A classic sweet potato casserole recipe for the holidays. Sweet and creamy roasted sweet potato filling topped with crisp pecan streusel, a favorite Thanksgiving side dish!
In our family, we often say the side dishes are the best part of any holiday meal. I think we're not alone in our thinking. We only recently started including sweet potato casserole in the line up, not sure why that took so long!
This classic sweet potato casserole is sweetened with brown sugar and maple syrup and a few warm fall spices. The biggest debate I've seen is marshmallows or no marshmallows on top. We are team no marshmallows, just the sweet and crunchy pecan streusel topping for us, thank you very much.
Why you'll love this recipe
- It's so easy and not overly sweet.
- The roasted sweet potatoes add so much caramelized naturally sweet flavor to this casserole side dish, as opposed to boiling the potatoes.
- The topping is sweet, buttery and crispy, perfectly complimenting the sweet potato filling.
Ingredients
Here's what you'll need to make this casserole:
- Sweet potatoes that are baked and then the flesh is scooped out for the filling.
- Melted butter
- Brown sugar and maple syrup for a little more sweetness.
- Heavy cream just a bit for extra creaminess.
- Vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt for some warm flavorings.
- Flour, brown sugar, pecans and chilled butter for the streusel topping.
How to make Sweet Potato Casserole
Make the streusel topping and set aside or chill until ready to assemble the casserole. Just combine the flour and sugar and cut in the butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips, then toss in the pecans.
Bake the sweet potatoes until very tender. Scoop out the flesh into a bowl and mash. Add the rest of your ingredients and mix until smooth and well combined.
Spread the sweet potato filling into a baking dish and sprinkle the streusel all over the top. Bake, cool a bit and serve.
Recipe Notes and Tips
- Baking and roasting the potatoes until tender is the way to go for the flavor boost you'll get over boiling the potatoes. I line a sheet pan with foil or parchment paper to catch the sugary drippings and for easy cleanup.
- I prefer dark brown sugar for the filling and topping but light or regular brown sugar works, too.
- If you really want marshmallows, add some! I would dot the crumble topping with about ¼ cup mini marshmallows, if desired and totally optional.
This is a simple and classic version of sweet potato casserole for the holiday table. You can't go wrong with this side dish, everyone loves it and leftovers are awesome the next day! xxo- Kelly🍴🐦
Looking for more holiday side dishes? Here are some of my favorites:
- Bread and Sausage Stuffing
- Corn Soufflé
- Cheesy Potatoes
- Buttermilk Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- Best Brussels Sprouts
- Spinach Rockefeller
- Southern Baked Mac and Cheese
- Southern Green Beans
- Honey Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots
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Sweet Potato Casserole
Ingredients
Filling
- 3 pounds sweet potatoes
- 4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Topping
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- pinch kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, cut in cubes
- ½ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400º.
- Wash sweet potatoes and pierce with fork. Place on lined baking sheet and roast until very tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cool slightly. Turn oven down to 375º.
- Meanwhile, make topping. Stir together flour, sugar and salt in medium bowl. Add chilled cubed butter and cut in with fingertips or pastry blender until consistency of coarse crumbs.
- Add chopped pecans and toss to mix, set aside or refrigerate until ready to assemble.
- Scoop out sweet potatoes from their skins into large bowl. Mash with a potato masher or fork.
- Add brown sugar, melted butter, maple syrup, cream, vanilla and spices, mix with handheld mixer until well combined and smooth.
- Place sweet potato filling in 1½- to 2-quart casserole dish and smooth the top. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the sweet potatoes.
- Bake uncovered at 375º for 30 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes and serve.
Recipe Notes
- Totally optional, but if you must, you can dot the casserole with ¼ cup mini marshmallows.
- I used an 8" by 11" glass baking dish, about a 2-quart size baking dish.
- You can use light brown sugar instead of dark.
- I only use pure maple syrup.
Meathead
Saturday 18th of December 2021
Never had sweet potato casserole in my entire life, so I didn't know what I was missing. Now I do, and it’s incredible!
Candace
Tuesday 22nd of November 2022
@Meathead, this almost like my childhood sweet potato casserole except for more texture I use cornflake crumbs instead of flour sooo good they are made by Kellogg in the bakery section of the store it’s amazing