Sweet Potato Casserole with Buttery Pecan Topping
This sweet potato casserole has a delicious sweet and creamy filling that is perfect with the buttery pecan topping. So classic and so good!
It wouldn’t be a Thanksgiving meal without this casserole! My version of this iconic dish balances the flavors in the sweet filling and also offers just the right amount of golden, buttery topping.
Sweet Potato Filling
The base of this casserole starts with cooked sweet potatoes (stovetop and Instant Pot method included in the recipe).
After the potatoes are drained and get a light mash, add:
- brown sugar
- eggs
- milk or evaporated milk
- melted butter
- vanilla
- salt
Mix it all up until thick and creamy.
Prepare the Topping
The buttery pecan topping for this sweet potato casserole recipe is so good! And while I’m currently calling it “topping,” if we’re really being honest with ourselves, I think we can all recognize it for what it is: STREUSEL.
You know. The stuff that usually goes on dessert. No one around here seems to complain that a couple days a year we get to eat dessert disguised as a potato dish.
Spread the sweet potato filling in a 9X13-inch dish, top with the tasty streusel topping, and bake until piping hot.
Pecan Topping vs Marshmallow Topping
I grew up eating a variation of this casserole topped with marshmallows that were broiled until golden. Well “eating” is a broad generalization here. I did NOT enjoy sweet potato casserole growing up.
But my mom loved it and made it every year for Thanksgiving. The toasty marshmallows always made me think I’d like it (I mean, hey, I was a kid after all, and in the face of marhsmallows, who would say no??) until I would try it and realize that nope, once again a sweet potato s’mores with the texture of pumpkin pie was most definitely not my thing.
Fast forward to now. In my more mature fifth decade on this earth, I’ve learned a lot about myself, including how I do and do not like my sweet potato casserole.
The Perfect Sweet Potato Casserole
Turns out, I like it just like this.
The sweet potato filling is creamy and sweet with enough salt to make the flavors pop and enough texture to minimize the pumpkin pie vibes. The topping not only adds buttery sweetness, but the toasty pecans give the crunch that my soul longs for with this classic casserole.
My other favorite sweet potato casserole is this ultra-simple version with a tasty hint of orange and cayenne in the filling and a broiled brown sugar topping.
I’d love to know where you stand on sweet potato casserole? Love it? Hate it? Tolerate it?
Several of my kids list sweet potato casserole as their favorite thing at the Thanksgiving spread, so it’s a for sure on our menu. If you’re looking for a really classic but also leveled-up version, this recipe is for you!
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Sweet Potato Casserole with Buttery Pecan Topping
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Filling:
- 3 medium (or 4 to 5 small) sweet potatoes, about 2 1/2 pounds (see note)
- ⅔ cup 2%, whole, or evaporated milk
- ⅓ to ½ cup packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
Buttery Pecan Topping:
- ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- Pinch of salt
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 ¼ cups chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking dish and set aside.
- For the potatoes, peel and cube the sweet potatoes. You should have about 6 cups or 2 to 2 1/2 pounds of cubed potatoes. Place in a saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Continue cooking until the potatoes are tender, 12-15 minutes. Drain and place in a large bowl.
- Lightly mash the sweet potatoes. Add the milk, brown sugar, eggs, butter, vanilla and salt, and mix until evenly combined.
- Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared pan.
- For the topping, in a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, flour and salt. Add the butter and mix until evenly combined. Add the pecans and toss to combine.
- Sprinkle the topping over the sweet potato mixture. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the filling is hot throughout and the topping is golden. Serve immediately or cover with foil and keep warm for up to an hour before serving.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
All our guests and family loved this recipe!
excellent!
Thank you for this recipe. I made for Thanksgiving and everyone loved it. I used the lower range of brown sugar in the potato portion and made topping as written. Topping was a tad sweet to me, so I might reduce the brown sugar in topping next time. This was one of the best sweet potato casseroles I’ve had.
My favorite sweet potato casserole I’ve had! The topping is SOOO good.
Absolutely delicious. Ended up making and freezing a week ahead of time with the topping separate. Thawed in fridge, added topping, and baked. Yum!
YUM. This was amazing! I’m not a big fan of marshmallows so I’m just so-so on the mallow version. This is way more up my alley and tasted just like the sweet potato casserole at Ruth’s Chris. I had three helpings on Thanksgiving! 🙂
ABSOLUTE deliciousness. I did have to bake my a bit longer to get a good crunch. Dessert meets side dish.
Absolutely delicious! Everyone loved it, and it’s easy to make, and make ahead. This is going in the Thanksgiving rotation for sure, along with the homemade green bean casserole!
So good! It’s the perfect amount of sweetness and love the crunchy pecan topping. I made this after Thanksgiving but now I know what side dish I’ll be bringing next year!
I’m also already planning side dishes for next year. Haha. My sis-in-law brought the most amazing stuffing that I can’t wait to make!
This is good but a little too sweet in my honest opinion. Next time, I will reduce the amount of brown sugar added to the sweet potatoes.
Sounds like a good plan going forward. 🙂
My husband made this for our Thanksgiving gathering this year and everyone loved it! Only change we made was to reduce the sugar ever-so-slightly. This will be a go-to for future years!
I’m so happy to hear that, Lisa! Thank you!
I’ll be honest I’m not a fan of sweet potato dishes on Thanksgiving. However, knowing how your recipes never fail, I decided to give this casserole a try. I’m so glad I did because it tasted amazing!!
I’m so happy to hear that, Jess. Yay!
Help! I’m out of flour and can’t make it to the store, can I use corn starch instead??
Hi Lacey, sorry for the delay in responding! Did you try it with cornstarch? I haven’t made that substitution – let me know if it worked out.
I just made this today (will add topping when I cook tomorrow) – the easiest way to do the sweet potatoes is to just cut them in half and boil until fork tender. Once they cool a bit, the skin slides right off! I doubled it and it was insanely easy.
Thanks, Emily!
Can I make this 1 day in advance and place in fridge and then bake the next day?
Sorry for the delay in responding, Katherine – yes, you can make this a day ahead of time!
Can I make it the day before and bake the next day?
Yes. If doing so, I’d refrigerate the topping separately and add it to the casserole right before baking.
I won’t touch the marshmallow sweet potatoes. I love the ones we grew up on though. Chopped (like how the canned ones are chopped) sweet potatoes (not mashed) with dollops of butter and brown sugar. That’s it. They are so simple, and so freaken yummy.
What type of milk do you use when you make this? I’m going to attempt it. I’m not a fan, but my husband is. I have had some similar to this that I enjoyed. Thanks for posting!
I usually use evaporated milk or 2% milk.
I’ve been making a similar recipe for years and it quickly becomes everyone’s favorite! I like to blend my sweet potato mixture in my Vitamix, that way it is smooth without some of the stringyness that sweet potatoes can have. It is so delicious! Will never make sweet potatoes for thanksgiving any other way than with this pecan streusel topping. Yum yum!
Great idea, Laurie!
I like to use eggnog in mine instead of milk. Delicious!
I am wondering, I plan on making this for Thanksgiving next week. Iade a recipe similar last year or the year before and it wasn’t good! It was runny and didn’t set well. My friend made it the year before and I was in love! I’m not sure what I did wrong. The recipe I used said to boil the sweet potatoes, and when I told her it didn’t turn out she said to bake them instead because boiling takes away from the flavor. But my question is, I’m going to prepare the sweet potato mixture the night before and put the topping on and bake it that morning. We have to travel 40 mins and we likely won’t be eating as soon as we get there because we are always waiting on someone (sometimes that someone is us! Lol), im wondering if once they pull the turkey out, if I can throw it back in the oven for a bit to be sure it’s hot? What temp and how long? I read on another recipe that it can be done but to leave the foil on. I just don’t remember the time and temp. Any ideas?
Yes, I definitely think this could be reheated with good results. I’d suggest 325 or 350 for 10-15 minutes.
So I went by the recipe at the bottom of the post and for the filling it just said 6 tablespoons of butter and the topping stated 6 tablespoons of melted butter. I hope this recipe turns out because I just was now reading through the story and further up it says melted butter for the filling. I would recommend updating the recipe because I just hit jump to recipe and followed those directions. it’s my own fault for not reading the story first I guess, but if it doesn’t turn out I wasted a lot of time and money on expensive ingredients!
Hey Mel! Do you know what the eggs do in this recipe? I can’t have eggs and am trying to see what kind of replacement I can use. Or if I can leave them out all together.
Hi Kami – the eggs act as a binder to help the casserole set up (and have a creamy/souffle-like texture). I think you could leave them out – the consistency would obviously be different but I think still yummy?
I was so excited when I saw this recipe post! I love this sweet potato “soufflé” as we call it.
The crumble nut topping is so yummy with the sweet potatoes. I reduce the sugar in mine just a bit.
Cooking the potatoes in the instant pot is so easy! I let it depressure and cool for a while (or hours) until I can get to it. The skins fall off the potatoes and they’re so easy to mash up. I always make the potato part a day or two before thanksgiving and then add the crumble on top and bake the day we eat. Always a hit!! Happy thanksgiving to you Mel!
This is almost identical to “Aunt Lori’s Yams” in our family which is an absolute go-to side dish every Thanksgiving. It has been passed on to so many who have been converted to the glory of sweet potato casserole. So I can with strong confidence say that Mel’s recipe here will be the best sweet potatoes of your life!
I’m making this tonight for a Friendsgiving dinner! But I happen to love marshmallows on my sweet potato casserole so I’m going to add some! I made one a few years ago that I topped with marshmallows and your praline pecans and it was so good!!
HI Mel, excited to give this a try. I love all of your recipes I make. Do you think you can make this a day or two before? Trying to cut down on actual work on the holiday. Thanks!
Yes, absolutely! I”d refrigerate the topping separately from the casserole and then assemble and bake the day of.
Yes you can! I love this recipe and make it for thanksgiving. I make the bottom layer in advance (Instant pot makes it sooo easy!) then put it in the fridge covered with foil for a couple days. Add the nut/crumble topping just before baking it. It’s perfect!
I can’t speak to your version, since I haven’t tried it. However, my sister makes a version of this sweet potato casserole that I pass up. Everyone else loves it, but I find it cloyingly sweet. I want to plop lightly sweetened whipped cream on top just to cut the richness. I think it should be on the desert table. I prefer my Thankgiving sweet potatoes mashed simply with a little butter and salt. Which reminds me… I need to add a green vegetable to the Thanksgiving menu. The traditional green bean casserole is not my favorite either.
This has always been my favorite dish. My kids love it too. My mama always called it sweet potato souffle but I call it casserole now. Your version is almost exactly like hers. I’ve never been a big fan of the marshmallows. Yay for dessert as a side dish!!
I have been waiting close to a decade for this to show up on the blog! Love it!!
Haha, you should have texted me! I would have gotten it up early just for you. XO
I consider myself to be a decent cook, but sweet potato casserole is my kryptonite. I’ve looked at your other recipe in years past, but the cayenne pepper scared me away. I am intrigued by this recipe, can’t wait to see if I can make a decent casserole!
Let me know if you try it, Beth!
I make this same recipe every year but I add marshmallows on half the casserole and do the pecan streusel on the other half of the casserole.. this way everyone is happy 🙂
Great compromise!!
Any ideas on a good substitute for the pecans? Maybe oats? We have a tree nut allergy in our family so I can’t cook anything using tree nuts, but I’d love to try this! I agree with the marshmallow topping-I never enjoyed that version, either! Thanks!
Someone down below said they use cornflakes in addition to the pecans – I wonder if you could use all cornflakes in place of the pecans? I think it’s worth a try!
Has anyone ever tried this with canned yams?
I haven’t tried it that way, Shelly! I’m guessing it would work fine using the equivalent of canned yams?
When I was younger my mama always made it with canned yams. And it was my favorite dish.
Mature 5th decade? There’s no way that can be true!!!!
Haha. I mean, I’m 45…does that mean this is my 5th decade?
I will not eat marshmallows in cocoa or s’mores or any other way yo can think of (Sam I am). But my daughter introduced a sweet potato pie using a flour, butter, brown sugar topping, baking for 30-35 minutes then broiling a thin layer of marshmellows on top until golden. That’s the only method our entire family now likes♀️. Go figure
Interesting, Irene! It proves my theory that marshmallows belong in pie (not my sweet potato casserole, haha).
That sounds really good! Can’t wait to try it this Thanksgiving season.
I LOVE sweet potato soufflé as we call it. My mom added crushed pineapple and coconut to hers. So good as a dessert as well. I make it the same.
This is just about the same recipe as my mother in laws and you’re right, this is the only way a sweet potato casserole should be made! It’s delicious!
This is the type of sweet potato casserole I make and my family loves! I too, grew up thinking that marshmallow monstrosity was NOT good. This, however, is delightful. Every time we introduce someone new to this type of sweet potato casserole, they become a fan. The only difference in my recipe is I use either crushed saltines or Ritz crackers instead of the flour in the topping. Yum!
oooh, love that variation!
I make a very similar sweet potato casserole every year that is most people’s (except my husband who doesn’t like sweet potatoes) favorite dish. The main difference is that the topping has crushed corn flakes along with the pecans. The corn flakes also allow me to make a nut free version that still has the sweet crunch! We would have a mutiny if I didn’t make this every year.
Great idea on the topping, Angie – thanks for sharing!