Homemade, fresh Sweet Potato Casserole is one of the best dishes to serve at Thanksgiving dinner. This easy sweet potato casserole recipe is made with simple ingredients to make the sweet potato filling, and has the most amazing pecan crumble to make a classic sweet potato casserole. all in one casserole dish.
Honestly, if you ask me, the best part of an all-in-one casserole is what’s on top. Whether you use the delicious pecan mixture or stick to a mid-west version with a layer of marshmallows, it’s going to be fantastic either way.
When it comes to a battle of the best Thanksgiving recipes — this side dish recipe is always going to be a crowd-pleaser at any thanksgiving table. And it works great for Christmas dinner, too.
Recipe Ingredients:
- Potatoes: use freshly washed, sweet potatoes that have been cubed
- Sugar: you will need both granulated sugar and brown sugar
- Salt: this adds a little bit of flavor and cuts down the sweetness just a bit
- Extract: use either homemade vanilla extract or one you’ve bought from the grocery store
- Eggs: use large eggs straight from the fridge, there’s no need to mess around with room temperature eggs
- Nut: for this recipe use chopped pecans
- Flour: use the all-purpose flour you already have or switch it out for a gluten-free substitute
How To Make Sweet Potato Casserole:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Peel and cube sweet potatoes and place in a large pot. Fill with water until potatoes are completely submerged.
- Bring to a boil and boil for 20-30 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender. Drain water.
- Add sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs and butter to the pot of drained sweet potatoes.
- Mash potatoes by hand with a potato masher or use a hand mixer to beat until well combined and almost smooth.
- Pour mixture into a greased 9×13-inch baking dish.
- In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, pecans and butter to make the pecan topping.
- Sprinkle topping on top of sweet potato mixture.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the brown sugar streusel topping is golden brown and sweet potatoes are heated through completely.
Expert tips for making the perfect Thanksgiving side dish:
Since the sweet potatoes need to be cooked for the sweet potato layer, you can swap out the fresh sweet potatoes for canned.
Yes you can. The texture of fresh sweet potatoes and butternut squash are similar once cooked. Sweet potatoes are a bit sweeter, but you could always add in a little maple syrup to help with that, or just leave it as it.
When it comes to choosing between toppings for this dish, it depends on personal preference. Some people love the rich and nutty flavor of the pecan praline topping, considering it their favorite.
However, others are equally fond of the classic mini marshmallows for the topping, which adds a sweet and fluffy touch to the dish. If you can’t decide, there’s always the option to have the best of both worlds by combining the two.
Yes! You can most definitely double this recipe, in fact, we recommend it. We do recommend using two separate 9×13 inch pans because one pan would be too small if you doubled it.
Storage Instructions:
Fridge: Transfer the leftovers to an airtight container. This creates a barrier against bacteria and keeps your food fresh for up to 3 days.
Freezer: Once cooled, transfer your food to a freezer-safe, airtight container, and it should last for up to 3 months.
More delicious holiday recipes:
- How To Cook a Thanksgiving Turkey
- 30 Minute Dinner Rolls
- Grandma’s Thanksgiving Stuffing
- Green Bean Casserole
- Slow Cooker Creamy Mashed Potatoes
- How To Make Turkey Gravy From Scratch
- Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese
- Strawberry Jello Fluff Salad
- Easy Sweet Cornbread
- Simple Pumpkin Pie
- Pumpkin Dump Cake
- Fluffy Cranberry Salad
- Twice Baked Potatoes Casserole
Sweet Potato Casserole
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Mixture
- 6 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs, beaten
- ¼ cup butter, melted
Brown Sugar Topping
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup flour
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 3 Tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Peel and cube sweet potatoes and place in a large pot. Fill with water until potatoes are completely submerged.
- Bring to a boil and boil for 20-30 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender. Drain water.
- Add sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs and butter to the pot of drained sweet potatoes.
- Mash potatoes by hand or use a hand mixer to beat until well combined and almost smooth.
- Pour mixture into a greased 9×13-inch baking dish.
- In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, pecans and butter to make topping.
- Sprinkle topping on top of sweet potato mixture.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and sweet potatoes are heated through completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
Nice and simple. Thank you.
Ohhhhhhh, yum! This one does look like a keeper! Question: This recipe calls for cooked sweet potatoes. Do you think it matters whether they are baked or boiled?
Sounds similar to the one a dinner theater we like to go to makes. http://lacomedia.com/souffle_recipe.htm Very good! I make it every year.
Wondering the same thing… does it matter if the sweet potatoes are baked or boiled?
Boiling is much faster. 🙂
Baked or boiled both work fine!! 🙂
Does not matter, bake or boiled both work great!
This looks so good! Can’t wait to make it! I love sweet potatoes!
This looks great! Would this recipe be ok if made a day or two in advance?
I’ve been doing this recipe for years it is an all time family favorite, i usually add a cup of coconut to the topping and orange zest to the sweet potato mixture… Pretty darn good. 🙂
It would be fine a day or two. Just keep it covered well and then heat up when ready!
Ohhhh, just made this and all pretty in the freezer. And then remenberd I forgot the 1/4 cup of butter! Do you think I need to make it again? Or maybe add it on the top,
Making this today for Thanksgiving! Sounds yummy!
Thanksgiving Eve I needed a recipe for a Sweet Potato casserole, went on Pinterest & was so confused as to which one recipe to use. I selected this recipe, which the only difference was I added some cinnamon, & it was absolutely delicious. Now I didn’t mention that I have never dared for or made a Sweet Potato casserole, however I couldn’t eat enough of it as well as my family. The consensus was it was the best Sweet Potato casserole everyone had ever eaten. Thank You for an excellent recipe & I will now start following your site. FIVE STAR RECIPE !!!
I made this for Thanksgiving and LOVED it. I’ve always been so skeptical about making sweet potatoes sweeter in casseroles like this and the marshmallows always scared me away. I think that sweet potatoes are just so good as is! But this was AWESOME. Loved it and I will totally be making it again. It was like a little bit of pre-dessert dessert on my Thanksgiving plate :). Thanks for sharing!
Can this recipe be doubled? Would I just double each ingredient ad listed?
Yes, just double all of the amounts of each ingredient. It would work best to make two separate 9 x 13 inch pans. If you double it and put it all in one baking dish, it would be too much.
Funny! My mom had made this same one since I can remember and I love it. I even ousted it on my cooking blog, too.
http://whitneywhisk.blogspot.com/2011/11/sweet-potatoes.html?m=1
I have made one similar to this with roasted bananas instead of the sugar. Very tastie!
Made this dish for thanksgiving and it was everyone’s favorite dish. I was so glad because I’ve never made anything like it before. Thanks for a great, easy recipe!! I have tried several recipes from this site and so far they have all been delicious.
Can you put this in a crock pot? If so, how long? Thank you.
I followed the directions exactly and this casserole was DELICIOUS!! My family raved about it. I will be making this at every Thanksgiving from now on. Thank you !!
Hi Jessica. You made our day with your sweet comment on the Sweet Potato Casserole. We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
This is what I grew up eating for Thanksgiving! Some like marshmallows, I prefer the brown sugar pecan topping. Love your recipes! Got one for grandmas chicken n dressing (not stuffing)?
This is delicious, my favorite!
What are the steps for the instant pot to cook the sweet potatoes? I want to shorten my time of prep by doing that this year instead of boiling them.
Here is a recipe for instant pot sweet potatoes. You can follow these instructions. https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/instant-pot-baked-sweet-potatoes/
This is sooooo good. I could eat the entire dish in one go, if I didn’t refrain myself!
Can you use canned sweet potatoes? If so, what size can?
Can you used canned sweet potatoes and if so what size can and how much?
My sweet potatoes are really small. About how many pounds do you use?
We just use about 6 medium sweet potatoes. If yours are smaller then just add a few more.
Canned sweet potatoes are generally smaller in diameter because of their better canning qualities. Six to eight canned sweet potatoes are approximately the equivalent of four medium fresh sweet potatoes.
I have a family member that can not eat any dairy including butter. Is there a substitute
You can try substituting margarine for the butter