Yield: 12 Servings
The Best Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping
Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping is a perfect Thanksgiving side dish! Cinnamon-spiced sweet potatoes with a crunchy pecan topping are a holiday favorite.
Ingredients
For the Casserole
- 3 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed into 2” pieces
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup salted butter, room temperature
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
For the Pecan Topping
- 1 cup finely chopped pecans
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9x13” baking dish. Set aside.
- Add sweet potatoes and salt to a large pot and add water till sweet potatoes are just covered. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium. Simmer until potatoes are fork tender, about 15 minutes.
- Drain sweet potatoes and return to pot. Mash sweet potatoes until smooth, then add in butter, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. Mash again until well combined.
- Transfer the mashed potatoes to the prepared baking dish and smooth out the top into an even layer. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, stir together the pecans, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and melted butter until well combined. Sprinkle over the sweet potatoes in an even layer.
- Bake for 23 to 25 minutes, until topping is lightly browned. Let rest for 5 minutes after baking to set up, then serve warm!
Notes
Tips and Variations:
- You can use walnuts in place of the pecans if you prefer.
- Sometimes I also like to add 1/2 cup of old fashioned oats to the topping mixture. If you do this, add 3 extra tablespoons of melted butter to help wet the oats.
- If you prefer not to boil your sweet potatoes, an even easier way is to bake them and remove the skins and mash. It takes a little longer, but is less time standing at the stove.
- Can I make this ahead? Absolutely! Prep the sweet potato casserole all the way until the last step - baking it. Instead, wrap it with saran wrap or foil and refrigerate it for up to 48 hours. When ready to bake, remove casserole from the fridge an hour before you want to put it in the oven and let it warm up to room temperature. Then bake according to recipe directions.
- If you want to make your sweet potatoes fluffier like a sweet potato soufflé, add an egg and whip the sweet potato mixture with a hand mixer to get lots of air into the sweet potatoes. Follow the rest of the recipe as written.
- For a creamier sweet potato casserole, swap out the brown sugar in the mashed sweet potatoes for sweetened condensed milk.
- Fridge: Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in fridge.
- Reheat: I like to reheat this casserole in the oven, whenever possible, for best results. But it can be reheated in the microwave as well.
Nutrition
Serving: 1, Calories: 296kcal, Carbohydrates: 40g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 14g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g, Cholesterol: 20mg, Sodium: 334mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 19g