Sweet Potato Chili Casserole Recipe - Don't Miss This Easy Skillet Dinner! (2024)

FAQs

How do you make sweet potato casserole not watery? ›

Eggs and cream help stabilize the dish and prevent it from becoming too runny (a common complaint with many sweet potato casserole recipes). Make it as smooth or chunky as you like!

The egg is the all-important binder in a sweet potato casserole: it enriches and stiffens the mixture without making it heavy. Make sure to cool the mash slightly before adding the egg so it doesn't scramble, and to stir well so there are no streaks of cooked egg white in the finished dish.

If your sweet potato casserole turned out “watery”, its usually because you forgot to add eggs; you didn't let your casserole have enough time to set up after baking or you used fresh sweet potatoes and didn't boil them long enough before mashing.

How to tell if sweet potatoes have gone bad. If your sweet potato is soft in spots, smells rotten, or oozes a mysterious liquid, that potato should be discarded. Another sign that sweet potatoes have taken a turn for the worse is if they start growing stalky purplish sprouts.

To prevent a soggy top and a firm or crunchy bottom, it's important to use a shallow baking dish, to cook the casserole at the correct oven temperature and for the appropriate amount of time, and to be mindful of the amount of liquid used in the recipe.

The reason they are hard in the middle is cook them longer or on a higher temperature. Soaking will not help soften your sweet potato unless you are putting the potato and water in a pot on the stove and cooking it. If your sweet potato is still hard it's not cooked enough.

Most people point to a 1917 pamphlet by the Angelus Marshmallow Company as the first time sweet potatoes and marshmallows came together. This company is believed to be the first to commercially-produce and sell the squishy white marshmallows we know, roast, and snack on today.

Spoiler: They're not the same vegetable.

That's because sweet potatoes and yams are in fact very different vegetables that we've come to refer to interchangeably for a number of reasons over the years. While a dish may arrive at your table calling itself "candied yams," it may well have been made with sweet potatoes.

(Another hot tip if you're boiling your sweet potatoes: Don't overcook them! They tend to absorb water, which could make the filling watery.)

No, yams and sweet potatoes are not the same. Yams have rough, dark brown skin that is often compared to tree bark, and their flesh is dry and starchy like a regular potato. Sweet potatoes have smooth reddish skin, softer flesh (when cooked), and a sweet flavor.

Why is boiling not good for sweet potatoes? ›

Bake, don't boil

Baking sweet potatoes caramelizes their natural sugars, especially when done whole. It intensifies their flavor and creates a richer taste compared to boiling, which can result in a watered-down, bland flavor.

Is it soft, wet, oozing, squishy, discolored, or sprouting? If yes to any, then toss it! If the sweet potato is firm and not sprouting, it's still fresh and safe to eat. If it's firm with only a few sprouts, you can cut the sprouted area off, then cook and eat immediately.

Sweet potatoes in storage are commonly infected with the bread mold fungus, which causes a watery soft rot of part or all of the tuber. The fungus may be seen as a fluffy, white growth, with black dots supported on threads.

Freezing sweet potatoes drives excess water out of the potato, resulting in an interior with more concentrated flavor. Freezing also lowers the starting temperature of the potato, allowing more time for amylase enzymes to convert starch to sweet-tasting maltose.

Pro Tip: Avoid Dry Casserole.

The best way to prevent it from drying out is to add a little bit of water, around ¼ cup, to the top of it. Allow the water to seep between the food and the sides of the baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil to seal in the moisture.

Thankfully, there's a simple and effective solution to this problem: Use instant potato flakes. Instant potato flakes are an excellent thickening agent made from real potatoes that have been cooked, mashed, and then dried.

Roasting sweet potatoes in the oven makes them sweeter and lends caramel-like notes from the natural sugars cooking. Don't add more sugar to make up for it—that could make the souffle runny. Just know it's a flavor trade-off you'll be making if you do this.