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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’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.
Thank you, Jimmy! Happy Thanksgiving!
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.
That’s actually a great idea. They are more like dessert anyway. Happy Thanksgiving!
I have never added coconut to the topping before but I will be making this for Thanksgiving this year using this recipe. Thank you!
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
I like the taste of the mixture
This recipe is delicious! Everyone but my husband loves sweet potatoes, and even he said it was really good!
Absolutely love this Sweet potatoe casserole. My favorite way to make them for Thanksgiving.
Forgot my star rating! This is absolutely excellent!
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.
always looking for new ways to serve the sweets! love them even more than white taters! Happy Holidays!
Happy Thanksgiving to you!
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.
That is amazing! I’m glad the recipe was a success!
This was delicious I give it 5 stars!!!
Sweet potato casserole is my favorite!
My family lives this recipe! It’s a tradition💕
this is easy to make vegan, and so delish it could be dessert.
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.
My friends raved about this casserole. I used more more sweet potatoes, otherwise I followed to the letter. It was delicious!
I make this casserole another using two eggs cinnamon ! Everyone requests this recipe
I love that is so easy to make and so delicios. Even the pickiest eaters love it.
What kind of coconut did you use, sweetened or unsweetened?
Sweetened, but you can use unsweetened if you want. The brown sugar gives plenty of sweet. Thanks for asking!
Yum! Thank you so much, love all ur recipes!
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.
This is an easy sweet potato recipe. I love sweet potatoes and this is a great holiday recipe.