Sweet Potato Casserole: a creamy, delicious casserole to serve this autumn

With its gorgeously creamy texture and crunchy, buttery pecan topping, sweet potato casserole is one of our favorite casseroles to whip up in the fall. It's a sweet, rich casserole that you can serve as soon as the leaves start falling off the trees.

It's a delicious, traditional dish to serve as a part of your Thanksgiving or even Christmas dinner spread along with roast turkey, mashed potatoes and cornbread stuffing.

This easy sweet potato casserole is made with either fresh or canned sweet potatoes, plenty of butter, and milk which gives it that amazing creamy and smooth texture, a dash of spices, and sugar. The salty yet sweetish topping is made from chopped, toasty pecans tossed in brown sugar and melted butter. The pecan topping adds a fantastic crunch to the dish – it's the perfect foil to that creamy sweet potato base!

How to make Sweet Potato Casserole

If you're looking for an easy dish to serve on Thanksgiving, sweet potato casserole is the ticket. It's fast and easy to make and tastes absolutely phenomenal. To make sweet potato casserole, start by preheating your oven to 350F and grease a casserole dish.

Preparing and mashing the sweet potatoes

Peel and cut sweet potatoes into cubes, then simmer the pieces in a saucepan with water over low heat or 15 to 20 minutes, until tender. Drain and leave them to cool for several minutes. Once they've cooled down a bit, place the sweet potatoes and butter in a bowl. Mash them well with a potato masher, then stir in the milk, brown sugar, eggs, salt, nutmeg, and vanilla. Mix everything until well combined.

Making the topping

For the topping, grab a bowl and combine flour, butter, pecans, brown sugar, and salt.

Assembling the casserole

Pour the mashed sweet potato mixture into your casserole dish, then cover the sweet potatoes with the pecan topping.

Baking the sweet potato casserole

Pop the casserole in the oven and bake it for about 25 minutes, or until the pecan topping turns lightly brown. Remove the casserole from the oven, let it cool for few minutes, then serve.

Can you make Sweet Potato Casserole ahead of time? 

Yes, you can make sweet potato casserole ahead of time. Prep and cook it up to 2 days before you plan on serving it, especially during a special day such as Thanksgiving. When you're ready to eat the casserole, reheat it at 350°F until warmed through.

To prepare a sweet potato casserole properly, it would be best to make and store the filling and topping in two separate airtight containers in the refrigerator. Before baking, remove the two mixtures from the fridge about 30 minutes before, then assemble and bake the casserole in the oven on the given day.

Tips for making Easy Sweet Potato Casserole

You can swap our pecans for walnuts, almonds, or other types of nuts if you prefer. Alternatively, you can leave them out altogether go with a different topping like marshmallows and an oat streusel.

Make your life a little easier and use canned sweet potatoes instead of raw ones. Using canned sweet potatoes means you can skip the boiling step. Just make sure to drain the liquid out, you can also leave out milk as canned sweet potatoes are wet enough.

If you want to make vegan sweet potato casserole, use plant-based milk instead of regular milk, vegan butter or margarine in place of butter, and silken tofu instead of eggs. You can swap them in a 1:1 ratio.

If you love the warming baking spices that are common in fall recipes, add a dash of cinnamon or allspice to your sweet potato casserole.

Sweet potatoes are more common in the US, but if you prefer, you can use yams in your casserole instead.

How to store and reheat Sweet Potato Casserole

Wrap or cover the casserole in cling film and store it in the fridge for up to 4 days. Before serving, reheat the sweet potato casserole, just bake it at 350°F for about 15-20 minutes, covered with foil.

Can you freeze Sweet Potato Casserole?

Yes! You can freeze cool sweet potato casserole without topping for up to 3 months, wrapped in foil. Before serving, thaw it in the fridge overnight, then add the topping and reheat it in the oven.

More Recipes You'll Like

• Sweet potato corned beef hash
• Baked sweet potatoes
• Sweet potato souffle

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C. Lightly grease a casserole dish with butter or cooking spray.

Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into cubes, then place the pieces into a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender. You know they're done When you stick a fork into a potato and it turns out tender. Drain and allow the sweet potatoes to cool for several minutes, then transfer into a large bowl. Mash them with a potato masher.

Add the butter and mash well until smooth.

Mix in the milk.

Add the eggs.

Add the salt, nutmeg and vanilla.

Mix in brown.

Once smooth, pour the sweet potato mixture into a casserole dish. Set aside.

For the topping, combine flour, butter, pecans, brown sugar, and salt in a bowl.

Garnish the casserole with the pecan topping.

Spread the topping evenly.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until the pecan topping turns lightly brown. Remove from the oven and let it cool. Serve and enjoy!