Scalloped Sweet Potatoes with Crunchy Pecan Topping are the perfect holiday side. It’s a delicious recipe that’s also gorgeous to look at. Vegan, soy-free and can be gluten-free and nut-free.
Here’s a delicious alternative to mashed sweet potatoes or a sweet potato casserole for your Thanksgiving table: my Scalloped Sweet Potatoes with a Crunchy Pecan Topping.
This is a lovely dish to look at: the slices of pretty orange sweet potatoes, shingled and drowned in a creamy sauce, with golden streusel-like pecans strewn over, is a showstopper. But when you dig in — that’s when you’ll really fall in love.
The sweet potatoes cook up creamy and melt in your mouth, and they have just that hint of orange — a flavor I think goes perfectly with sweet potatoes. And the crunchy pecan topping is amazing, adding another dimension to the creamy sweet potatoes. Together, they make magic.
This is a pretty simple dish to make. Start out by slicing your sweet potatoes really thin — an eighth of an inch — and layer them into a baking dish or casserole. Make the creamy sauce by starting off a roux of flour with a medley of herbs, and then whisk in some nondairy milk.
All you need to do next is drown the sweet potatoes in the creamy sauce and then strew over the pecan streusel, made with sugar, vegan butter, pecans, of course, and flour.
Here are some ideas on how you could adapt this recipe to your tastes/preferences:
-Use any nondairy milk. I used cashew because I think it adds the most creaminess, but almond is fine. Nut-free milks would work too. I am not a huge fan of coconut milk as a substitute for milk in recipes because it adds a strong flavor, but coconut does work very well with sweet potatoes, so if you want to use it, be my guest.
-If you want the dish to be nut-free, leave out the pecans altogether and use the same amount of oats instead.
-Unless you have amazing knife skills, use a mandolin to slice your sweet potato so you get slices that will bake evenly.
-To make the dish gluten-free, use rice flour instead of all purpose flour.
-Slide a baking sheet under your casserole when baking, to keep juices from bubbling out of the pan and into your oven. I often set off the fire alarm at my home when I forget to do this. 🙂
-Desi loves the streusel so I made a lot and covered the whole dish with it, but if you want an even prettier look, leave a one-inch border around the casserole uncovered with the streusel so you can see the pretty shingled layers of sweet potatoes.
I hope I’ve covered it all, but if you have questions, do let me know. Here’s the recipe.
- 3 large sweet potatoes (peeled and sliced evenly into 1/8th inch slices. Use a mandolin for best results)
- 1 tbsp avocado or other vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 tbsp fresh sage (minced)
- 1 tsp rosemary (minced)
- 1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour (use rice flour if gluten-free)
- 2 1/2 cups nondairy milk (I used cashew but any nondairy milk is fine)
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup pecans (finely chopped)
- 1/4 cup turbinado sugar (brown sugar would work here too)
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp vegan butter
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Make the pecan topping by mixing the ingredients together until crumbly.
Make the sauce by heating the oil. Add the garlic and fresh herbs and saute for a few seconds, then add the flour and continue to cook until the flour is well mixed into the oil and forms small crumbs.
Add a cup of the nondairy milk, using a whisk to mix so lumps don't form. Add the remaining milk and whisk it in as well. Add the nutmeg, salt, and ground black pepper to taste and bring to a boil. The sauce should thicken. Turn off the heat and add the orange juice.
Spray a casserole or baking dish with cooking spray. Shingle in half the sweet potato slices in a decorative pattern -- I like making concentric circles. Pour half the creamy sauce over the sweet potatoes, using a ladle.
Shingle on the remaining sweet potato slices and pour the remaining sauce evenly over them.
Cover with aluminum foil, place on a baking sheet, and bake for 35 minutes.
Remove the foil, scatter the pecan topping over the sweet potatoes, and continue baking, uncovered, for another 25 minutes.
Let the scalloped potatoes stand on a rack at least 30 minutes before serving.
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This looks delicious! But about the pecan topping… It’s just used once, yes?
Yes, just once in step 7. Thanks! 🙂
I will be making this! 😋 But, do I add the topping before or after I remove the foil or both? It says add in both steps 6 and 7.
Step 7 only! Sorry. 🙂
Thank you!
What temp is oven,
How do I mix the pecan topping
I didn’t have enough sauce to drizzle my fingers are crossed as I had to guess the cup sizes.
400 degrees. And mix topping with fingers. Or pulse in a food processor but don’t let the pecans become powdery.