Jennifer from The Unrefined Kitchen shares a delicious and frugal recipe for the $1 dollar menu series that we are reviving here on the Nourishing Gourmet. This side dish is delicious not only for holidays, but for every day meals. Enjoy! -Kimi
We grew up having a sweet potato casserole at Thanksgiving and Christmas with pineapple, streusel and marshmallows. It was so good! I decided this year to try and replicate it (and omitted the marshmallows, though you certainly could make homemade ones to put on top)! It has the tangy-sweetness from the pineapple and a crunchy-sweet streusel topping. I have made it around the holidays, but think it would be a good side dish for any time of the year. And depending on where you live and the time of year, servings can cost as little as $.60!
Sweet Potato Casserole Serves: 8-10
Cost per serving: $.60 – $1.06
- 4-5 large sweet potatoes ($2.20 – $4.40 depending on the time of year)
3/4 cup pecans, chopped ($1.50)
2 Tbsp butter, melted ($.20)
1/2 tsp cinnamon ($0)
3 Tbsp arrowroot ($.15 – .40)
2 Tbsp maple syrup ($.45)
1/4 tsp. salt ($0)
1-20 oz. can pineapple in juice, not syrup—tidbits or rings ($1.50)
(pineapple juice from can) ($0)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash sweet potatoes. Poke potatoes with a knife or a fork. Bake in preheated oven until soft (this usually takes 1 to 1 ½ hours). TIP: Place tin foil on a rack below the sweet potatoes as they leak out juices and can make a big mess.
2. Cut the skins off of the baked sweet potatoes and cut into 2-inch chunks.
3. Spread out pineapple rings or tidbits on the bottom of a 9×13 glass baking pan (reserve juices).
4. Arrange the cut sweet potatoes on top of pineapple.
5. Pour reserved pineapple juice over the top of the sweet potatoes.
6. Combine chopped pecans, melted butter, cinnamon, arrowroot, maple syrup and salt in a bowl.
7. Distribute topping evenly over sweet potatoes.
8. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Enjoy!
*TIP: I often will bake the sweet potatoes and prepare the pineapple/sweet potato portion of the recipe the day before I want to serve this, cover it and store in the fridge. That way, all I have to do is prepare the topping and bake it for 20 minutes!
Jennifer Maltby is a food blogger for The Unrefined Kitchen. She has been happily married to her husband for almost 6 years and they have one two-year old daughter. Jennifer loves being in the kitchen and especially loves baking. Due to multiple health issues, she changed her diet in April 2011 and saw significant, positive changes. Parting from the average American diet was a bit of a challenge, but Jennifer found that using some creativity could turn this diet into something that could be very tasty. She started the website The Unrefined Kitchen to be a tool and resource for others trying to change their diet in a similar way. The Unrefined Kitchen is grain-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free and dairy-free.
Latest posts by KimiHarris (see all)
- 2 Ingredient Peppermint Bark - December 21, 2022
- Herbal Hibiscus Lemonade (Keto, THM) - March 16, 2022
- Creamy Curry Red Lentil Soup - December 8, 2021
I eat a varation of this a few times a week. Walnuts and dries cranberries instead if pineapple is also very delicious.
Yum! That sounds good as well!
Why arrowroot?
I don’t eat grains, so arrowroot sometimes works as a great flour substitute depending on the recipe. Almond flour or coconut flour might work just as well!
Whew, at first glance, I thought the nut topping was ground beef gravy! I was struggling to see the deliciousness in this casserole. It looks delicious now, though! What a fantastic dessert!
Oh dear! I’m sorry! I didn’t even think of that when I looked at the pic! Whoops!
I bet this would taste great with a dollop of soft goat cheese and balsamic drizzle to make for a dinner side….this sounds awesome I can’t wait to try it for breakfast with soaked oatmeal. Thank for the great ideas!
Love the simple ingredients in this recipe! I could even see making a smaller portion of this just for me. 🙂
Shirley
God bless you for time and energy helping us to eat and feed our families better. Keep up the good work. Good people do appreciate your effort and we are sure God does too!
Thanks for the comments and encouragement!
i love the recipe, as a busy tired mom…i usually boil the sweet potatoes for 30min and that way cut down on the hour and a half bake. I know some nutrients are lost or sugar in the water, so I do two things depending on my mood, 1 use the water to rice I’m making, or whatever any other meal requiring some water, 2) add two tablespoons of brown sugar so that the natural sugars aren’t lost in the boil water.