Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecans Recipe - Vegan in the Freezer (2024)

FAQs

Can you freeze sweet potato pecan casserole? ›

The answer is yes — though there are some guidelines to follow to ensure it freezes well. The absolute best way to freeze sweet potato casserole, to start, requires you to cook the sweet potatoes before freezing.

Can you freeze raw sweet potatoes? It's not recommended to freeze raw sweet potato fries or cubes. They won't hold up well in the freezer and they won't cook correctly in recipes. Blanching or cooking sweet potatoes fully is the way to go.

Absolutely! Most casseroles freeze beautifully, and will last three to six months in the freezer. Beyond six months, the quality of the casserole might decrease, and frost might develop, but it will still be safe to consume.

When the frozen tubers go into the oven, more water escapes from the flesh, concentrating the flavour, and sugary fluid caramelises on the outside. To maximise amylase activity, Chin suggests baking sweet potatoes at 150°C (300°F) for 2 hours, before increasing the heat to 230°C (450°F) for 40 minutes.

If you end up with leftover sweet potato casserole, you can store it in the fridge for 4 to 5 days or freeze the remaining portions for up to 4 months.

Prepare your casserole otherwise but don't bake it. Instead, wrap it in heavy-duty aluminum foil before storing it in the freezer. You can keep it in the same pan to go into the oven later, or put it into a freezer bag or airtight container.

While deciding where to store sweet potatoes keep in mind whether they're raw or cooked. Storing raw sweet potatoes in the freezer will actually make them spoil faster, however it's best to keep baked sweet potatoes or cooked yams in the freezer.

Freeze Baked Sweet Potatoes

Baked sweet potatoes are delicious but they require a lot of time in the oven. You can have whole, pre-baked sweet potatoes ready in the freezer for a quick side dish any time you like. All you have to do is warm them up. Heat the oven to 375 F.

Scrub and rinse your fresh, whole sweet potatoes. Use a fork to pierce the skin a few times and place them on a large baking sheet. Bake the sweet potatoes for ninety minutes, then let them cool to room temperature. Wrap each sweet potato in aluminum foil and place them in freezer bags.

Avoid freezing casseroles made with dairy products (especially soft cheeses with a high-water content like ricotta or cottage), eggs, starchy vegetables, and watery vegetables like lettuce and cucumber.

How long will a sweet potato casserole last in the freezer? ›

Sweet potato casserole, when stored properly, will be good in the freezer for around 4 months. Once you're ready to finish making your casserole, it's best to let it thaw out in the fridge overnight or for a full day, since there are raw eggs in the casserole.

The casserole out of the oven is pasteurized and pathogen free. Sit it on the counter to cool (keeping it covered or covering with foil if it wasn't cooked covered) Then into the freezer. Unless you have a LOT of cookware to freeze, you'll want to portion it out into smaller containers (Ziploc, Rubbermaid etc.)

The most versatile and sweetest variation of sweet potatoes is the Beauregard. Throughout the United States, you will see this species stacked high in the grocery stores during the holiday season. Beauregard's have a bit of a stringy texture, but they stay soft: this is what makes them so popular.

“Freezing sweet potatoes before baking them results in a nice and charred exterior and the most fluffy inside, because freezing the potatoes allows their interior flesh to macerate from the inside out,” says Chin. (FYI, “macerate” is the chef word for soften.)

It is not recommended that you freeze raw potatoes because they just won't act right in recipes nor will they taste their best. If you want to freeze a whole sweet potato, then it's also important to cook it first.

You can keep it in the same pan to go into the oven later, or put it into a freezer bag or airtight container. Be sure to label your casserole with the date and instructions for further baking.

Bake the sweet potatoes for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until tender. Let the potatoes cool for about an hour in the oven. Wrap the cooled sweet potatoes in foil and freeze them whole in freezer bags for up to 12 months. To reheat whole baked sweet potatoes, remove the foil.

You can safely refreeze frozen food that has thawed—raw or cooked, although there may be a loss of quality due to the moisture lost through thawing. To safely refreeze, the thawed product must have been kept cold at 40 degrees or below for no more than 3-4 days.

You can absolutely freeze sweet potato pie — and you should if you want to get a jump-start on holiday baking.