Hosting Thanksgiving For Two this year? You can still serve up your favorite traditional side dishes, like Sweet Potato Casserole For Two with mini marshmallows and chopped pecans on top. Plus learn the difference between sweet potatoes and yams.
If you watch my Instagram stories, then you probably noticed I no longer live alone.
A few weekends ago I adopted a 1.5 year old brown tabby named Mr. J, J for short. That’s what the shelter named him and didn’t see a reason to change it.
J has been a huge handful. He’s the opposite of my last cat Murray. J is very needy and constantly wants me to hold him and sleep in my lap.
In fact, he jumped from the chair into my arms when I wasn’t holding him. Of course he fell to the floor so hopefully he learns not to do that again.
I can tell he’s calming down and starting to sleep and play by himself. Some days I wonder what I got myself into. Other days I can’t stop smiling when he’s sleeping in my lap.
He tends to roll on his back, which never works in his favor when I’m sitting in a chair. He literally grabs the kitchen table because he’s falling.
It probably doesn’t help I work from home, so I’m almost always around. He even follows me into the studio to work.
Luckily he sleeps under the table in the sunlight, but I do have to make sure there is no cat hair in my shots.
The first recipe he supervised was this Sweet Potato Casserole For Two with mini marshmallows and pecans on top.
With Thanksgiving coming up in a few weeks (!!!), I wanted to make more small batch recipes for anyone cooking Thanksgiving For Two.
Sweet potato casserole is simply mashed sweet potato baked in a casserole dish topped with mini marshmallows and chopped pecans.
I scaled it down to 4 servings so you can still enjoy this traditional Thanksgiving side dish if you’re not hosting a large holiday dinner.
What’s the difference between a sweet potato and a yam?
Let’s talk about the difference between sweet potatoes and yams. Even I was confused about this, so I did some research.
Yams are not orange; their flesh is usually white or cream colored, sometimes even purple. Their skin is brown and bark-like.
A sweet potato can either be golden skin with pale flesh or red skin with orange flesh. When we think of sweet potato, we often think of the orange variety.
It’s confusing because once upon a time, grocery stores wanted to differentiate between white and orange sweet potatoes, so they labeled orange sweet potatoes as yams, even though they aren’t true yams. Confused yet?
TLDR: The chances of you buying a true yam at the grocery store is low. What is often labeled as a yam is actually a mislabeled orange sweet potato.
How do you boil sweet potatoes for the casserole?
The method for making sweet potato casserole is the same for making mashed potatoes. First, you bring a pot of water to a boil.
Then you cook the potatoes for about 10 minutes or until soft. It’s important to turn down the heat to a simmer because boiling moves the water too fast, causing the potatoes to disintegrate.
Drain and cool then mash until smooth. I prefer using a stand mixer, but you need to make sure you don’t overbeat them. Otherwise, they’ll have a gluey texture from overworking them.
How do you make sweet potato casserole with marshmallows?
I’m not sure who decided toasting mini marshmallows on top of mashed sweet potatoes was a great idea, but I didn’t want to mess with tradition.
If it’s too sweet for you, you can top the casserole with all chopped pecans tossed in some butter and cinnamon.
Can you make sweet potato casserole ahead of time?
Yes, you can make sweet potato casserole ahead of time! Make the mashed sweet potato filling, refrigerate, then add the marshmallows right before baking.
You may need to add an extra 5-10 minutes in the oven since you’re baking cold sweet potatoes straight from the fridge.
More Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipes
Sweet Potato Casserole For Two
Hosting Thanksgiving For Two this year? You can still serve up your favorite traditional side dishes, like Sweet Potato Casserole For Two with mini marshmallows and chopped pecans on top.
Ingredients
- 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (roughly 1.5 pounds)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Have a 1 quart casserole dish ready.
- Place the cubed sweet potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Add a big pinch of salt. Bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes or until tender. Drain and cool slightly.
- In a large mixing bowl (or by hand with a potato masher), beat the sweet potatoes until mashed and smooth (do not overbeat). Beat in the butter, brown sugar, milk, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla.
- Transfer to the casserole dish. Top with mini marshmallows and pecans. Bake for 20 minutes or until the marshmallows are toasted.
Barbara says
I love Mr. J!!! He looks exactly like one of mine.
I’m so glad you posted a sweet potato casserole for two. In a family of 3, I’m the only one who loves it, but I don’t make it because I would eat the whole thing in one setting. I will be making this recipe during the holidays, if not before!
Thank you for the recipe and sharing the picture of your precious cat.
Carla says
Mr. J is definitely very handsome (and cuddly!) And glad the smaller serving size works for you. Between all the food served for the holidays and certain people liking only certain things, it’s a great way to cut back on leftovers (and portion control in your case ;) )
Carolina Girl says
Perfect, I really love your 2 serving recipes. Your cheddar, cheese and beer and Italian Wedding soups are AWESOME! I look forward to a cookbook! Mr. J is probably afraid of being abandoned again, my boys are independent and not cuddlers! You’re blessed and so is Mr J.
Carla says
Glad you’re enjoying the soups! And yes I think you’re right. After tons of research, J is more than likely afraid I’ll take him back to the shelter (the only history I have on him is he was surrendered). He’s settling down now, although he graduated from rolling around in my lap to laying on my laptop… LOL A few times he has napped on his own with one eye open to make sure I don’t leave the room. Progress I guess!
Susan says
Mr. J is my favorite kind of cat – mackerel tabby. He looks like he’ll be a wonderful pet. As long as you take good care of him and are consistent with him, he will probably turn out just fine – it’s a matter of building trust. I highly approve of your choice. As for the casserole, it sounds perfect – as long as there are no marshmallows on it. I didn’t grow up with the marshmallow tradition – actually we always had regular mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving. I like sweet potatoes better, but not when they are made any sweeter than they naturally are.
Carla says
Ohhh I didn’t know he was called a mackerel tabby. I call him brown tabby haha He’s doing much better now. Still doesn’t understand how gravity works, but maybe one day he’ll figure it out LOL The marshmallows I heard is split – a lot of households do while a lot of households don’t. If you make this recipe, just add more pecans ;)
Angela says
Congrats on the new addition :) I adopted two kitties a few years ago and they’re still the neediest, cuddliest cats I know. I started working from home shortly after so of course now they expect me to never leave! Haha. But my tabby, who did the jumping thing (totally freaked out visitors when they stopped by..) did grow out of leaping into our arms.
Came here from Pinterest while searching recipes for two.. Can’t wait to try!
Carla says
Ha yea I think my biggest problem is I never leave, so I have to make an extra effort to get out, even if it’s for a short walk. J hasn’t done the jumping into my arms since that one time, but he still can’t figure out how gravity works and keeps falling off of things haha
Cheyenne Hankins says
If I made sweet potato casserole outside of the holidays what could I pair it with? My husband loves I dont really care for it so trying to make a meal with it included. Any suggestions?
Carla says
You can serve it with Cornish hen: https://www.chocolatemoosey.com/2016/11/03/cornish-hen-with-homemade-classic-stuffing/ or stuffed turkey breast: https://www.chocolatemoosey.com/2014/11/10/caramelized-onion-and-cranberry-stuffed-turkey-breasts/. However, if you want to get away from the festive holidays, you can serve them with almost any type of meat. Steak and potatoes would work too!
Melanie says
My husband and I prefer a chunkier casserole…what impact would all the liquid have on unmashed sweet potatoes?
Carla says
You don’t need the milk if you’re not mashing them. I haven’t done it chunky, but if I had to guess: Boil the potatoes for 5-8 minutes or until you can poke them with a fork but not done yet. Drain and dry about 5 minutes or so. Toss with melted butter, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla. Place in the casserole dish then bake until fork tender, probably 20-30 minutes. Then top with marshmallows and bake 10-20 minutes or until marshmallows are toasted.
Again, this is only a guess and not tested but that’s how I would do it based on this recipe.