A dish for all season. Holidays or not, potato casserole is a simple yet delectable dish most people love to prepare.
Sweet potatoes are a good choice for a healthy meal and much more when made into a casserole. You will surely enjoy a sweet potato casserole or what others call yam casserole with your meal at any day. Some prefer it as a side dish or as a dessert.
Intentionally or not, we can prepare more than what we can have or what our guests can eat after a meal, then we are left thinking about how to keep our leftover so we can still enjoy it for the next meal or ever after a few days.
Can I store potato casserole in the freezer? Is it okay to freeze it? Certainly, you can.
Sweet potato casserole can be frozen for four months and will still be best to consume. However, you need to store it properly to ensure its freshness even when it is frozen.
Here is our simple guide on freezing your casserole and some tips on what you can do with your leftover.
A Guide to Freezing Sweet Potato Casserole
You might wonder if freezing your sweet potato casserole will be fine or if it will ever freeze. Well, yes it freezes perfectly.
The traditional sweet potato or what also others call yam casserole recipe is baked with marshmallow toppings, but you may always tweak the ingredients or add more flavors to your liking.
Baking sweet potatoes with marshmallows can also have other ingredients like pecan nuts. Whatever ingredients you would want to add, it will surely freeze well. You can even freeze it before cooking it or after cooking it, whichever suits your preparation time.
How Sweet Potato Casserole is Made
You can learn different ways on how to make sweet potato or yam casserole. You can also follow other recipes and even make your own, but we will share with you the traditional way of preparing it and following the basic recipe.
It is really very easy to make your own sweet potato or yam casserole. Here are the simple steps for you.
- Prepare sweet potatoes, marshmallows, melted butter, sugar, vanilla, salt, and other ingredients you wanted to add. Be sure to peel and cut the sweet potatoes in cube.
- Boil or cook the cubed sweet potatoes for 10 to 20 minutes till they become tender. Strain them and leave it to cool down for a few minutes.
- Mash the potatoes thoroughly and mix together with butter, salt, vanilla, and sugar.
- Spread it evenly on a baking pan or tray.
- Spread marshmallow toppings. You can cover the entire potatoes if you like.
- Add your choice of additional toppings like pecan nuts.
- Bake it for at least 25 minutes at 375 degrees F or till the mallows become golden.
- Take it out of the oven and slice into a good serving size.
You can serve it while it is still hot or just warm enough to savor its delicate sweet taste.
Using Sweet Potato Casserole Leftovers
Your sweet potato or yam casserole is still delectable even after freezing, you simply need to reheat it, but what if you have more leftovers, would you freeze it again or try to make into another dish? Yes, you can make another satisfying dish from your casserole.
Here is a list of simple dishes you can make with your sweet potato casserole leftovers.
- Oatmeal
- Cakes
- Muffins
- Cheese potato cakes
- Waffles
- Egg hash
- Soup
- Scones
- Quesadillas
Sometimes it is even good to make it into another dish so you can have a variety of delicious dish made with potato casserole leftovers. You can even experiment on your own dish from these leftovers that fits your delicate taste.
How to Freeze Sweet Potato Casserole
If you have decided to freeze your casserole leftovers instead of making it into another dish, then you just need to properly pack it for freezing so it will remain fresh for a day or two.
Your yam casserole can have an overload of marshmallow toppings and other nuts you have but do not fret, it will freeze well, and it will still be good after reheating it. Others would even like it served cold instead of warmed.
Keep in mind never to leave it at room temperature for more than 2 hours before freezing it because bacteria can grow on it quickly and may cause health problems when eaten.
Frozen sweet potato or yam casserole can be best for 5 days just remember to package it correctly before freezing it.
Here are the easy steps to freeze sweet potato casserole.
- Let your sweet casserole cool down at room temperature before packing it for freezing.
- It is best to place the casserole in an airtight container with lid or you can use a resealable plastic freezer bags to pack it. Place the casserole container inside the resealable freeze bag and seal it tightly. If neither is available, you can use plastic food wrap but be sure to wrap it completely and tightly.
- Label the package with dates to track freezing time.
- Keep the casserole in your freezer for not more than 5 days.
Five days is the best shelf life for a sweet potato casserole stored in the freezer, but it can be good for more than 5 days to months but be sure to check your dish before reheating it.
When reheating a frozen casserole, you may thaw it before doing so or just reheat it right out of the freezer. It is recommended to thaw it slowly or overnight while in the fridge because thawing it at room temperature can make foodborne bacteria to grow.
Remember that packaging and storing food properly always affect its freshness and shelf life even when stored in the freezer.
Related Questions
Can I reheat sweet potato or yam casserole in an aluminum foil?
Covering your casserole pan or tray with aluminum foil during reheating is a good practice to seal in the moisture on the dish. It will also prevent the top layer especially the toppings from getting too dry or burnt.
How long can I leave the sweet potato casserole at room temperature?
We are always reminded that handling food is very important. Whether the dish is frozen or newly cooked, we should never leave it sitting for more than two hours at room temperature. It is also recommended to thaw frozen food slowly while inside the fridge than by leaving it at room temperature.
Foodborne bacteria can grow fast at temperature from 40 to 140 degrees F so it is safe to keep our food out of this temperature.
Is sweet potato casserole the same with candied yams?
Some people call sweet potato casserole as yam casserole because they are made from sweet potatoes, but they are two different things as to the kind of potatoes. Sweet potatoes are soft sweet potatoes and yams are the firmer varieties of sweet potatoes.
Although they look the same, sweet potatoes are also healthier than yams because they have more fiber are higher nutrient contents. Yams are also nutritious but has lesser fiber contents.
Can marshmallows get moist when reheated?
When sweet potato casserole is baked, the marshmallows are cooked until golden, but they never become soggy.
Use foil to cover your casserole pan to prevent the mallows from being too dry or burnt and just to keep in enough moisture.
Overcooking or over reheating will burn the mallows and it will not taste good.
Is sweet potato healthy?
Definitely, sweet potatoes are rich in fiber and contains potassium, and sodium. They are also packed with Vitamins A, B5, B6, thiamin, niacin, and Vitamin C.
It is also said to have medium glycemix index with is not bad for those who watch their calorie and sugar intake.
