Half of my family loves the disgusting stuff made with canned sweet potatoes and sugar and topped with marshmallows.....and the other half won't eat sweet potatoes any way but fried. So I don't do a sweet potato casserole.
But in your situation I would simply bake sweet potatoes and season with butter and salt and pepper.....and perhaps put some baked idaho into the mix.....and place into a casserole.....a deep casserole...and top with a sort of strusel...with pecans. I say a deep casserole so those who don't want the sugary topping can scrape it off and is left with mashed sweet potatoes!
I would do a topping with say a cup of flour, half cup butter, half cup brown sugar and half a cup chopped pecans...seasoned with some ginger, preferably fresh grated.

Yeah, sweet potato casserole. (sigh) One daughter and my mother loves the sweet casserole, made with brown sugar and topped with marshmallows. My other daughter and I and Elery like our sweet potatoes just baked with butter and salt, or made into "twice baked", with Italian sausage and cheese.

So, what to do? I buy fresh sweet potatoes, I draw the line at the canned-in-syrup ones. I peel and slice half of them, par-boil them until nearly done, then dot them with butter, sprinkle liberally with brown sugar and put them in the oven. When the potatoes are tender and the butter/brown sugar has become a sticky sauce, I add the marshmallows and broil. The other half either get cooked and mashed with butter, turned into the aforementioned twice baked, or just get baked and sliced open, topped with butter and eaten.

Just like that, everyone is happy.

Annie

Linda, that sounds good. I could probably get away with a bit less sugar, too.

Annie, I could eat yours with the sausage, but I don't think my mother would accept it. Sigh. She's only, to the best of my knowledge, made roasted or zapped. Grrr. I can't bring myself to say no. :(

sweet potato pie rather than pumpkin pie ....

Why not make a sweet potato pie instead? It is very similar to pumpkin pie, but you substitute sweet potatoes for pumpkin and maybe adjust the spices.

I will eat sweet potato pie, but I will not eat sweet potato casserole, and I think it has no place in the main meal.

She wants casserole not pie. I mean, sweet potato pie is fine for dessert, but she wants sweet potato casserole instead of white potatoes, meaning as a starch, so I'm looking for a NOT sweet good casserole. It's an interesting idea, and I thank you both, but not for this meal.

I was thinking of Linda's idea of streusel with pecans topping, which would be pretty, and who doesn't love streusel?, let alone her point that it can be scraped off, but I was having a hard time loving the flour and sugar combined with the sweet potato and started wondering if it could be made with almond flour. A short google later, it seems everybody does it! I like the sound of this one from Honeyville.com. I might make the spices more interesting. And I have Bob's. :)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Honeyville Blanched Almond Flour

2 Tbsp Brown Sugar

1/4 cup Unsalted Butter, softened

1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

I don't like sweet potatoes in any form. But the casserole is demanded of me every year. I roast sweet potatoes and mush em up, add butter, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and a very small amount of brown sugar,and top with a layer of salted pecans, then a layer of toasted marshmallows. Sorry I don't really have measurements.

If she wants a savory type thing (impossible with sweet potatoes IMHO) I would just roast them and mush em with salt,pepper,butter and maybe some cayenne. I have seen them whipped with cream cheese and savory spices for a side before. Not appealing to me but I'm sure someone somewhere would like it.

Not a casserole, but my favorite way to have sweet potatoes is to roast them and then top with sour cream (or Greek yogurt--full fat please) mixed with a little maple syrup and chopped jalapenos. Really good.

My family usually does sweet potatoes thickly sliced and layered with some butter and brown sugar — not too sweet. My sister once made a sweet potato casserole that was really good, with a crunchy topping, but too sweet for me, so I got her recipe and made it again but with half the amount of sweet topping and it was perfect. Iirc, the topping was brown sugar, butter, and pecans. Lmk if you want me to find the recipe.

You can also use orange juice as the liquid when mashing the potatoes, it carries the slightly sweet taste through the body of the casserole and lets you get away with less brown sugar. That almond flour streusel looks so good. I might try it with ground pecans, too.

I had sweet potato tater tots recently and they weren’t half bad, for sweet potatoes. I’d use them as my base. Perhaps just tossed with cheese curds for a poutine inspired dish. You’ve already got the gravy. It’ll either be a hit or else they won’t ask again next year. Win-win with near zero effort!

On a more serious note, what’s TBNL? I’ve been trying to decipher that since you first posted and I give up.

TBNL to be named later?

My family has never asked for - or served - sweet potato casserole at any holiday meal. I have only sampled it as a bring-along a potluck donation. It was nasty!

What they do like and ask for are mashed sweet potatoes or yams with goat cheese and chives. Oven roast the tubers until tender, scoop the meat out and mash lightly with butter. Then add in goat cheese to taste, chopped chives, S&P and blend until smooth. This can easily be made ahead a day or so and then reheated. You still have the sweetness of the tubers but it is balanced by the tang of the cheese.

This has become a must-have side dish for turkey or ham!

Thanks Dave I’d have been guessing a long time before reaching that one!

Gardengal that sounds really good.

Since going gluten free, I've made variations of a sweet potato - sausage "stuffing." Its become a favorite of mine.

Sweet Potato Stuffing with Sausage {Paleo, Whole30}

This
delicious Paleo Sweet Potato Stuffing with all natural sausage, apples
and cranberries has all the flavor of traditional Thanksgiving stuffing
but is grain free, gluten free, dairy free and Whole30 compliant too!
Toasty, roasted sweet potatoes and savory sausage form the base of this
healthier holiday favorite.

Author: Michele Rosen

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Course: Dinner/Lunch, Holiday Side Dish, Side Dish

Cuisine: Paleo, Whole30

Keyword: cranberry, sausage, side dish, stuffing, thanksgiving, whole30

Servings: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 2 large sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2-1” cubes (about 5 1/2-6 cups)
• 1 1/2 tbsp avocado oil or olive oil, for roasting
• Sea salt and black pepper for roasting
• 2 tbsp ghee or coconut oil
• 1 med yellow onion chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic minced
• 12 oz bulk sausage Jones Dairy Farm No Sugar Breakfast Sausage Roll
• 1 large apple or 2 small, chopped
• Sea salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary minced
• 2 tsp fresh sage minced
• 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1 Tbsp fresh parsley minced, plus more for garnish, if desired
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries apple juice sweetened, for Whole30
• 1 egg whisked, optional**

Instructions

1. Preheat
   your oven to 425° F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
   Toss the sweet potato cubes in the avocado oil or olive oil and
   sprinkle all over with sea salt and pepper.
2. Spread
   in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Roast in the preheated
   oven for 25-30 minutes, stirring after 15 for even browning. Roast
   until toasty on the outside and soft inside.
3. While the potatoes are roasting, get your other ingredients chopped and ready.
4. Heat
   a large skillet over med heat and add the ghee or oil. Once heated, add
   the onion and cook for about 3 minutes, until soft and fragrant. Add
   the garlic, sprinkle with sea salt, and continue to cook another minute
   until soft.
5. Crumble
   the sausage into the skillet and use a spoon to break up lumps. Stir
   occasionally as it cooks. Cook about 5-7 minutes sausage with the onions
   and garlic until browned.
6. Add
   the chopped apples and cook for a minute until just softened. Add the
   fresh herbs and sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper. Lower the heat
   and stir to combine all flavors. Simmer for 2 more minutes, remove from
   heat and set aside.
7. Once
   the sweet potatoes are roasted (they should be light brown and crisp on
   the outside) add them to the sausage mixture along with the dried
   cranberries, stir to combine. Stir the whisked egg** (if desired) into
   the mixture and toss/mix to incorporate
8. Lower
   the oven temperature to 400° F. If you used an ovenproof skillet, you
   can bake the stuffing right in the skillet. If your skillet is not
   ovenproof, transfer the entire mixture to a 2-3 qt baking dish and
   spread out evenly.
9. Bake
   in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes if you did not use the egg, and
   25 minutes if you used the egg, or until toasty and set. Garnish with
   fresh parsley before serving. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

**Only use the egg if you want you stuffing to “stick”, otherwise, you can omit and simply skip to baking it without the egg.

One other thought... your mother's tastes may have changed. I've noticed that my mother seems to like/want sweet things more than she ever did before. I'd just make a small version of what you think she wants, and a small version of what you want. :)

ETA: I always loved sweet potatoes, but had a whole new appreciation for them after seeing the skating scene in the movie "The Man Who Came to Dinner". lol! 5 cents for "hot sweets", iirc. lol!

If she wanted somewhat savory as opposed to very sweet I would make it like a shepherd's pie . Only use sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes. For the base use meat and vegetables or just vegetables in a tomato base or creamy slightly tangy sauce depending on what she likes. I would make individual dishes of it personally.

I would experiment and come up with something that can be used several different ways. You have time at least to experiment.

I've made this several years in a row and really like it. I can't see why you couldn't replace the butternut squash with sweet potato.

Butternut Squash Apple Cranberry Bake Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 55 minutes
• Yield: Serves 8

Ingredients

• 1 large butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 large tart cooking apples (like Granny Smith), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (half a stick) butter
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg or mace

1 Preheat oven and prepare baking dish: Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter the sides and bottom of a 7x11-inch baking dish.

2 Mix together the flour, brown sugar, salt, and nutmeg in a small bowl.

3 Layer squash, apples, cranberries, and topping in baking dish: Put
a layer of cut butternut squash on the bottom of the baking dish. Place
apples on top and then sprinkle with cranberries. Sprinkle everything
with the flour brown sugar mixture. Dot with butter.

4 Bake: Bake 50-60 minutes at 350°F until cooked through and lightly browned.

I've also made this, it's slightly sweet from the maple, but there is a bit of a bite from the chipotle. Just a tiny bit, because you know what a coward I am with heat, LOL, I don't know how your Mother feels about the chipotle. A former poster once told me that "sweet potatoes always dance nicely with chipotle". It's from Ina Garten

Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes

4 pounds sweet potatoes (6 potatoes)

1 cup whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce

1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from the can of chiles)

1/4 cup pure Grade A maple syrup

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, diced

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil. Place the sweet potatoes on the prepared sheet pan and pierce each potato 4 times with a small knife. Roast for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, until very tender inside when tested with a knife.

Set aside until cool enough to handle. (Leave the oven on.) Peel the potatoes, discard the skins and place the potatoes in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Meanwhile, place the milk, cream, chipotle chile and adobo sauce in a small
saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. (It might look
curdled.) With the mixer on low speed, add the chipotle-milk mixture to the sweet
potatoes. Add the maple syrup, butter and 1 tablespoon salt. Mix until the potatoes are coarsely pureed.

Pour into a 9-by-12-by-2-inch oval oven-to-table baking dish and bake for 30 minutes, until heated through. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve hot.

Make ahead: Prepare the sweet potato mixture, spoon it into the baking dish,
cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 to 45
minutes, until hot.

Annie

I had never had it either until my daughter came home from a friends house and she fell. In love with it. So now we just roast them scoop out the flesh and push through the ricer with butter, salt and pepper. Put in an ovenproof casserole dish. Made ahead and just before serving top with crushed up potato chips and reheat in the oven. Yams work as well. But I don’t know if that qualifies as a casserole.

I make candied sweet potatoes. Fresh sweet potatoes (the ones that have the red, copper penny skin), peeled and cooked in salted water till tender. Slice, place in a baking pan in a single layer, seasoned with bits of butter, brown sugar, a tablespoon of water, salt and pepper, and bake uncovered about an hour for the brown sugar to thicken.

Thanks, everybody, for all the recipes and suggestions!

Many new things to try, ;)

I'll post something here later today or tomorrow. Mine has absolutely NO added sugars (sweet potatoes are already sweet enough, hence their name!) Candied is a definite item I (or my family) won't/didn't touch.

I prefer (and my family did so as well) slightly chunky.

Edit, mine is pretty much like Annie's second portion, but with some ground pepper, cardamom, nutmeg and allspice for seasonings. And the butter. I can see adding in some heavy cream.

Hubby loved making his sweet potato and yellow or white potatoes dish. Just cubed potatoes in a baking dish with lots of olive oil and a heaping handful of whole garlic cloves and baked in the oven. Deeeeeelicious!

Here is the recipe I make. Sweet Potato Soufflé, which isn’t a soufflé at all. But it is sweet. You won’t like it from what you’ve said, but you could cut the recipe back to one potato for your mom and top with the pecan topping or with marshmallow. The good news is you can make it ahead except for the last minute reheating of the potatoes and then cooking the topping. I’m sorry you are having to cook something you dislike, but it is sweet of you to accommodate your mom.

I don’t eat it, but it's been a family staple for decades, so it’s expected and appreciated. My Mema always had it, but had so many other dishes to make, she did this one basic, quick, and easy. I followed her path.

2 large cans yams, drain, pour in mixing bowl. Add some orange juice and mash up with a potato masher. Leave slightly chunky. Mix in cinnamon to taste. Pour into 8x8 dish, sprinkle some more cinnamon on top, then cover with big marshmallows. Bake at 350 around 20 minutes. Best when marshmallows get crunchy on top. If they start getting too browned, do a foil tent.

Sometime I mix in some chopped pecans. For us, it’s just a nostalgic side, not a main dish. It is pretty good with leftovers.

This is our go to sweet potato casserole, although we bake the sweet potatoes (it's more flavorful) rather than boil and cut the white sugar in half to 1/4 cup. Super easy!

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/21261/yummy-sweet-potato-casserole/

As for myself don’t like the sweet stuff. Mother always made a sweet potato pie that was delicious. Few ingredients and small amount of sugar. Know whatever you make, she will love.

I've never understood the custom of adding more sweetness to sweet potatoes for a casserole. They are plenty sweet already. I think one can do a savory sweet potato casserole. New York Times Cooking has a sweet potato and apple kugel recipe that just adds 1 tablespoon of honey or agave but it is probably paywalled if you don't subscribe.. I've seen several gratin recipes with sweet potatoes.

I'd be tempted to improvise something with herbs or curry spices. If there must be some sweet, a chopped nut topping with a bit of maple syrup seems good like this recipe:

https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/savory-sweet-potato-casserole-recipe/

Coconut and non-dairy butter could be substituted to make it parve.

OMG! I've been enjoying reading all these suggestions, whether sweet or not, but Cloud Swift, that recipe in the link sounds like something I might enjoy. ;)

Me, I love sweet potatoes, and often bake and eat plain, no sugar, butter or even salt. For casserole I usually do basically what some others said. I bake the potatoes, mash, add butter and a little salt. Top with a light streusal topping.

I've always added sour cherries and nuts to chunked sweet potatoes with streusal top to cut some of the sweetness. Just what we've gotten used to 😁

Yam Gratin with Gruyere, a recipe that I got at Wegman’s years ago is amazing. It would be prepared in the store this time of the year and after I sampled it, grabbed a recipe card. I’ve served it several times with a baked ham and the baking dish was always scrapped clean. I’m sure you can sub sweet potatoes for the yams, frankly, I can’t tell the difference.

Eileen, I’d love to have the recipe! Sounds like something we’d love.

Louise, just google yam gratin with Gruyère, Wegman’s recipe. Then you can either print it, save it to another site, etc. It really is a great side dish and I’m not a fan of yams or sweet potatoes. This is one reason why I miss the good, old days of sampling the store offerings. Once in a while you discovered something you’d never think about doing. I hope you enjoy it!

Sweet potatoes mashed with lots of butter, plus orange rind and sherry, baked in a casserole. Dry Sack sherry is good for this. Goes very well with poultry.

Most in my family go for candied sweet potatoes, then there are a few that don't want sweet potatoes any way! I like sweet potato casserole too. I never put marshmallows on mine but would eat it if served. My baked sweet potato only needs some butter on it. Sweet potato casserole is a big hit at our church meals, my casserole dish was always empty to bring home.

Sue

This is absolutely no help to you whatsoever, but yotam ottolenghi suggests baked sweet potatoes with lime butter. Delicious.

I do like Yotam.... ;)

plllog, I also love sweet potatoes just roasted with butter, s&p. My family loves this particular sweet potato dish. Easy to cut back or omit the brown sugar. I know some people might also want to omit the nutmeg. (LOL, sorry if this is another URP!)

Sweet Potato Casserole With Walnuts

Can be made up to 2 days in advance. Keep covered and chilled; bring to room temp for baking.

5 cups baked, mashed sweet potatoes
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup (packed) brown sugar
2 1/2 T. dry sherry
1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste
Optional: 3/4 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
1/2 tsp. nutmeg (preferably freshly grated

Preheat oven to 350. With electric mixer (not food processor) whip all ingredients, except walnuts and nutmeg, until light. Stir in walnuts and put in buttered casserole. Spread evenly and grate fresh nutmeg over the top. Bake for 45 minutes (depending on pan size).

Note: I usually mix in the nutmeg instead of sprinkling on top. Instead of mixing the nuts in, you can top the casserole with them...candied nuts are another option for on top.

ETA - I use an oval baking dish for this...11x8x3.

And I just was going through some recipes I've printed, looking for a recipe I know I have somewhere. This is from Midwest Living:

Sweet Potatoes with Orange and Mascarpone

• ¼ cup butter

• 3 pounds (5 to 6 medium) sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

• ⅓ cup orange juice

• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

• 4 ounces mascarpone cheese

• 2 teaspoons orange zest

• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom

• In a 4- to 5-quart Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in sweet potatoes, orange juice and maple syrup. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook until tender, about 45 minutes.

• Remove from heat (do not drain). Mash with potato masher. Stir in mascarpone cheese, orange zest and cardamom. Serve warm.

I haven't tried this, but I'm going to, I copied the recipe and forgot it. It still sounds good, that's why I printed it, LOL.

Annie

I'm in the camp with either baked or roasted sweet potatoes, plus salt and pepper. But, others don't think it can possibly be T'Day without The Sweet Potato Casserole. I, like others, take just a polite small scoop and go on with the meal. Youngest DD has a good recipe that everyone seems to like, but I don't think I, personally, even have a recipe to share.

Hi - I never post here but posted this on another forum and thought I'd share it here. It is very good - slightly sweet but not overly so. I skip the marshmallows.

sweet potato dish

I've shared a recipe for this here in the past, but I simply layer slices of sweet potatoes (or winter squash) and apples in a buttered baking dish and pour over some orange juice mixed with maple syrup and fresh grated ginger, dot with more butter and bake at around 400F until nice and soft. Towards the end, some chopped walnuts or pecans can be sprinkled on to get toasty. It can be as sweet or not too sweet as you wish.

Another possibility. I just got this recipe via email. I like most of the recipes from Nagi of RecipeTinEats. This sounds like something I would enjoy and would even serve to others. The Maple Butter Pecan sauce is optional or it could be served on the side.

Fondant Sweet Potatoes - Slow Roasted

I feel like I'm having deja vu - this showed up in my inbox today. I subscribe to Martha Stewart Living's newsletter:

11 Sweet Potato Casseroles

I love sweet potatoes just about any way you can fix them. I enjoy all these new recipes and suggestions so I can have more of a variety.

Madonna

I love this recipe and have been making it every year since finding it on this forum many years ago. I usually quadruple it for family Thanksgiving dinner but sadly not this year.

Sweet Potato and Caramelized Onion Casserole (katiec)

4 servings

2 large sweet potatoes -- peeled and thinly sliced

2 large onions -- sliced

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

Drizzle onions with oil and cook on low heat until caramelized, stirring occasionally.

Layer 1/2 of the sweet potato slices in a shallow 1 qt. casserole dish. Cover with caramelized onions. Layer remaining sweet potato slices over onions. Dot with butter, sprinkle with brown sugar.

Bake uncovered at 350F for about an hour or until casserole is browned on top.