What To Do If Your Sweet Potato Casserole Is Too Sweet - Tasting Table (2024)

FAQs

How do you reduce the sweetness in a casserole? ›

Sour: The general go-to here would be lemon juice, although lime will also work. Orange juice will only add more sweetness as will some kinds of vinegar. White wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar are good choices but shy away from balsamic because of its inherent sweetness.

How to Make Food Less Sweet. Add an acid or seasonings such as vinegar or citrus juice; chopped fresh herbs; a dash of cayenne pepper; or, for sweet dishes, a bit of liqueur or espresso powder.

Adding butter that's been cooked down until its milk solids just begin to turn brown and nutty accentuates that flavor even more. Some folks like to add cinnamon, nutmeg, or other spices to their sweet potatoes.

Balance with acidity

Add some lemon juice: The tartness of lemon can help cut through the sweetness. Squeeze in a little lemon juice and taste as you go until you achieve the desired balance. Vinegar: Balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar can also work wonders in reducing sweetness.

You can use any vinegar, white, red or even apple cider vinegar. Take a bowl, add 2-3 cups of water along with 2 tbsp of vinegar. Then add potatoes and leave aside for a few minutes. This hack not only reduces the sweetness from potatoes but also helps potatoes to retain their shape.

The bottom line. Sweet potatoes can have a low, medium, or high glycemic index depending on how they're cooked and prepared. Boiled sweet potatoes affect blood sugar levels far less than other varieties, such as fried, roasted, or baked versions. Longer boiling times reduce the GI further.

They contain high levels of starch which is converted to maltose during the cooking process. If you taste a raw sweet potato, it won't taste sweet to you. It's the low, slow cooking that really brings out their flavor. You can actually control how sweet your potatoes become by how you go about cooking them.

Add vinegar.

You can always add more if necessary. Virtually any vinegar can help correct food that's too sweet, but white, red wine, white wine, and apple cider usually work the best.

Sourness: Think of vinegar and citrus. Acidity works wonders in balancing a dish, adding liveliness and counteracting sweetness and heat.

How do you mellow out sweetness? ›

Another way to reduce sugar is to add a contrasting flavour to balance out the sweetness. For tartness, you can use citrus juice or curd, sour fruits like cranberries, or even cream cheese. For saltiness, you can top desserts with flaky salt, or add in salty snacks like pretzels.

The longer and slower you cook a sweet potato, the more maltose is formed and the sweeter it will taste. So if you want a much less sweet potato try steaming it, or cut it into small pieces and roast on a higher heat.

When potatoes are stored too long, in a too-cold environment (below 41°F) the starches within convert to sugar. This not only makes for an overly-sweet potato but also alters the cooking chemistry – resulting in uneven cooking performance and discoloration.

Harold McGee in On Food and Cooking explains that the enzyme becomes active at around 135° and stops at around 170°. This means that if you bake your sweet potatoes low and slow, the enzyme will have more time to break down more starch and the finished potatoes will be very sweet.

The chemistry of sugar attracts water molecules, so cutting it out can make your baked goods too tough and dry. If you really want to cut back, sugar can usually be reduced by about a third without seeing a major difference in texture.

You can balance out the sweetness by adding acidic ingredients, such as vinegar or lemon juice. Another method is to incorporate savory or bitter elements like herbs, spices, or even a splash of red wine. Lastly, diluting the sauce with additional unsweetened tomato sauce or broth can also help balance out the flavors.

Fresh herbs or citrus zest can also punch up flavors with a bit of welcome brightness for a long-cooked dish, as can adding some heat in the form of a dash of hot sauce, a generous pinch of minced or sliced fresh chili pepper, or a shake of red pepper flakes.

However, if you find you are plum out of lemons and your chili is skewing toward the sweet end of the culinary spectrum, you can substitute a little vinegar to help rescue its taste. Just remember to start with a small amount so you don't ruin your pot of chili altogether.