Okay, I realize that Thanksgiving is over. If your refrigerator looks anything like mine–overflowing with leftovers–you may not exactly be clamoring to read about yet another Thanksgiving dish. I understand, believe me. Besides the traditional Thanksgiving menu I prepared, the rest of my family also brought enough food to feed another army.
But I hope you don’t mind my sharing with you one more dish. I’ve been making this yam and apple casserole for almost 10 years. And while I will sometimes experiment with my turkey seasoning, desserts and other side dishes, the yams are prepared the same way each year per my husband’s request.
The yams and Granny Smith apples are showcased well in this recipe. Baking brings out their natural sweetness while the overall flavor of the casserole is made brighter by the citrusy sauce. Over the years I’ve taken to adding a bit of cinnamon and allspice to the mix to make it even better (nutmeg and cloves might work well, too).
I’m posting this now partly to share with you another option for next Thanksgiving but also because each year I fear losing this sheet of paper in my overflowing recipe binder. You have one of those, right?
Yam and Apple Casserole with Citrus Sauce
Ingredients
- 3-4 regular size yams or two large ones cooked, peeled and cut into 1 cm slices
- 4 Granny Smith apples peeled, cored and sliced into 16 wedges each
- 1 3/4 cups boiling water
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- a few dashes allspice
- a few dashes cinnamon
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 350ºF.
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Layer the yam slices and apple wedges in a large casserole dish.
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Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt together in a saucepan. Add the boiling water a little at a time and use a whisk to prevent lumps in the corn starch. Add the butter, lemon juice and orange juice. Cook over medium heat until thickened and transparent, stirring frequently. This will take just a few minutes. You an also add a dash or two each of cinnamon and allspice before turning off the heat. Taste the sauce. Feel free to add a little more orange or lemon juice if you want a stronger citrus flavor. I usually do.
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Pour the sauce over the yams and apples. I like to sprinkle a bit more cinnamon and allspice right before baking.
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Bake for one hour. The original recipe does not specify whether this should be baked covered or uncovered. I've taken to baking uncovered for the first twenty minutes, covered for the next 20 and uncovered again for the last 20. I'm sure this is not necessary but it works for me. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
1. Original recipe did not include spices and was printed from bhg.com in 2001.
2. Feel free to use the yam/apple proportion that you would prefer. This is a nice balance for us but if you'd like less apple, use one less than called for in the recipe.
3. A reader said that pre-cooking the yams was unnecessary but I haven't tested this method yet.
4. To prevent corn starch lumps in the glaze, whisk the mixture as you add the water to the saucepan. I add a little water at a time, whisk vigorously and never have lumps.
yam and apple sounds like a great match 🙂 and you meticulously laid them down on your baking dish. so pretty!
Jan, I only did it this year because I knew I’d be photographing it for the blog but I ended up liking the arrangement. Thanks! 🙂
I found the easiest way to prevent lumping of cornstarch is to set aside part of water and mix cornstarch in cold water and then add always creamy
I start blogging to have a way of organizing my overwhelmed recipe binder, I totally understand you.
Your casserole looks so delicious, love it and I don’t even have to wait till thanksgiving to try it, apples and yams are available year round, yeee
thanks for sharing, hope you’re having a wonderful weekend
I’m starting to think that this casserole should make an appearance more than once a year judging by everyone’s comments. Thanks! 🙂
And yes, blogging has been a great way to document all my favorite recipes. It’s been so easy to check the blog for a quick check. 🙂
I actually have a bunch of apples to use up and you just gave me a nice new recipe to use them up! Thanks for sharing! (And who said this is only for Thanksgiving!)
Sara, my limited mind said this was only for Thanksgiving. Light bulb is slowly turning on… 🙂
Lovely!!! Not only for Thanksgiving though… I can see this nicely alongside a pork tenderloin! We will definitely try it!
Kim, now that you say that, I like the idea of using this as a side for pork. Thanks! 🙂
Hi Jean! Of course we don’t mind you sharing this recipe. If you have made it for ten years then we know it’s a winner! – and yes – certainly sounds like a winner to me too!
this sounds delightful I’m going to have to try it.
It’s great !!! When I looked at it , I thought “an apple tian” Great flavours !!!
This sounds incredible! I am totally trying this!
This looks delicious! What a great combination and beautiful visual. Don’t know that we’ll wait until next Thanksgiving to make it! Thanks!
I still have a couple of yams and apples that I didn’t use on Thanksgiving and would love to try this – it sounds great! Never too early to start making plans for next year 🙂
This looks wonderful, warm and I bet it tastes great! I must try this one, thanks for sharing.
I’m so glad that you shared this! We have a similarly big feast on Christmas, and I’ve been looking for some unique recipes. This looks and sounds stellar! I’m sure it tastes amazing, and it certainly presents beautifully. Again, thank you so much for sharing. I hope you have a wonderful Monday!
What a neat way to serve yams…so pretty!
This is beautiful presented straight from the baking dish and I love the addition of a bright citrus sauce. Since I’m allowed to mess with the sweet potatoes, just not the mashed potatoes 🙂 I’ll print this to add to my over flowing credenza of recipes, but won’t wait until next Thanksgiving to try it – I agree with Kim – it would be amazing with pork tenderloin.
Priscilla, not a very pretty baking dish but this was all that would fit in my small oven. It worked out, though. Now I’ll have to try this casserole with pork. Appreciating everyone’s suggestions! 🙂
You can never have enough of yams and apples. And together with your spices, sounds like you could have this all the time. 10 years, why change something that you love. Thanks for sharing.
Jean, this dish looks great! I love the addition of apple slices. I can almost taste the apple/yam bite with the light glaze. 🙂 This must be a great flavor combo. I’m not allowed to mess with our existing sweet potato dish for Thanksgiving, but I read the comments regarding the pork and I think I’ll need to try this for dinner sometime. My family seems to enjoy yams and it might be nice to enjoy some on a day other than Thanksgiving. Hope you had a fabulous holiday! 🙂
How much boiling water do you add to the sauce?
Aren, I’ll get back to you later today or tomorrow. I make this casserole every year but I’ll revisit the recipe after work. 🙂
I enjoyed the dish. My husband and I both agree you don’t really taste the yams because the apples overpower the flavor.
1. The corn starch (of course) got all lumpy!!! Even thought I knew better I followed your directions. You must advise your followers to dissolve the corn starch in cold water before adding it to the pan with other ingredients.
2. The yams did not have to be cooked before baking the casserole. Why did you say to cook??
Ag, thanks for trying the recipe and for taking the time to give me feedback. I actually like the balance of yams and apples here so it never occurred to me that the latter might upstage the yams. The good thing is that the recipe is flexible enough and can be adjusted to the cook’s liking. The original recipe actually called for more apples and yams and this is the proportion that my husband and I are happy with after making it for 12 years. As for pre-cooking the yams, the original recipe called for it so I’ve done it this way since (I was a novice cook when I first found this recipe many years ago so I did what the instructions told me). Thanks for pointing out that pre-cooking is unnecessary, though. I may try your method this Thanksgiving. I’ll add your comments to the post for other cooks to note.
I really appreciate your coming back to give me feedback and glad you liked this dish–thanks so much again!!! 🙂
This is a family favorite that I make every year. Thank you!
This is a family favourite that I make every Christmas. Thank you!
Bonnie, what a great thing to hear. This is my husband’s favorite holiday side dish and I always make it for him, too. Happy New Year! Thanks for the lovely feedback! 🙂
We have been making this for about 10 years now. My in-laws always want us to bring this to Thanksgiving. I never liked the marshmallow brown sugar sweet potatoes growing up.. and now I know why…. I’ve been waiting for these!! So GOOD!
I’m so happy to hear this. This is my husband’s favorite Thanksgiving side dish, too. Thanks so much for sharing this nice feedback and Happy Thanksgiving!