Sweet potato casserole is a must have for your yearly Thanksgiving spread! This traditional holiday side dish is a special treat for the whole family. It’s made with velvety, mashed sweet potatoes and a crunchy pecan and brown sugar topping.
In other fantastic news, this simple recipe requires just 11 simple ingredients and it comes together in under an hour. This is a dream come true when you’re trying to get so many accompaniments ready for your Thanksgiving turkey or Christmas ham or an Easter ham. Delicious and easy sides like this one are a life-saver.
If you’re looking for more holiday sides, I’ve definitely got you covered! Be sure to check out my Creamy Mashed Potatoes, Easy Sausage Stuffing, Potatoes au Gratin, Cranberry Sauce, Healthier Green Bean Casserole, Brussels Sprouts Casserole or Gluten Free Corn Bread. You can go wrong with any of these fabulous options. So, let’s make the best sweet potato casserole recipe now.
How To Make Sweet Potato Casserole
Mashed Sweet Potato Ingredients
- Sweet potatoes — Peeled and diced.
- Butter — Butter adds so much delicious richness to this casserole. I recommend using unsalted.
- Half and half — Heavy cream also works.
- Maple syrup — Make sure to splurge and get real maple syrup at the grocery store! You won’t regret it, the taste is basically unbeatable.
- Eggs — Eggs are an important part of this recipe because they add fantastic texture and fluffiness.
- Vanilla — Use pure vanilla extract whenever possible. It offers the best flavor.
- Salt — Just a pinch!
Ingredients For the Pecan Streusel Topping
- Butter — Melted and slightly cooled. As with the potatoes, I recommend unsalted butter.
- Brown sugar — Light or dark brown sugar work equally well.
- Gluten free flour — Use your favorite 1 to 1 baking flour replacement.
- Pecans — Roughly chopped into pieces.
- optional: add a teaspoon of cinnamon for extra flavor if you prefer.
Instructions
Prep work:
- First things first, preheat your oven to 350°F degrees.
- Peel and dice sweet potatoes into big, even sized cubes.
- Prepare a 9×13 inch baking dish by greasing it with some butter or nonstick cooking spray.
Boil potatoes:
- Place potato cubes in a large pot and cover them with cold water.
- Place pot on the stovetop and turn heat to high. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until tender.
- Drain cubes place them in a big bowl. Crush potatoes with a hand held masher or immersion blender or hand mixer or a potato masher. Add butter, half and half, syrup, whisked eggs, vanilla and salt. Stir until smooth and well combined. (*Note: it’s not necessary to melt butter before adding it to the potatoes, it will melt right into the hot mash)!
Prepare topping mixture:
- To make the crumble topping, combine melted butter, brown sugar, flour and chopped pecans in a medium bowl. Mix until crumbly and well incorporated.
Assemble casserole:
- Pour mashed potatoes into your prepared baking dish.
- Sprinkle the pecan crumble over mashed potato filling in an even layer.
Bake then serve:
- Bake casserole for 25-35 minutes, until golden brown!.
- Serve hot and enjoy this dessert like side dish!
Recipe Tips
- This recipe calls for 5 cups of diced sweet potato. This is equivalent to about 4 medium sweet potatoes, I would probably buy 5 to be safe. If you have leftovers, use them to make Sweet Potato Chicken Soup!
- Cut potatoes into even sized pieces for boiling. This will help with uniform cooking.
- Unsalted butter is preferable in this recipe. If you run out and need to use salted, it will do the trick. If you go this route, leave added salt out of the potatoes or use very little.
- Half and half and heavy cream can be used interchangeably in this casserole
- Make sure to use pure maple syrup and not pancake or waffle syrup. The flavor of pancake syrup isn’t nearly as good as a pure maple option.
- Pure vanilla extract can be a bit expensive, but I recommend using it if you can. Imitation vanilla will work, but pure is most delicious.
- Make sure the mash isn’t too hot before adding eggs or they may start to scramble.
- If you’re not worried about keeping this recipe gluten-free, you can use regular all-purpose flour.
- Many sweet potato casserole recipes call for mini marshmallows on top. Feel free to add some, if desired! I recommend sprinkling them on top when there’s about 5 minutes left on the timer.
- Walnuts can be used as a substitute for pecans if needed.
How To Store Leftovers
- To store: place leftovers in an airtight container and keep them in the refrigerator for 3-5 days or freeze for up to 4 months.
- To reheat: thaw in the refrigerator overnight (if frozen). Reheat in the microwave, in 30 second increments, until warmed through.
More Sweet Potato Recipes:
Do you love sweet potatoes as much as I do? If so, I’ve got plenty of delicious recipes for you to try! You can’t go wrong with any of the following options:
- Instant Pot Sweet Potato Kale Beef Soup
- Spicy Salmon Sweet Potato Skillet
- Savory Mashed Sweet Potatoes
- Roasted Sweet Potato Cubes
- Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Frequently Asked Questions
Most sweet potato casserole recipes call for eggs. This is because they add lots of flavor, structure and fluffy texture to the dish. Delicious!
Honestly, there isn’t much difference at all. Yams are just a particular type of sweet potato. So if you make casserole with canned or fresh yams, you’re still technically making a sweet potato casserole.
Make your casserole, but don’t bake it or add the topping mixture just yet. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the potatoes in the casserole dish. Then, for extra protection, add aluminum foil on top and freeze. Before baking, thaw casserole overnight in the refrigerator. Set it on the countertop to come to room temp. while you prepare the filling. Sprinkle potatoes with freshly made filling and bake!
Serve Sweet Potato Casserole With
Sweet Potato Casserole
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Ingredients
For the sweet potatoes
- 5 cups (about 4 medium) sweet potatoes diced, peeled
- ½ cup butter unsalted
- ¼ cup half and half or heavy cream
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 beaten eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Salt
For the topping
- 5 tablespoons melted butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup gluten-free flour
- 1 cup chopped pecan or walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking sheet with butter and set aside.
- Peel and dice potatoes into large, uniform chunks.
- Place sweet potatoes in a large pot and cover them with cold water. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 15-20 minutes until potatoes are fork tender.
- Drain sweet potatoes and place cubes in a large bowl. Mash the sweet potatoes with a masher or a hand blender. Add butter (you do not have to melt it first), half and half, maple syrup, beaten eggs, vanilla and a pinch of salt. Stir until incorporated.
- Pour the sweet potato mixture into the prepared baking dish.
- For the topping, in a medium bowl, add melted butter, brown sugar, flour, and pecan pieces and mix all together with a fork or your fingers.
- Then, sprinkle generously over the casserole.
- Bake for 25-35 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Enjoy!
Tips
- Cut potatoes into uniform pieces to help with even cooking.
- Salted butter can be used in a pinch, but leave out the added salt.
- Use pure maple syrup rather than pancake syrup.
- Use pure vanilla extract if possible. Imitation will work okay, though.
- If you don’t need this recipe to be gluten free you can use all-purpose flour.
- Make sure the mash isn’t too hot before adding eggs or they may start to scramble.
- Add mini marshmallow on top if desired. If you do, sprinkle them on casserole when your oven timer has about 5 minutes left.
- To store: place leftovers in an airtight container. Refrigerate 3-5 days or freeze for up to 4 months. Reheat thawed potatoes in the microwave.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
Dan Hemmert says
Would I be able to use something other than brown sugar for the topping, like Truvia natural Sweetener?.
Olivia Ribas says
Yes you can use natural sweetner ike Truvia or Xilatol
Danielle S says
I make a version of this every Thanksgiving. I always get compliments on it. It truly is dessert like and delicious!
Olivia Ribas says
Right? So good!