Easy Sweet Potato Cranberry Casserole Recipe
Rich and Colorful Holiday Side Dish with Cranberries and Yams
Nov 16, 2009
Sweet potatoes and cranberries are popular at holiday meals. Both provide a sweet contrast to dishes such as turkey, stuffing, and homemade yeast bread. While some Southern families simply bake sweet potatoes or yams, many make up special casseroles combining various vegetables and fruits like sweet potatoes and cranberries.
Do note that the words sweet potato and yam may be used, but what you get in the United States would be sweet potatoes. They are the bright orange variety most often though can be in the yellow color range. Yams, on the other hand, are more often purple or white and have a barky looking jacket and can grow up to seven feet long. Yams are not grown in the United States, but they can be found at some specialty food shops. Sweet potatoes and yams are not related. In other words, they are totally different vegetables. However, sweet potatoes and yams cook up much the same with yams being a little sweeter and the taste a bit different depending on the recipe.
Sweet potatoes (and yams) are hard, root vegetables, so they do take quite a while to cook. To save time, this easy casserole recipe includes canned yams or sweet potatoes. Home baked or boiled sweet potatoes can be prepared and used in place of the canned sweet potatoes, but then the recipe takes longer with the extra step.
Easy Sweet Potato Cranberry Casserole Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 can cooked yams or sweet potatoes in chunks and not mashed (40 ounce size can or equal)
- 3 cups fresh whole cranberries
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 small orange (peeled and sliced thin)
- ½ cup pecans (chopped or whole)
- ¼ cup orange juice
- ¾ tsp cinnamon (sprinkle type – not the sticks)
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp mace (optional)
Directions:
- Grease a 2 quart casserole dish.
- Add cranberries, sugar, orange slices, pecans, orange juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and mace and stir in mixing bowl. Then, pour mixture into prepared casserole dish.
- Bake uncovered in a preheated oven at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and stir in canned sweet potatoes that have been drained of the extra liquid in the can.
- Return casserole to the oven and heat until yams or sweet potatoes are heated. This takes around 15 minutes, since the canned sweet potatoes are pre-cooked.
Note – Mace is a seasoning with a taste similar to nutmeg but stronger (made from the outside of the nutmeg plant). For families who do not have mace in the pantry but want more flavor, just go a bit heavier on the nutmeg.
More Favorite Southern Holiday Side Dish Recipes:
Copper Penny Carrots - This is a favorite holiday carrot recipe. Very festive looking and tastes great too.
Old Fashioned Potato Salad - Enjoy a great Grandma recipe with this traditional mountain potato salad recipe. One of the secrets is the addition of bacon grease. Yum. Really.
Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes - Cut down on the holiday stress with mashed potatoes that are made ahead and heated. They taste just as great as ones made up right beforehand and certainly streamline the work before a big holiday meal.
Southern Sweet Potato Casserole - This is one of those dishes that they say "shut your mouth" about and mean it. Whew. Delicious casserole that could easily be served for dessert. Sinfully rich and sweet.
Southern Seven Layer Pea Salad - Another oldie but goodie. Put this layered salad is a clear glass bowl for an especially pretty presentation of a yummy and easy to make side dish.
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