawfish Étouffée and my Rich Fudgy Scratch Brownies. Thanks for reading!

Shrimp & Crawfish Étouffée

Shrimp and Crawfish Etouffee is a delightful seafood dish with peppers, onions and Cajun spices. Serve over fluffy white rice.

Shrimp crawfish Etouffee

Etouffee is a classic Cajun dish. If you’re a beginner to Cajun cooking, this dish is for you! Crawfish Etouffee is the most common combination, but this dish also incorporates shrimp. Crawfish Étouffée is perfect for weeknight dinners because it’s made in about 30 minutes.

Make Etouffee with a simple roux. To make a roux, brown flour with oil or butter. A dark roux makes a darker the sauce. Tender onions and bell peppers sautéed with garlic and paprika, round out the dish.

Hint: When using shrimp, remove excess water by draining in a colander before cooking

Serve Etoufee over white rice. You don’t need a rice cooker. Make perfect rice by adding one cup of rice, 2 cups of water and 1 tbsp of olive oil. Do not stir rice. Stirring makes rice clumpy. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until all water is gone (about 15-20 mins).

Shrimp and Crawfish Etouffee

Shrimp and Crawfish Etouffee is a classic Cajun dish. The secret is in the roux. Crawfish and shrimp are slowly simmered in a light roux sauce with garlic, onion, bell pepper and Cajun spices. 
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main Course
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 3 Tbsp Butter
  • 3 Tbsp All purpose flour
  • 1 Lbs Crawfish meat
  • 1/2 Lbs Shrimp Tail off, deveined, drained
  • 1 Sm Onion Chopped
  • 1/2 Cup Bell pepper Chopped
  • 1 Tsp Garlic Minced
  • 1 Cup Chicken broth
  • 1/3 Cup Green Onions Chopped
  • 1 Tbsp Paprika

Instructions
 

  • Rinse and drain crawfish and shrimp in colander 
  • In a deep skillet, on medium heat, add oil.
  • Slowly add flour. Continue cooking until brown, stirring constantly so it doesn’t burn. It should be a deep golden brown.
  • Add onion, garlic and bell pepper. Cook until tender.
  • Slowly add chicken broth, stirring between pours to make sure there are no clumps. 
  • Add Paprika, shrimp and crawfish and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer until sauce thickens.
  • Serve over white rice
Keyword bellpepper, cajun, crawfish, etouffee, onion, shrimp

Looking for more recipes? Try White Chocolate Raspberry Muffins

Shrimp and Crawfish Etoufee first appeared on My Beautiful Mess