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This Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping is creamy, crunchy, toasty, and so divine. So decadent it almost tastes like dessert.
The Perfect Thanksgiving Side Dish
This Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping is the best sweet potato casserole recipe I’ve ever tried! It’s a Thanksgiving favorite that always stands out on our holiday table. The creamy, whipped sweet potatoes are topped with a delicious pecan coconut crumble, making it so good it could pass as dessert. Plus, the topping is versatile – you can easily customize it to suit your guests’ preferences.
Ingredients for Sweet Potato Casserole
Let’s start with the base of this dish – the sweet potato mixture. It’s easy, made with real ingredients, and absolutely delicious! Here’s what you need:
- Sweet potatoes – You can use canned sweet potatoes or about 3 ½ cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes. If you like it more chunky use a potato masher. Use an electric mixer for a creamier, whipped texture.
- 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 – A teaspoon will do.
- Salt – Half a teaspoon or to taste.
Sweet Potato Casserole Pecan Topping
The toasted coconut and pecan topping transforms this sweet potato casserole into a show-stopping dish. It’s easy to make and adds the perfect crunch, perfectly complementing the creamy sweet potatoes. Once you try it, you’ll never go back to marshmallows! The ingredients you’ll need for the topping include:
- Brown sugar
- Chopped pecans
- Shredded coconut
- Flour
- Melted butter
Frequently Asked Questions About Sweet Potato Casserole
Yes, canned candied yams sold in U.S. grocery stores are actually sweet potatoes. This is what we use in this recipe. True yams and sweet potatoes are different in color, taste, and texture. Fun fact: Over 50% of U.S. sweet potatoes grown are grown in North Carolina.
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!
Refrigerate sweet potato casserole to keep it fresh. Store it in the fridge for up to five days. If the casserole sits out for more than a couple of hours, it should be discarded, so be sure to store the leftovers promptly!
Sweet Potato Casserole without the topping is gluten-free. To make this recipe with the crumbly topping gluten-free, substitute coconut flour, rice flour, or any other favorite gluten-free flour mixture in place of the white flour.
Thanksgiving Side Dishes Pairings
Sweet potato casserole is the perfect complement to your Thanksgiving turkey. Here are a few more sides to serve up with Thanksgiving dinner:
More 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:
Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
Sweet Potato Fries
Baked Sweet Potato Halves
Sweet Potato Tacos
Rocky Road Scalloped Sweet Potatoes
How to Make Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping
Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping
Video
Ingredients
- 29 ounces sweet potatoes drained (or 3 ½ cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes)
- ¼ cup milk
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Topping
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup pecans chopped
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 3 tablespoons butter melted
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.
- Transfer sweet potato mixture into a greased 9×9 inch baking pan.
- Stir all of the topping ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Sprinkle the topping evenly over the sweet potatoes.
- Bake uncovered for 35 minutes.
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.
- 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.
I should have said to add cream cheese and cinnamon to the potato mixture
Up the taste by adding cream cheese and cinnamon
Less sugar than my family recipe (I’m diabetic), but still absolutely fantastic! It was a big hit for Thanksgiving!
Absolutely delicious! No more marshmallows for us! The topping on this was the best thing ever!
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.
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!
Loved the coconut topping on this! Was a nice switch up from marshmallows.
OMG, yes please. We love sweet potatoes at home. Thanks for this recipe.
My family is going to love this! The flavors are perfect and I can’t wait to try this recipe!
This looks absolutely delish, just in time for Thanksgiving next week!
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!
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!
The egg acts as a binding agent, so you will want to substitute it. You can use mashed banana or nut butter!
Excellent dish. I added a tiny bit more of vanilla and was delicious. Easy to prepare dessert.
The flavors of this recipe are so warm and comforting. I love that it has coconut too!
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
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.
You are going to be crazy about it! It’s my favorite!
Oh my goodness! This looks amazing. I am eager to get this on our holiday table!
This is such a delicious sweet potato recipe. The family loves it. It is easy to prepare and the coconut topping, delish!
So glad you liked it! So much better than a marshmallow topping, right??
Sweetened or unsweetened coconut?
Sweetened!
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?
We usually just assemble the casserole and then bake the day of. Hope this helps!
This looks absolutely delicious! I’m putting on our Thanksgiving menu.
Thanks so much for all your delicious recipes!!
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.