Sweet Potato Casserole

5 from 224 votes
198 Comments

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This Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping is creamy, crunchy, toasty, and so divine! So sweet it almost tastes like dessert!

Featured with this recipe
  1. Ingredients in Sweet Potato Pecan Casserole
  2. Sweet Potato Casserole Pecan Topping
  3. Frequently Asked Questions about Sweet Potato Casserole
  4. How to Re-Heat
  5. Thanksgiving Side Dishes
  6. More Delicious Sweet Potato Recipes
  7. How to Make Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping
  8. Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping Recipe

This Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping recipe is, hands down, the best recipe for sweet potato casserole I’ve ever tasted, and we’ve had many many recipes pass over our Thanksgiving table over the years. Tender sweet potatoes, whipped to perfection, and topped with a pecan streusel topping (pecan crumble topping) that makes the whole baking dish taste like it should be on the dessert table. It’s versatile enough that you can add or take away topping ingredients depending on your guests tastes.

Ingredients in Sweet Potato Pecan Casserole

Let’s start with the base of this dish, the sweet potato mixture. It’s easy, made with real ingredients, and so yummy! Here’s what you need:

  • Sweet potatoes – you can use some canned sweet potatoes or about 3 ½ cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes. If you like it more chunky use a potato masher, if you like it whipped use an electric mixer.
  • Milk – any type will work
  • Brown sugar – dark or light brown works great
  • Butter – melted, I prefer unsalted butter
  • Egg – slightly beaten (large to extra large eggs)
  • Vanilla extract – just about a teaspoon
  • Salt – half a teaspoon or to taste

Optional Add Ins

  • Cinnamon
  • Apple
  • Maple Syrup
  • Honey

Sweet Potato Casserole Pecan Topping

The toasted coconut and pecan topping is what makes this dish. The streusel-like topping so easy to throw together and gives the dish such a unique flavor and texture that pairs so beautifully with the creamy sweet potatoes. After you try this brown sugar pecan topping, you’ll never use the classic marshmallow toppings again. It truly is the best sweet potato casserole recipe.

  • brown sugar
  • pecans – chopped
  • shredded coconut
  • flour
  • butter – melted
A scoop of sweet potato casserole on a plate with a gold fork


Frequently Asked Questions about Sweet Potato Casserole

Are canned yams and sweet potatoes the same?

Canned candied yams sold in grocery stores in the United States are sweet potatoes, and this is what we use in this recipe for sweet potato casserole. However, actual yams and sweet potatoes are quite different. To learn more, visit the North Carolina Sweet Potatoes website. Did you know more than 50% of the sweet potatoes grown in the United States are grown in North Carolina?

Can this casserole be made ahead of time?

Yes! This is good news for those of you hosting Thanksgiving this year. Assemble your casserole ahead of time, chill in the refrigerator, then bake the day of. It will be delicious!

Does it need to be refrigerated?

Sweet potatoes can be stored in the fridge for up to five days. And if the casserole is left out for more than a couple of hours, it should be discarded, so make sure to store the leftovers as soon as you can.

Is Sweet Potato Casserole Gluten Free?

When making Sweet Potato Casserole the traditional way, it is gluten-free. To make this recipe with the crumbly topping GF, swap out the all-purpose flour in the coconut topping for coconut flour, rice flour, or any other favorite gluten-free flour mixture.

Do you put eggs in sweet potato casserole?

Yes, we do use an egg in this sweet potato casserole as a binding ingredient. We recommend using a fork to stir the egg in a small dish before adding it to the sweet potatoes, and then blending it in well so it distributes through the mixture.

How to Re-Heat

To reheat this casserole, warm it in the oven at 350 degrees until warmed through, about 20 minutes. If you put it in the microwave, the pecans will become soft and you won’t get that good crunch.

Thanksgiving Side Dishes

Sweet potato casserole is the perfect complement to your Thanksgiving turkey, in addition, here are a few more sides to serve up with Thanksgiving dinner:

Side view of a sweet potato casserole with a scoop taken out

More Delicious Sweet Potato Recipes

Thanksgiving or not, sweet potatoes are always a delightful side dish, and a sweeter alternative to regular potatoes. Try a couple of these favorites:

How to Make Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping

Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping

5 from 224 votes
Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping is creamy, crunchy, toasty, and so divine! You'll never top your sweet potatoes with marshmallows again.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 9 servings

Video

Ingredients

Topping

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl or mixer, combine sweet potatoes, milk, brown sugar, melted butter, egg, vanilla, and salt.  Beat ingredients with a hand mixer (or in a mixer) until the sweet potatoes are light and fluffy.
    Mixing sweet potatoes for casserole
  • Transfer sweet potato mixture into a greased 9×9 inch baking pan.
    Mashed Sweet Potatoes in a casserole dish
  • Stir all of the topping ingredients together in a small bowl.
    Coconut Pecan topping in a glass bowl
  • Sprinkle the topping evenly over the sweet potatoes.  
    Sweet Potato Casserole before it is baked
  • Bake uncovered for 35 minutes.
    Baked Sweet Potato Casserole with wooded spoon next to it

Notes

Recipe Tips

  • Sweet potatoes or yams can be used in place of the canned sweet potatoes in this recipe. Peel and dice the sweet potatoes, then boil them until fork tender. Mash them with a little milk to reach your desired consistency, then follow the recipe instructions as written.
  • We recommend using a hand or stand mixer when blending the sweet potato mixture to get a light, airy texture. Be sure to mix until it is completely blended – no chunks!
  • This recipe can be double and cooked in a 9×13 baking pan to serve 12-15 people.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 300kcalCarbohydrates: 42gProtein: 3gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 39mgSodium: 274mgPotassium: 387mgFiber: 4gSugar: 24gVitamin A: 13230IUVitamin C: 2.2mgCalcium: 59mgIron: 1.1mg

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About the author

Erica Walker

Erica lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband, Jared, an attorney, and her three beautiful girls. Beyond the world of recipes, she loves adventuring with everything from kayaking, to cruising, to snowboarding and taking the family along for the thrill ride.

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This by far my favorite Thanksgiving side dish! I have never tried it with the coconut though and can’t wait to give it a try !

  2. 5 stars
    I loved this recipe. I usually buy this pie at the store. Your recipe was so much better. I’ll be making this again.

  3. 5 stars
    I love this choice for a side dish. loving squash & sweet potatoes, so close in flavor this indeed will be added to another side dish On Thanksgiving Day.

    Thank you!

  4. 5 stars
    I’m the only one in our family that isn’t fond of sweet potato casserole; it’s just not something I grew up with. However, my hubby and everyone else LOVES this recipe so it’s a keeper.

  5. 5 stars
    This sounds PERFECT for the Thanksgiving Potluck at Church next Sunday.
    I am going to bake in cupcake pan and top the cupcakes.

    I also have small glass containers that had fancy yogurt in them. It will make a great gift/serving. We have about 50 folks for the dinner.

  6. 5 stars
    i cant wait to put this on our thanksgiving table this year, it sounds amazing, of course i will spice it up a bit and add marshmallows.

  7. 5 stars
    This recipe looks so good. Reminds me of combining sweet potatoes and pecan pie. I know this will be delicious.

  8. 5 stars
    I love eating sweets. This sweet potato casserole suit my taste. I think it’s good to pair with steak.

  9. 5 stars
    OMG, this looks soooo good! I really want to try this recipe for TG this year. My husband doesn’t like change and makes his marshmallow version every year. I just might make it anyway and see how it goes.

  10. 5 stars
    Love this spin on sweet potato casserole. Creamy ,great taste and the crunchy pecan and coconut topping is a hit. No need for marshmallows.

  11. 5 stars
    I steamed my sweet potatoes. Just some thing J learned years ago in Alabama. This recipe is absolutely mouth watering! Thank you so much for sharing!

  12. 5 stars
    My family absolutely loves this! I make it for Thanksgiving and Christmas and there is always an empty pan when all my guests leave. Very easy to make and super delicious 😋

  13. 5 stars
    I love sweet potatoe casserole but not with marshmallows. This recipe meets my hunger for it. Thanks for a great and tasty recipe

  14. 5 stars
    I have always wanted to try and make sweet potato casserole but thought you had to use fresh sweet potatoes. I will try making this year using canned sweet potatoes, thank you!

  15. 5 stars
    What can I say but it’s a side dish that tastes like an awesome dessert!!!! People who would usually pass on this want more when they taste it then you wished you made more! No leftovers on this dish!!!

  16. 5 stars
    My mom first requested did I make this particular recipe and I thought wow, sweet potatoes cannot get any better than this! It is now a staple every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I reduced the sugar in half and really enjoy the flavor. Mom says she is in heaven every time she eats it! Enjoy!

  17. 5 stars
    Made this for my wife and she loved it, I’m not a fan of sweet potatoes and coconut. This is the rating she would give it.

  18. 5 stars
    This by far is my family’s favorite dish! My husband could eat the whole pan of it, I tell him to save some for the rest of us..

  19. 5 stars
    This is a favorite of mine, I often serve it to guests and they love it. If I don’t have sweet potatoes, I will use butternut squash with the same results.
    Thanks for sharing this recipe!

  20. 5 stars
    Soooooo good! I had fresh sweet potatoes so I mashed them. Everybody loved it! (Except my nephew who doesn’t like anything). Happy Thanksgiving

  21. 5 stars
    Have been looking for a sweet potato casserole without marshmallows. This recipe really caught my eye. With the crunchy topping , that will put this casserole right over the top. Will definitely be serving this for Thanksgiving.

  22. 5 stars
    I love this recipe for Sweet Potato Casserole. It is easy to follow quite to put together and it tastes great. My only complaint is there are never any leftovers.

  23. 5 stars
    We love this recipe, I do leave out pecans for half of recipe, some do not like nuts, we love the ease of this recipe!

  24. 5 stars
    This is the best recipe I have seen yet! The potatoes come out so fluffy and light with a tough of sweetness that pairs so well with the savory. The coconut in the topping is a bit of surprise and adds a bit more texture. Altogether, if I could give this more stars I would!

  25. 5 stars
    Love the recipe. My kids don’t like coconut so I use marshmallows and use candied pecans. We love sweet potatoes in our house. Delicious’n

  26. 5 stars
    Oh my!
    Thanksgiving dinner is going to be huge Huge Texas fantastic! My people are going to flip over this new sweet potato recipe! We are all so tired of the marshmallow sweet potato dish that I make year after year!

  27. This recipe looks fantastic! Why do we not eat sweet potato casserole all year long? This recipe might get us to have it on a regular basis.

  28. 5 stars
    I’ve tried this recipe before. It is 💯 absolutely fantastic. It’s better than eating dessert…….in fact it is a dessert. It is not an exaggeration when I say I could simply have this casserole as the main course of any meal including Thanksgiving. If you don’t whip up a batch of these sweet ‘taters, you are missing something special.

  29. 5 stars
    I love, love, love Sweet Potato Casserole. I grew up with having marshmallows on top, but when this recipe came out, I quickly switched to this delicious topping. I do not like to eat my sweet potatoes with my meal. I prefer to have them after my meal. I also save the topping to eat last. I have some quirky eating habits.

  30. 5 stars
    I have never added coconut to the topping before but I will be making this for Thanksgiving this year using this recipe. Thank you!

    1. 5 stars
      This recipe sounds so good I will be adding this to the Thanksgiving Dinner the best part of this is how easy it is to make, I am sure my family is going to love this dish

  31. 5 stars
    This recipe is delicious! Everyone but my husband loves sweet potatoes, and even he said it was really good!

      1. 5 stars
        This is the best sweet potato dish ever. It is delicious. Also very easy to make. I added it to my favorites. I did not change a thing, followed the recipe as written.

  32. 5 stars
    I love this recipe. I made it as a “trial run” to see if it would be good for the family get-together. My brother in law who hates sweet potatoes tried them. ( I didn’t tell him before what it was.) Turns out he loved them. His face when he found out he loved sweet potatoes was priceless.

  33. This is always a special dish for any occasion. I add a couple
    tablespoons of Sherry flavoring to the sweet potato and it is
    really delicious.

  34. 5 stars
    My friends raved about this casserole. I used more more sweet potatoes, otherwise I followed to the letter. It was delicious!

    1. Sweetened, but you can use unsweetened if you want. The brown sugar gives plenty of sweet. Thanks for asking!

  35. 5 stars
    This sounds really good. I just can’t seem to make good ones. My mom always makes the best sweet potatoes. This looks like hers.

  36. 5 stars
    This recipe is the best I have ever tasted. My late mother made this recipe for many years while I was growing up and it was awesome. I occasionally make this recipe throughout the year, not just Thanksgiving or Christmas. It is very easy to prepare and I had a lot of fun doing this casserole. It simply cannot be beat!

  37. 5 stars
    Sounds scrumptious. I am going to use this recipe this Thanksgiving. My husband loves homemade sweet potato casserole, so I’m going to give this one a try. May become my go to recipe every time.

  38. 5 stars
    This is by far my favorite Thanksgiving side dish! I also like to switch up the toppings. I can’t wait to make and eat this next week!

  39. 5 stars
    Absolutely delicious, it was my first time tasting it and fell in love right away, will definitely be making this for Christmas dinner.

  40. 5 stars
    This recipe is delicious!! I never thought to add eggs or coconut. I love coconut-this added another layer of flavor. This is the best recipe for sweet potatoes I have ever made & easy also! Make it, you won’t be sorry!!

  41. 5 stars
    I have always wanted to make a sweet potato dish (casserole) this sounds delicious and very simple. I will have to try yours.

  42. 5 stars
    With this delicious casserole, I really don’t need a dessert. It satisfies the sweet tooth. Everyone just loves this dish and always goes for seconds.

  43. 5 stars
    This is such a different way to make sweet potato casserole but it works so well. I love coconut so it already sounded good before making it. But it’s delicious.

  44. 5 stars
    I like the idea of a streusel topping. It brings texture to the dish. Not that I don’t like marshmallows but I always like something with a little crunch to break up all the softness with the traditional sweet potato casserole. I also like the tip about reheating the casserole in the oven to keep the integrity of the nuts!

  45. 5 stars
    Candied Sweet Potato casserole has been my favorite since I was old enough to eat it ( many, many, moons ago), and that love was acquired by my son as well. While we do love the “traditional” recipe, I am always interested in trying a new or different version of this age old classic! This looks like this year’s taste test winner!!!

  46. 5 stars
    Sweet potato casserole is yummy, you make it just like my family’s recipe. No marshmallows is the right answer! Sweet potato casserole and turkey is the way to go! yum!

  47. 5 stars
    Sweet potato casserole is delish, you make it just like my family’s recipe. No marshmallows is the right answer! Sweet potato casserole and turkey is the way to go! yum!

  48. 5 stars
    I have a couple of family members who don’t like sweet potatoes at all, but they liked this recipe. This will be on our Thanksgiving menu every year.

  49. 5 stars
    I love the crunchy streusel topping. The sweet potatoes are perfect with this topping because it takes them up to the next level!

  50. 5 stars
    This recipe is so so good. I make it as a dessert to be served with whipped topping or vanilla ice cream. We have a well known restaurant here that I fell in love with their aweet potatoes casserole. When I first got this recipe I was very pleased that now I could make the same celebrated dish . It is so addictive.

  51. 5 stars
    I love Sweet Potato Casserole. When I was growing up, it was always topped with marshmallows and browned under the broiler. The first time I had Sweet Potato Casserole with the pecans/butter/brown sugar/etc. topping, I thought I had died and gone to Heaven! I like to eat it as a dessert!

  52. 5 stars
    Love the simplicity of this recipe and the fact that you can change up the topping if needed. Great tips are included as well. Definitely adding this to my Thanksgiving table!

  53. 5 stars
    I love to try new things for Thanksgiving, and the sweet potato casserole is the perfect dish to try; can’t mess around too much with the family faves! This sounds delicious.

  54. 4 stars
    Am diabetic and this is pretty high sugar; but, I think I will try anyway. I love sweet potatoes, but never tried them in casserole. I think I’ll love it.

  55. 5 stars
    This recipe is super, even if you don’t like sweet potatoes, you will love this one
    The creamiest and the little crunch is heavenly
    You won’t be able to stop eating them

  56. 5 stars
    My sweet grandmother made something similar to this recipe which was made with her love for all her family and Im looking forward to making this for Thanksgiving in honor of her

  57. 5 stars
    I’ve served a similar style dish every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas for most of my adult life but came across this version and had to try it out and it’s just what my dish needed to give it the extra kick.

  58. 5 stars
    I haven’t actually made this recipe but have made one very similar. Topping has crushed corn flakes, melted butter, brown sugar and chopped nuts. I much prefer this topping compared to marshmallows!

  59. 5 stars
    I’m normally not a fan of sweet potatoes, but this is one recipe that I will definitely make again. Thank you for helping me expand my food horizons 😉

  60. 5 stars
    This is definitely the favorite of our holiday meals. I am requested to make Sweet Potato Casserole every year. This is going to be the 1st year trying this one with the coconut pecan topping and we can’t wait!!

  61. 5 stars
    Less sugar than my family recipe (I’m diabetic), but still absolutely fantastic! It was a big hit for Thanksgiving!

  62. 5 stars
    This is the same recipe my husband’s Aunt gave to me after she brought her amazing sweet potato casserole to my first Thanksgiving with his family almost 20 years ago. The only thing I do differently is I add Rice Krispies to the topping mix. It doesn’t have a taste, it just adds to the crunch in combination with the coconut. This dish is my family’s favorite and a Thanksgiving and Christmas Day staple at our dinner table.

    1. Hmmm… I’ve never heard of adding Rice Krispies to the topping mix. Interesting! I’m making this for Christmas dinner. I’ll give it a try!

  63. 5 stars
    I’ve never had coconut on sweet potatoes before but can already picture how delicious a combination would be! yum! thanks so much for this inspiration!

  64. Hi, I need to make it vegetarian, so what can I use instead of the egg or it will be fine without the egg? Thank you!

    1. The egg acts as a binding agent, so you will want to substitute it. You can use mashed banana or nut butter!

  65. 5 stars
    I wasn’t very familiar with these ingredients, and that’s why I decided to try your recipe, I really love to indulge to myself into something new in the kitchen.
    Well, it has been a real success for me and I’ll keep to make it.
    I have only reduced the doses for 4 people, next time I will make a bigger one!

    Thanks for sharing it

  66. 5 stars
    I love homemade sweet potato casserole. You have made it look so delicious to make. I think I would eat the whole casserole dish, lol.

  67. 5 stars
    This is such a delicious sweet potato recipe. The family loves it. It is easy to prepare and the coconut topping, delish!

  68. For the make ahead option, do you cook the casserole in the oven then put in refrigerator and just reheat day of? Or do you just assemble the casserole but wait to bake it until day of?

  69. 5 stars
    This looks absolutely delicious! I’m putting on our Thanksgiving menu.
    Thanks so much for all your delicious recipes!!

    1. 5 stars
      This recipe is fabulous. I made it for Thanksgiving for just the 3 of us. I used 2 sweet potatoes that I cooked in the microwave first. I made it again today, but I used the canned sweet potates. It’s baking right now. I’m sure when we can have family gatherings again I will make it for the whole family.