You haven’t tried a sweet potato casserole like this one! Its incredible flavor comes from smoked sweet potatoes and addition of salty bacon and sweet maple syrup. This smoked sweet potato casserole is like no other with its salty and sweet flavor combinations.
Smoked Sweet Potato Casserole
Every other sweet potato casserole will just have to step aside now! This sweet, salt, and smoky casserole is the queen of side dishes from now on.
It’s not just the hint of smoky flavor that enhances this casserole, but it’s the complex and bright flavor. All we did is add some crispy, salty bacon into the mix and flavor it up with a hint of maple syrup. This small addition made this experience divine.
The topping is also a perfect way to round up the dish. It doesn’t just provide a crunch, but also a burst of sweetness and saltiness. It also features bacon bits mixed into the pecan crunch topping.
Ingredients You Need
Sweet Potatoes – any of your favorite sweet potatoes will work great.
Bacon – I like to get applewood or hickory smoked bacon.
Butter – unsalted butter is best to control the saltiness of the dish.
Eggs – large eggs will work just fine.
Milk – whole milk is best for the creamy texture.
Maple Syrup – 100% pure maple syrup will give you the best flavor.
Dark Brown Sugar – dark brown sugar will give you deeper molasses flavor.
For The Pecan Crunch Topping:
Flour – all purpose flour will work great but you can use gluten free all purpose if needed.
Dark Brown Sugar – for a deeper molasses flavor.
Pecans – crushed or chopped pecans will be best for a finer texture.
Butter – unsalted butter is best to control the amount of salt in the dish.
Bacon – save half the bacon for the topping.
What is the best wood for smoking sweet potatoes?
When smoking sweet potatoes and sweet potato casserole, pecan or maple wood are my first choice. You can also go with another mild and fruity wood like apple, apricot, or cherry.
How to Smoke Sweet Potatoes
Start preparing your smoker first because it takes no time at all to prepare the potatoes. Preheat the smoker to 375° and place a drip pan underneath the grate.
Wash sweet potatoes and pat them dry. Use a fork or a butter knife to pike a few holes all around each potato. Rub them with some olive oil and sprinkle coarse salt all around.
You can place sweet potatoes right on the grill grate or use a mesh vegetable grill basket to hold them. Place sweet potatoes on the preheated smoker and cook them for about an hour.
How To Make Smoked Sweet Potato Casserole
Get the smoker to 350° while you prepare the casserole.
Wait until the potatoes are cooled enough for you to peel first. Peel potatoes and add them to a large mixing bowl. Mash them with a potato masher until smooth.
Add remaining ingredients for the sweet potato filling, including half the bacon bits, and whisk until completely incorporated.
Rub a 10 inch cast iron skillet with butter all over the bottom and up the sides. Spread sweet potato mixture evenly in the skillet.
Combine flour, brown sugar, bacon bits, and chopped pecans in a mixing bowl and mix until all evenly incorporated. Pour in melted butter while stirring with a fork. Continue to cut and stir with a fork until coarse crumbs form. The topping should look like crumbs, not paste.
Spread the pecan topping over sweet potatoes and on to the smoker it goes!
Smoke at 350° for about 45 minutes.
What if I want to smoke sweet potato casserole at the same time as the turkey?
I recommend smoking your turkey at 225°. If you want to smoke this casserole at the same time, I would allot about an hour and a half to 2 hours to cook the casserole. So place the casserole on the smoker during the last couple of hours of smoking the turkey.
Note: the texture of the casserole won’t be exactly the same as if you cooked it at a higher temperature faster.
Make It Ahead Of Time
There are two ways to make the sweet potato casserole ahead of time.
One – you can smoke the sweet potatoes a days or two ahead and keep them in the refrigerator, in an airtight container. Don’t peel them, just store them in skins. Heat them up for a few seconds in the microwave before making the casserole. They don’t need to be hot, just heated through.
Two – another way to make the casserole ahead of time is to prepare the filling completely 1 day ahead. Don’t make it more than 1 day ahead of time. Store it in an air-tight container, in the refrigerator. Warm it up when you’re ready to smoke it and spread it in the skillet. Make the topping per recipe and cook.
Other Holidays Recipes On The Smoker:
Ham with Brown Sugar Glaze on the Smoker
Smoked Sweet Potato Casserole
Ingredients
For Sweet Potatoes:
- 2.5 lbs sweet potatoes
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- coarse salt
For the Casserole:
- 1 lb bacon cooked crispy, divided
- sweet potatoes from above
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
Streusel Topping:
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/3 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 of the bacon from above
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter melted
- pinch salt
Instructions
- While sweet potatoes are cooking, use the oven to cook the bacon until crispy. Dice or crumble all the bacon. Half will go into the casserole filling and half into the topping.(Or, you can dice cold, raw bacon into small pieces and cook them in a large cooking pan until the fat is all rendered. Drain off all excess bacon fat.)
To Smoke Sweet Potatoes:
- Preheat the smoker to 375°, make sure the grill grate is clean, and place a drip pan underneath the grate to catch the drippings.
- Wash sweet potatoes and pat them dry. Use a fork or a butter knife to poke a few holes all around each potato. Rub them with some olive oil and sprinkle coarse salt all around.
- You can place sweet potatoes right on the grill grate or use a mesh vegetable grill basket to hold them.
- Place sweet potatoes on the preheated smoker and cook them for about an hour. To test of they are done, stick a fork in each one, into the thickest part of the potato, to make sure they are completely tender.
Prepare Sweet Potato Casserole:
- Get the smoker to 350° while you prepare the casserole.
- Wait until the potatoes are cooled enough for you to peel first. Peel potatoes and add them to a large mixing bowl. Mash them with a potato masher until smooth.
- Add butter, eggs, milk, dark brown sugar, maple syrup, and half of the bacon bits. Whisk until completely incorporated.
- Rub a 10 inch cast iron skillet with butter all over the bottom and up the sides. Spread sweet potato mixture evenly in the skillet.
- For the topping: Combine flour, brown sugar, bacon bits, and chopped pecans in a mixing bowl and mix until all evenly incorporated. Pour in melted butter while stirring with a fork. Continue to cut and stir with a fork until coarse crumbs form. The topping should look like crumbs, not paste.
- Spread the pecan topping over sweet potatoes and on to the smoker it goes!
- Smoke at 350° for about 45 minutes.
Nutrition
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