Scalloped Sweet Potatoes with Bacon and Gruyère
Posted: 11/03/2014
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Decadent scalloped sweet potatoes will be an unforgettable side dish on your Thanksgiving table. Full of rich Gruyère cheese and flavorful bacon, they are sure to be a hit!
Well, now that Halloween is over, get ready for all things Thanksgiving! Stuffing, turkey, cranberries, and of course ,sweet potatoes!
You all know the classic Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole topped with marshmallows? This is nothing like that. Not that I have anything against that iconic dish.
These scalloped sweet potatoes are sort of sweet potato casserole’s sophisticated older sister. They are rich and decadent, with so much flavor, thanks to bacon and shredded Gruyère cheese.
To increase the flavor profile even more, I take it one step further and roast the potatoes with a little maple syrup. You could boil them if you wanted to….but why? I’m clearly biased towards roasted vegetables (more than 40 recipes!) but roasting the sweet potatoes really does make a difference to this recipe. It’s a pretty simple step to do while you’re preparing the sauce, shredding the cheese, cooking the bacon, etc.
Today, I used a shallot instead of onion in these sweet potatoes, partly because Ben doesn’t like a really strong onion flavor, but mostly because I didn’t have any onions. What kind of food blogger runs out of onions? The kind of food blogger with two toddlers, that’s what kind. My point is, shallots are awesome but onions are great too. Use about a half of a small yellow onion — a 1/4 cup to a 1/2 cup would be perfect.
More Sweet Potatoes!
Still looking for some new sweet potato ideas for this Thanksgiving? Try:
- Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes
- Maple Mustard Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Shallots
- Hasselback Sweet Potatoes
- Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole (gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free)
- Vanilla Bean Mashed Sweet Potatoes
- Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
- Handheld Sweet Potato Casserole without Nuts
- Baked Sweet Potatoes with Feta, Olives and Sundried Tomatoes from Gourmande in the Kitchen
- Bourbon Mashed Sweet Potatoes from Simply Recipes
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
servings
Decadent scalloped sweet potatoes are an unforgettable side dish. Full of rich Gruyère cheese and flavorful bacon, they are sure to be a hit!
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 sweet potatoes (about 3 lbs.), peeled and sliced into ¼-inch rounds (cut rounds in half if very large)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- ½ teaspoon coarse black pepper, divided
- 3 strips thick sliced or center-cut bacon, cut into ½ inch pieces
- 1 large shallot, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups 2% or whole milk
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ⅛ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 6 oz. Gruyère cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425ºF. Mix sliced sweet potatoes with oil, maple syrup, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Arrange on large rimmed baking sheet (sheet pan). Roast for 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, fry bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until almost crisp. With a slotted spoon, remove bacon from pan and set aside on a paper towel-lined plate.
- Reduce heat to medium, add sliced shallot, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper to bacon drippings and cook until tender. Stir in flour, cooking and stirring about 1 minute. Add milk, cream, thyme and nutmeg slowly while whisking, increase heat to medium, and cook until mixture thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in all but ½ cup of the Gruyère cheese.
- Arrange half of sweet potatoes in greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Cover with half of the sauce and sprinkle with half the bacon.
- Arrange remaining sweet potatoes on top, cover with remaining sauce, and sprinkle with remaining ½ cup cheese and bacon.
- Bake at 325ºF for 20 minutes; serve immediately.
Notes
- Make Ahead Ideas: Peel and slice the sweet potatoes up to a day ahead and store in a covered container, completely submerged in water. Drain well and pat dry before using. Sweet potatoes can be roasted up to a day ahead, if you prefer. Roast as directed, cool, and refrigerate. Proceed with recipe as directed when ready to use.
- For a vegetarian option, omit the bacon. Use a tablespoon of olive oil to cook the chopped shallots.
- Sweet potatoes can be left unpeeled, if you prefer.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 460kcal, Carbohydrates: 27g, Protein: 14g, Fat: 33g, Saturated Fat: 18g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 12g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 89mg, Sodium: 626mg, Potassium: 498mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 10g, Vitamin A: 12964IU, Vitamin C: 3mg, Calcium: 365mg, Iron: 1mg
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Husband’s take: Heard no complaints from him!
Changes I would make: None are necessary, but if you want to bulk this up a little to increase the servings, you could easily add another sweet potato. There is plenty of sauce and cheese to go around.
Difficulty: Easy to moderate.
Disclosure: I am thrilled to be in an ongoing partnership with United Dairy Industry of Michigan. I have been compensated by UDIM for my time to develop this recipe. All opinions are as always, my own. Find out more about why Milk Means More on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest
Alaina+{Fabtastic+Eats} says
sweet potatoes > all other potatoes.
this sounds sooooo delish! I wasn’t going to make a thanksgiving dinner this year, I was thinking of going totally non-traditional, since itll just be the four of us, but this one single dish is trying really hard to change my mind. LOVE.
sarah k @ the pajama chef says
i always have sweet potatoes w/ brown sugar for thanksgiving…may need to change it up this year. this looks seriously yum!
Sues says
I loveee that you took a traditional potato dish and swapped the white potatoes out for sweet potatoes. This sounds SO delicious!
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Scalloped potatoes are my favorite! These look so cheesy and delicious! Sharing!
Kathryn says
I love the sound of this Rachel! I will eat sweet potato almost any way but throw in that great combo of gruyere and bacon and I’m totally sold.
Liz+@+The+Lemon+Bowl says
Ok this was not the best recipe to read after a workout. I WANT TO EAT THE WHOLE PAN!!! Yum!!
Aggie says
This looks heavenly. That is all.
:)
Lauren says
Yeaaas this sounds awesome. Maybe I’ll just eat this instead of all the other Thanksgiving dishes? Mmmmm I think its an excellent plan!
Meg @ The Housewife in Training Files says
Oh forget the marshmallows! I never cared for my sweet potato casserole with them….plus the gruyere is amazing! I make something real similar. But I am loving your scalloped version!
Laura @ Laura's Culinary Adventures says
Yummy! Cheese and bacon are a great addition to sweet potatoes :)
Taylor @ Food Faith Fitness says
Move aside marshmallows, because there is a new goodness in town and it’s name is Gruyere and bacon!
I love scalloped potatoes, but I have never tried then with sweet potatoes. And then you add Gruyere and bacon and I died. Pinned!