This sweet potato casserole is the ultimate Thanksgiving side dish with a delicious creamy filling of tender sweet potatoes, butter, brown sugar and streusel pecan topping.
One of my favorite Thanksgiving side dishes (and of course with a big slice of pumpkin pie).
Table of Contents
Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping
We always make this delicious dish for our Christmas dinner and Thanksgiving menu. It’s a holiday staple and one that my family requests every year, along with my cheesy green bean casserole, corn casserole, easy cheesy potatoes, and cranberry sauce.
You will love this sweet and savory sweet potato casserole recipe filled with tender sweet potatoes, brown sugar, and butter with toasty pecan streusel topping. While this can be made ahead, if you want something easier, try these candied yams.
Recipe Ingredients
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Sweet potato filling: The key to this casserole is using pre-baked sweet potatoes. Mashed and mixed together with sugar, eggs, melted butter, evaporated milk, salt, and vanilla.
- Brown sugar and pecan crumble: The nuttiness of pecans is paired with the depth of sweet brown sugar and a little bit of cinnamon for spice. Softened butter and flour bring it all together to create an irresistible crumble.
How to Make Sweet Potato Casserole
- Baking your sweet potatoes is the key to making the best sweet potato casserole. It brings out such amazing flavor and makes them tender and caramelized. It’s super easy and my favorite way to cook them.
- Mix. Scoop cooked potatoes into a bowl and mash. Add white sugar, eggs, salt, butter, milk and vanilla. Mix together until smooth. Pour into a 9×13″ baking dish (or 11×8″ dish if you’d like your casserole a little thicker).
- Topping. In a separate bowl, mix together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter with a fork or pastry cutter. You may need to use your hands to create the crumble. Then stir in the pecans.
- Bake. Sprinkle the topping over the sweet potatoes and then bake at 325°F for 25-30 minutes.
Toppings
The topping is really what makes sweet potato casserole!
- Pecan crumble: The crumble topping on this casserole is seriously the BEST part! It pretty much tastes like candied pecans on top of the sweet potatoes and will become your new favorite after just one bite. It’s made with a mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, butter, and pecans.
- Marshmallows: If you want to make this a dessert-like holiday dish, make sweet potato casserole with marshmallows. Add mini marshmallows during last few minutes of cooking.
Helpful Tips
- Sweet potatoes. Choose the right sweet potatoes! A sweet potato should be firm and have a bright orange flesh coloring to it. If you can find sweet potatoes without bumps and cuts on them, that would be best.
- Prepare. Peeling the sweet potatoes Cut the sweet potato in large chunks evenly to help ensure the cubes cook together at the same time.
- Seasoning. Add seasoning to the sweet potato casserole. A pinch of ground cloves, allspice, or with any fall seasoning you love.
- Overcooking. Try not to overcook this classic sweet potato casserole recipe. The texture will become dry. Bake just until the sweet potato casserole is heated through.
Do you love holiday dinners?! This sweet potato casserole dish deserves a main event like this oven-roasted turkey or smoked turkey.
More Holiday Side Dishes
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Sweet Potato Casserole
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
Brown Sugar Topping
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup salted butter , softened
- ½ cup chopped pecans
Casserole
- 5 prebaked sweet potatoes *see notes
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup unsalted butter , slightly melted
- ⅓ cup evaporated milk (can use milk or cream)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
Optional: 1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
Brown Sugar Pecan Topping
- In a medium bowl, mix together 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 butter butter with a fork or pastry cutter. You may need to use your hands to create the crumble. Stir in the pecans.
Casserole
- Scoop flesh from 5 pre-baked potatoes into a large bowl and mash with a potato masher. It should be about 3 cups.
- Stir in 1/2 cup sugar, 2 large eggs, 1/4 cup butter, 1/3 cup milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1/2 teaspoon salt until smooth. Spread evenly in a 9×13-inch baking dish (or an 11×8-inch baking dish for a thicker casserole). Sprinkle the pecan topping evenly over the sweet potatoes.
- Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until the topping is lightly browned and caramelized.
- If adding marshmallows, sprinkle over the top and broil for 2 minutes, or until golden brown and gooey.
Notes
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and pierce with a fork. You can wrap them with foil if you prefer.
- Bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until fork tender.
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Recipe FAQs
That, my friend, is completely up to you. There are differing opinions on whether marshmallows belong in sweet potato casseroles, and it all comes down to what you want to do. I have added instructions to the recipe if you would like to go the route of a sweeter side dish.
You absolutely can! It can be made and frozen up to 3 months in advance. Cover the unbaked casserole with a double layer of aluminum foil. The day before serving, thaw it overnight in the refrigerator. Let it come to room temperature 30 minutes before baking.
Not at all. You can always opt to use canned or boil them instead. I prefer the flavor you get from baking, as it adds an extra element of sweetness, but do whatever works best for you.
Place the cooled casserole in an airtight container and store it in the fridge for three days. When ready to reheat, place in the oven or heat in the microwave until it is warmed through.
Categorized as: American, Christmas, Potatoes, Side Dishes, Thanksgiving
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
Wondering if there’s a way to make this gluten free?
I haven’t tried, but this would probably work with a 1:1 gluten free flour in place of all purpose flour.
If I don’t want to have nuts but DO want marshmallows, do I make the topping and just omit the nuts?
Yes, exactly! :)
This is by far the best recipe for sweet potatoes I’ve ever had!
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed them Karen! :)
What a very detailed post! I always just bought cheap graters, now that I am a young professional I am trying to stock up on items that will last and last. This isn’t college anymore and I should not have to suffer though one more dull grater!
Wow, this looks fabulous! This will be a big hit at my Thanksgiving.
I hope you enjoy! :)
This definitely is the perfect holiday side! Those sweet potatoes look incredible paired with that brown sugar crumble. Yum!
This looks so yummy, the perfect side dish!
I hope you enjoy! :)
Perfect, I’m definitely adding this to my Christmas dinner menu this year. We loved this recipe so it’ll be great to add to our holidays this year :) I think roasting the sweet potatoes first gave a lot of extra flavor compared to canned puree. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so happy you loved the recipe! Happy holidays!
Please explain after the ingredient for flour, it says , (” finely chopped, 1-2 sprigs”).
What does that mean? Is it a missing ingredient or a typo?
Thank you
Chef Doug
Hi Doug. This was a typo, thank you for catching that. It is now changed!
Love this recipe. Came out perfect just as written.
What size of canned yams would you recommend for this recipe? I saw in the post that you could use canned instead of baking the sweet potatoes, but there was no further info on how to substitute. Thanks!
Will be making this today for our Canadian Thanksgiving! It shouldn’t be a problem to have it all made this morning and refrigerate it until I’m ready to pop it in the oven, should it?
That should be fine! :)
I love this recipe! We topped with marshmallows and the nutty brown sugary layer was a fun little surprise! I made it the sweet potato layer the day before and then right before cooking I added the brown sugar layer. It worked perfectly!
Sounds delicious! So glad it turned out well for you! :)
I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a hit! The crumb topping was so delicious!
I’m so glad it was a hit! Thanks for leaving a comment and review Kaylee! :)
I made this for our thanksgiving meal and it was a major hit! I substituted gluten free flour so my Mom could eat it and we all ate it as our dessert too! So delicious! Thank you!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this casserole! Thanks for sharing your substitutions. Glad to know it can be made gluten free as well! :)
OMG this is the perfect sweet potato casserole!! I added the marshmallows since my mini me loves them…honestly I do too lol!! I also baked mine this year and definitely added some extra flavor!!!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for leaving a comment and review Amber! :)
Sorry, the links got messed up, here is the savory recipe: https://www.iheartnaptime.net/scalloped-sweet-potatoes/
I keep trying to click on the recipe for savory sweet potato casserole, but a typical sweet potato casserole with brownsugar and marshmallows that looks nothing like the photo is what I’m getting…does anyone have the original recipe???
Here’s the recipe for savory sweet potato casserole: https://www.iheartnaptime.net/scalloped-sweet-potatoes/