Scalloped Sweet Potatoes (Easy Holiday Side Dish)
Scalloped Sweet Potatoes 🍠🍁🧀 with garlic and herbs, Parmesan cheese, and cream is the perfect sweet-yet-savory side dish that everyone raves about! An easy yet elegant sweet potato recipe that’s perfect all fall, for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or holiday entertaining!
Easy Scalloped Sweet Potatoes Recipe
- If you’re looking to put an elegant twist on the humble sweet potato, this scalloped sweet potato recipe is just the ticket. It’s easy enough to master, yet looks like you labored for hours over it!
- Thinly sliced sweet potatoes are arranged in a baking dish and topped with a mixture of heavy cream, melted butter, garlic, fresh herbs, and Parmesan.
- This saucy blend helps to keep the sweet potatoes moist while baking and infuses savory flavor into natural sweetness of the sweet potatoes so it reads as an overall savory dish.
- Everyone at your Thanksgiving Day, Christmas, or holiday celebration is going to want the recipe! You can also prep this the night before and bake it off to help take stress off your plate if you’re serving this for a special meal.
- For those of you who love traditional butter pecan sweet potato casserole, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, or candied yams, you’re going to adore this sweet potato dish.
Ingredients In Scalloped Sweet Potato Recipe
- Sweet potatoes are the star of the show. Use 3 medium sweet potatoes, or about 2 large. Aim for about 1 1/2 pounds of sweet potatoes. Select potatoes with the same general size so that the slices are uniform in overall size which makes for a prettier presentation and ensures they cook through at a uniform rate.
- Heavy cream + cornstarch help thicken the sauce.
- Melted butter, garlic, shallot, salt, pepper, thyme, and sage add savory flavor.
- Parmesan cheese elevates the overall flavor of the dish. If for some reason you wanted to omit it, you could. But I wouldn’t because it adds an extra wow factor!
- Fresh parsley, fresh thyme, or other fresh herbs such as rosemary are used for garnishing, as desired.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
Using Other Potatoes
If you want to make this dish with Russet potatoes or Yukon gold potatoes, you can. I also have a recipe for Three Cheese Scalloped Potatoes that uses Russet potatoes so you can check that one out.
How To Make Scalloped Sweet Potato Casserole
- Preheat oven to 400F and grease an 8-inch round baking dish. You can also use an oval or oblong baking or casserole dish that’s about 1 1/2 to 2 quarts.
- Use a mandolin slicer to slice peeled sweet potatoes into 1/8-inch thick slices. This recipe is one where a mandolin is a lifesaver and I highly recommend it! Place the slices in the baking dish.
- Separately, combine the heavy cream and cornstarch.
- Separately, to a medium saucepan, add the butter to melt, then add the shallot and garlic to soften, before adding the remaining herbs and seasonings. Add the heavy cream mixture and then the Parmesan and stir.
- Pour mixture over the sweet potatoes and bake uncovered for about 45 minutes or until fork tender, garnish as desired, and serve!
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for step-by-step photos and process shots of the cooking process.
- 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced to 1/8-inch thickness (about 3 medium or 2 large sweet potatoes, choose potatoes that are uniform in size for best results)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 large shallot, finely diced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 3 fresh thyme sprigs, (or about 3/4 to 1 teaspoon dried)
- ¼ teaspoon ground sage, (or about 1/2 teaspoon fresh sage, finely minced)
- ¾ cup shredded parmesan cheese, or to taste
- Fresh parsley, fresh thyme, or other fresh herbs, optional and as desired for garnishing
- Preheat oven to 400F and spray or grease your baking dish; set aside.
- Slice the peeled sweet potatoes using a mandolin to about 1/8-inch thick. Tip – A mandolin is extremely helpful in this recipe and I encourage you to use one if you have it. If you don’t, slice your sweet potatoes very thin, being extremely careful not to cut yourself.
- Arrange the sweet potatoes in the baking dish; set aside.
- To a large measuring cup or bowl, add the heavy cream, cornstarch, and whisk to combine; set aside.
- To a medium saucepan, add the butter, and heat over medium heat to melt the butter. Add the garlic, shallot, and cook for about 2 minutes to soften them; stir nearly continuously so they don’t burn. Add the salt, pepper, thyme leaves from the fresh sprigs, sage, and stir to combine.
- Lower the heat to medium-low, slowly add the heavy cream mixture into the saucepan while whisking constantly.
- Add the Parmesan and stir to combine.
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Evenly pour the mixture over the top of the sweet potatoes in the baking dish. Tip – I used a 2-tablespoon measuring spoon to help get the sauce into all the nooks and crannies of the potatoes. A small spoon or small ladle will also work to help get the sauce into the crevices between the potato slices. If you are making this in advance, stop now, cover tightly with foil, and refrigerate for up to 12-24 hours before baking off. Before baking, allow the baking dish to sit on your counter for about 45-60 minutes and come to room temperature so you’re not baking with a fridge-cold dish, which will throw off the baking time and the results.
- Bake uncovered for about 45-50 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through and the sauce is thick and bubbly. Baking Tips – Baking times are only listed as a guide since all ovens vary Begin checking at about 40 minutes and also don’t be surprised if it takes 60 minutes to cook in your oven. The potatoes should be done and fork-tender. if they appear to be browning too quickly but not actually cooking through, cover the baking dish with foil for the remaining baking time.
- Optional Broiling: For those who are very familiar with how to broil, and you’d like to add a bit of crispiness to the top, you can broil this for 2-4 minutes, taking extreme caution not to burn it in the final moments! Due to their natural sugars, sweet potatoes will burn quickly so I encourage you to stand in front of your oven and watch it like a hawk if you choose to broil. If you’re not familiar with broiling or don’t do it much, I would skip it.
- Optionally garnish as desired and serve immediately.
Storage: Leftovers will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. For ease, I reheat it gently in my microwave although you could warm it in the oven.
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 270cal, Carbohydrates: 20g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 19g, Saturated Fat: 12g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 57mg, Sodium: 511mg, Potassium: 354mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 12737IU, Vitamin C: 3mg, Calcium: 136mg, Iron: 1mg
