Sweet potato casserole, or candied yams as your family might call them, are another one of those holiday staple foods. Maybe you just had some at Thanksgiving; maybe you'll have some more at Christmas. This dish is another one of those foods that confuse people when it comes to being healthy. Yams = healthy, right? But that word "candied" usually makes dieters cringe.

Like any homemade food, there are tons of different family recipes, all with different nutritional information. I searched for a sweet potato casserole recipe that seemed to include a happy medium of average ingredients (but did include a marshmallow topping, which is a must in my family!) Keep in mind that we're talking about a serving size of approximately 1/8 of a 9 x 12 inch casserole dish.


The correct answer is 300 calories. Use this number as a rough guideline, since individual recipes vary so widely. The good news about this holiday favorite is that sweet potatoes are a great source of potassium, fiber, vitamins C and B6, and also manganese.