This sweet, warmly-spiced Sweet Potato and Apple Casserole comes with a lovely streusel topping and is the perfect combination of sweet potato casserole and apple crisp. Enjoy it as a side dish this holiday season!
I’ll just address the elephant in the room off the bat. Sweet potatoes and apples? Why? Well…you may just have to taste it to believe it. The two pair beautifully in flavor, and opposites attract when it comes to texture.
Imagine your classic sweet potato casserole got frisky with an apple cobbler and propagated a joyous offering of fall flavors with confusing yet pleasing texture.
That is, in a nutshell, what we’re getting into today.
The way I see it, this easy twist on your favorite sweet potato side dish makes quite the novelty side dish for the fall and holiday season.
It offers warm, yet zesty and bright flavors with just the right level of sweetness and a cozy crumble topping to tie it all together. It may just become your new favorite side!
Let’s discuss the basic ingredients for sweet potato and apple casserole!
Ingredient Notes:
Sweet Potatoes: Bring that soft, naturally sweet and gushy carby deliciousness. Use orange skin yams, jewel yams, or any kind of sweet potato you like.
Apples: Pick your favorite kind of baking apples. I recommend choosing one that is hearty and holds up throughout the baking process rather than turning to mush. Granny smith apples, pink lady apples, honey crisp apples and Envy apples are all great options.
Apple Cider: An all-star ingredient that helps sweeten the casserole and helps steam the potatoes and apples so that they soften up nicely and remain moist.
Pure Maple Syrup: A touch of pure maple syrup goes into the casserole itself and into the casserole topping for sweetening.
Regular All-Purpose Flour or Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour: Used for the casserole topping and to thicken the casserole filling ingredients, we need either regular all-purpose flour, or a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend.
I use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour for all of my all-purpose flour needs.
Coconut Oil or Butter: We need fat to bring the casserole topping ingredients together, and coconut oil or butter are perfect for the job. Stick with coconut oil for a dairy-free option.
Ground Cinnamon: A generous amount of ground cinnamon adds warm flavor to our casserole so that it tastes like fall is swaddling your taste buds with its cozy love.
Orange Zest: The zest of one orange brings bright citrus flavor and sweetness to add nuance and liveliness. Feel free to add 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice too.
Sea Salt: Major flavor enhancer alert!
Recipe Customizations:
- Swap the apple cider for apple juice or pomegranate juice.
- Add ⅔ cup of chopped walnuts or pecans for a nutty crunch.
- For a sweeter casserole, add a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar to both the casserole filling and the topping.
Now that we’ve covered the simple ingredients for this healthy casserole recipe, let’s make it!
How to Make Sweet Potato and Apple Casserole:
Peel and chop the sweet potato and the apples and transfer them to a large 13 x 9 inch casserole dish.
In a measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together the apple cider, pure maple syrup, vanilla extract, and flour until the clumps of flour have dissolved.
Pour this mixture into the casserole dish with the chopped potatoes and apples, and add the melted coconut oil (or butter), ground cinnamon, and orange zest. Use a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula to give everything a big stir.
Mix the ingredients for the casserole topping in a mixing bowl until well combined. It will be crumbly – this is normal.
Sprinkle the streusel topping over the chopped potatoes and apples.
Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil, and bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 60 minutes.
Check the casserole after 50 minutes – if the texture of the apples and the sweet potato are to your liking, stop after 50. Otherwise, keep baking until the potato and apples are softened to your preference.
Pro Tip: If you’d like crispy topping, remove the foil for the last 10 minutes of baking.
Serve your sweet potato and apple casserole alongside your main dish, and enjoy!
Storage Options:
Cover the casserole dish with a sheet of plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Or, transfer the leftovers to an airtight container and keep for 5-7 days. If you’re making the recipe ahead of time, reheat at 350 degrees F for 20-30 minutes, until warm.
Make this sweet potato dish ahead of time to save oven space on the day of your holiday meal!
If you’re looking for more vegetable side dishes to enjoy this holiday season, also try these gems.
More Healthy Side Dishes:
- Healthy Green Bean Casserole
- Crispy Roasted Greek Lemon Potatoes
- Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash
- Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole
- Creamy Brussel Sprout Casserole
- Hot Honey Sweet Potato Bites
Enjoy this wild combination on your Thanksgiving dinner!
Sweet Potato and Apple Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large (1.5 lbs) sweet potato chopped into bite sized chunks
- 2 large (1.7 lbs) apples peeled, cored and chopped into chunks*
- ½ cup apple cider
- 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp gluten-free all-purpose flour or regular all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp melted coconut oil or melted butter
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp orange zest
- Pinch sea salt
Cobbler Topping:
- 1 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour or regular all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup quick oats
- 6 Tbsp melted coconut oil or 8 Tbsp melted butter
- 4 Tbsp pure maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Peel and chop the sweet potato and the apples and transfer them to a large 13 x 9 inch casserole dish.
- In a measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together the apple cider, pure maple syrup, vanilla extract, and flour until the clumps of flour have dissolved.
- Pour this mixture into the casserole dish with the chopped potatoes and apples, and add the melted coconut oil (or butter), ground cinnamon, and orange zest. Use a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula to give everything a big stir.
- Mix together the ingredients for the casserole topping in a mixing bowl until well combined. The mixture will be crumbly – this is normal. Sprinkle the topping over the chopped sweet potatoes and apples.
- Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil, and bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 60 minutes. Check the casserole after 50 minutes – if the texture of the apples and the sweet potato are to your liking, stop after 50. Otherwise, keep baking until the potato and apples are softened to your preference. If you’d like crispy topping, remove the foil for the last 10 minutes of baking.
- Serve your sweet potato and apple casserole alongside your main dish, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Swap the oats out for ⅓ cup of additional flour. Or, substitute them for chopped pecans or walnuts.
Yes! Simply swap out the apples for fresh pears. Pick pears that are ripe but still firm, or they will turn to mush during the baking process.
Yes! For a paleo version that uses almond flour for the topping, use the following ingredients and keep the instructions the same.
1 1/3 cups almond flour
2 Tbsp tapioca flour
1 cup raw pecans, chopped
3 Tbsp melted coconut oil
3 Tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt.
Unlikely. There are quite a few textures going on in this recipe, which may upset the texture gods. That said, if you don’t mind the texture of roasted sweet potatoes or soft cooked apples, you may be fine with them together.
Yes! If you double the recipe, you only need to 1.5x the topping ingredients, unless you love a lot of topping. You won’t need a larger casserole dish, as it will all still fit in a standard 13 x 9.
Yes. Feel free to layer sweet potato slices with apple slices instead of chopping them into chunks.
This looks like it’d be a great addition for Thanksgiving. I may be wrong, I don’t think the oven temperature is listed. When warming it says to use 350°. I’m planning to try this before the holidays.
Hi Doris! Thanks so much for noticing this! You are correct – I neglected to include the temperature, and it is 350. I edited the recipe to reflect that change. Thanks a million for informing me!