Ina Garten Just Shared Her Easy, Make-Ahead Tip for the Creamiest Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes
Out of the goodness of her heart, Ina Garten has been sharing some of her favorite make-ahead Thanksgiving recipes this week, and we've been furiously taking notes. So far, Garten has revealed a brilliant trick for make-ahead turkey and gravy, plus recipes for prep-ahead green beans and bread pudding—yum!
Now she's sharing a recipe for five-ingredient twice-baked sweet potatoes that promises to be one of the cheesiest, most buttery dishes on the table. "Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes may be my favorite make-ahead Thanksgiving side dish! The filling is made with lots of Taleggio and thyme—and not a marshmallow in sight," Garten wrote on Instagram. "They are absolutely delicious and can be prepped the day before for your perfect no-stress Thanksgiving!"
To prepare these stuffed sweet potatoes, Garten first bakes three whole sweet potatoes for about an hour at 400°F, then lets them cool until they're easy to handle. When they're cool, she slices them lengthwise and gently scoops out the cooked sweet potato, being careful to leave the potato skins unripped. Garten preps the filling by sautéing shallots in butter with some minced fresh thyme leaves, then adding that buttery mixture to the cooked sweet potato with an egg, salt, pepper, diced Taleggio cheese and more butter. After seasoning the empty sweet potato shells, she adds the stuffing back to the skins and bakes them until puffy, about 20 or 30 minutes.
Of course, this twice-baked method seems so simple and foolproof, you could probably swap in your favorite pecans and marshmallows for a sweeter take on the dish. One commenter said they plan to modify the recipe and broil some marshmallows on top for a sweet side. (Our recipe for Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes combines the sweetness of maple syrup and the salty nuttiness of Parmesan cheese for a sweet and savory take.) And since you can prep them up until the second baking, it takes just 30 minutes to heat these sweet potatoes on Thanksgiving day. If you can't find Taleggio in stores near you, you can buy it online at Murray's Cheese or sub in some Brie.
We're all about prep-ahead sweet potato dishes—that's why recipes like our Slow-Cooker Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows and Slow-Cooker Sweet Potato Casserole with Bourbon Pecans make it easy to set and forget the iconic Thanksgiving dish. If you prefer to serve the sweet potatoes in their skins, our Hasselback Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows can be made ahead as well.
If you're still deciding if or how sweet potatoes will show up on your Thanksgiving menu, we have plenty of options to spark your imagination—from our Slow-Cooker Buttered Maple Sweet Potato Mash to this Sweet Potato Bread Pudding with Pecan Praline Sauce.