Southern Sweet Potato Casserole
This Easy Sweet Potato Casserole has a creamy filling made with canned sweet potatoes and is topped with a brown sugar streusel topping.
AN EASY RECIPE FOR SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE
Sweet Potato Casserole is a must-have, must-make side dish for me at the holidays. I’ve mentioned this before but I would be totally happy with a bunch of side dishes for holiday meals. It just isn’t Thanksgiving for me without sweet potato casserole!
This sweet potato casserole recipe is so good!! I’ve made it THREE times in the last month!!
– LeAnn
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
I do a ton of cooking on Thanksgiving and over the years, I have learned ways to make my recipes not only easier to whip up but still have that same great taste I love. I use canned sweet potatoes or yams and I make this whole thing the night before, pop it into the refrigerator and it’s ready to bake the next day. If you want to prep this a few days or more in advance, you can freeze it (just make sure you wrap it really well.) Put into the refrigerator overnight to thaw and proceed with the cooking instructions below. Or cook from frozen but add on additional cooking time.
The pecan praline topping on this is my favorite but I will never turn down a good ole marshmallow topping either. Instead of the pecan praline topping, you can leave it off and top with mini marshmallows towards the end of cooking- usually around the last 10 minutes or so. If you put them on too early, they will burn. Or. you could do a half and half. Just don’t add the marshmallow topping until the end of cooking. Also, if you don’t like pecans in the topping, you can just leave them out.
Of course! You’ll need about 4 small sweet potatoes. They need to be cooked soft enough to be mashed. Boiling is probably the simplest way to make them or you can bake them until soft. Just peel and dice the sweet potatoes into large cubes and boil until tender then continue with the recipe as written. Or some people just boil the whole sweet for about 45 minutes until soft then peel and mash.
Yes, chopped pecans can be swapped for whatever nut you prefer. Try almonds, cashews, or peanuts.
Yes, you can make the sweet potato mixture and the topping and add them together in a baking dish, cover tightly and place in the fridge overnight. Then, remove from fridge and let come up to room temperature before baking with normal instructions. If you don’t pull it out to come to room temperature early enough, you’ll need some extra baking time, so keep any eye on that.
If you are using my recipe below then you should not have this issue. However, if you ended up here because you made another recipe (hopefully not, ha!) then here might be some reasons why this happened. This answer is two-fold. Most people don’t allow their casseroles to set up after baking. The casserole needs at least 15 minutes to cool before serving. The casserole sets up as it cools. However, if you prefer a really thick sweet potato casserole, you can add about 2-3 tablespoons of flour to your sweet potato batter and this will help the mixture to thicken. This is an especially good idea if using fresh sweet potatoes since they release a lot of moisture.
If your sweet potato casserole turned out “watery”, its usually because you forgot to add eggs; you didn’t let your casserole have enough time to set up after baking or you used fresh sweet potatoes and didn’t boil them long enough before mashing. Sweet potatoes retain a lot of moisture so boiling them well beforehand will help release a lot of that excess moisture before adding them to your casserole mixture.
Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Or you can freeze leftovers. Cover and wrap well to protect from freezer burn. Casserole will freeze for up to 6 months.
Yes, you could double and bake in a 9×13-inch dish and you’ll need to adjust the baking time accordingly. Since I haven’t personally tested doubling this recipe, I can’t give exact baking suggestions.
I would assume you could. I have yet to attempt this, so unfortunately, I can’t give any specific instructions on what’s the best recommendations on how to do so.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- canned sweet potatoes– Important tip- Many canned sweet potatoes can be labeled as “Yams” as you’ll see in my ingredient photo below. But it says on the can that it is sweet potatoes in syrup. If you pick up a can of yams, you can definitely use them, you just need to drain them first. It doesn’t matter whether they are packed in syrup or some other sort of liquid, they’ll need to be drainer. Some cans might be labeled “Sweet Potatoes” but then say they are yams in syrup, which be be so confusing, right? Soem brands will label them one way while another brand does another way of labeling. But either one can be used in this recipe. Yams and sweet potatoes are actually two different things, but for some reason, when it comes to the canned kind, they seem to use the terms interchangeably.
- salted butter– unsalted butter can be used, just add a pinch of butter.
- milk– whole milk gives a little extra richness to this dish. You could use 2%, but I wouldn’t use skim if it can be avoided.
- sugar– simple white granulated sugar is what I tested this recipe with, but I suspect you could use an alternative sugar option.
- vanilla extract
- eggs
- brown sugar – for a deeper, richer flavor, you can use dark brown sugar but I almost always use light brown sugar since that is what I have on hand.
- all-purpose flour
- chopped pecans – I know nuts are a love it/hate it kinda things so please feel free to leave these out if you are in the “hate it” category.
HOW TO MAKE SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE:
Preheat oven to 350f degrees. In a large bowl, mash the sweet potatoes. Then stir in melted butter, milk, sugar, vanilla extract and beaten eggs. Stir until combined well. Pour sweet potato mixture into a 2-quart (8-inch square) baking dish.
In a bowl, combine the melted butter, brown sugar, flour and chopped pecans. Use a fork or your fingers until mixture becomes small crumbles. Sprinkle crumbles over sweet potato mixture.
Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes until topping is golden brown. Let casserole cool for about 15-20 minutes before serving. This is important as the casserole will set-up as it cools.
MORE SIDE DISH RECIPE IDEAS:
Originally published: November 2016
Updated photos and republished: October 2024
Southern Sweet Potato Casserole
Ingredients
For the casserole:
- 29 ounce can sweet potatoes, drained
- ½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, melted
- ⅓ cup milk
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, beaten
For the topping:
- 5 Tablespoons salted butter, melted
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees. In a large bowl, mash 29 ounce can sweet potatoes, drained.
- Then stir in ½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, melted, ⅓ cup milk, ¾ cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 large eggs, beaten. Stir until combined well.
- Pour sweet potato mixture into a 2-quart (8-inch square) baking dish.
- In a bowl, combine 5 Tablespoons salted butter, melted, ⅔ cup brown sugar, ⅔ cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup chopped pecans. Use a fork or your fingers until mixture becomes small crumbles.
- Sprinkle crumbles over sweet potato mixture.
- Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes until topping is golden brown. Let casserole cool for at least 15-20 minutes before serving. This is important as the casserole will set-up as it cools.
Video
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
This is my families go to recipe for sweet potato casserole. So good.
We love this sweet potato casserole and eat it every Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. I make no changes except doubling the recipe!
Thank you for this great recipe.
I make this every Thanksgiving and Christmas. This is almost like a dessert. My family loves it.
I only have self rising flour, is that ok to make this casserole?
You can. Just a few things to note so you’re aware, self-rising flour contains baking powder and salt, so your topping may not be as flat like you would expect for this type of casserole. The topping will rise a bit as it bakes. Because it rises, it may brown faster on top and look a bit more textured rather than forming a tight, crisp crust. Self rising flour also has added salt. Not overwhelming but it does make the topping more savory.
Love this recipe will make it from.now on.Kathy Wheeler from Kentucky
My family absolutely loved this southern sweet potato casserole
Thank you so much Janette!
I made this for my family for Thanksgiving. I ran wild and added almost a cup of quick oats to the topping and then when the top was brown, I covered with marshmallows and turned on the broiler till they were golden. The sweet potato base was so tasty. I will be making this again.. I have already shared the recipe. thank you!!!!!
This was a hit at Thanksgiving! I had never made a sweet potato casserole before and this recipe was easy and so delicious! I doubled the recipe (9×13) and started with a cook time of 30 minutes, but it took about 40-45 minutes. Note: doubling of the pecan topping recipe resulted in enough to generously cover the sweet potato mixture and I had about a 1/3 of it left over. I will be making this again!
Added some nutmeg cinnamon and ginger to it and it was a hit! wish I had made more left, this will be my go to recipe thanks for side dish✨
Approximately how long do you let it set out to come to room temperature?
Sooooo good.
Can you use fresh sweet potatoes and how many would you need?
That is answered in detail above in the frequently asked question section 🙂
Absolutely delicious
My canned sweet potatoes is a 40 ounce can and this recipe calls for much less.
Excellent recipe! I wouldn’t change a thing. I came home with an empty dish so that says it all!
Nut allergies what else can I use in place of pecans
Just leave them out or use whatever you would normally use as a substitute
Hi there! When I make this yummy casserole I make 1/2 with nuts and then the last 5 minutes I add marshmallows to the other half. I also have a nut allergy so its a great solution and it’s absolutely delicious! Takes about 5 minutes to make them melty and soft.
I use oats in place of the nuts and it turns out great.
Thanks Shannon!
oats
Can this recipe be made a head of time and frozen till ready to bake it?
Most of the questions being asked here are answered above in the post 🙂
Can you appropriately double the recipe for me? It seems like if I do the 40oz can, it won’t match up for doubling the other ingredients. My math isn’t mathing correctly lol
It’s honestly just best to make two separate pans to make sure everything cooks evenly 🙂
My sister makes this every year and it’s amazing! I signed up to make it for my child’s Thanksgiving meal at school. What can I substitute the eggs for as my son is allergic?
Thank you!
So happy you love it! What do you normally use as egg substitutes? You could probably use that here. I’m so sorry, I’m not familiar enough with egg allergies to be able to give you an educated answer. I’m sorry! Maybe someone on here can jump in & help! 🙂
I do 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce per egg and it’s always worked great for me. Some grocery stores carry egg replacer that would work too. My little also has an egg allergy.
Thank you for jumping in Stephanie!
What size pans should I use to double the recipe and triple the recipe?
I’ve made this every year since 2020 – double the recipe for a 9×13 pan! I usually make 2 pans for my crowd. It’s a hit!
Thank you for finally commenting Whitney! It’s always so nice & helpful to know that folks like a recipe do the comments really help. Thank you!!
How long did you cook the doubled recipe in the 9×13 pan?
Amazing, and Delicious. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
This sweet potato casserole recipe is so good!! I’ve made it THREE times in the last month!!
Woo hoo! Thank you so very much LeAnn! It really is so wonderful to hear when someone loves a recipe – makes my day!
Can you make it night before and refrigerate until ready to bake ?
Yep! I go into this in more detail above in the Frequently Asked Question section 🙂
I’ve made this recipe for my family and there is NOT any leftovers!!
Thanks!!
It’s me again. Just a thought. Is it possible to make whole recipe cooking half for Thanksgiving n freezing rest for Christmas. Question can it be frozen cooking n without topping. My concern is the eggs in the recipe. Is this possible.
You could always make two smaller dishes. One to make now and one to freeze for later. This casserole freezes great with the topping. 🙂
Turned out perfect for me!! I should have doubled it since everyone at all of it! Lol
It’s only an 8×8 inch dish. The recipe is correct as you can see from all the comments of people that have made it. I also include an ingredient image above.
Can you make this with non-canned sweet potatoes?
TY!
I go into more detail about that above in the frequently asked question section 🙂
Hi. I have never made sweet potato casserole before and I don’t like it, but I am hosting Christmas lunch for the first time and a lot of the people who are going to be there love their sweet potato casserole. I’m thinking about making this recipe since it looks easy to follow and all I see are five star reviews. I see the oven time is 30-40 minutes. This may be a dumb question, but how will I be able to tell if it needs closer to 30 minutes or closer to 40?
Make sure to bake on the middle rack and look for it being jiggly. If you can jiggle it and see a lot of movement, it’s not ready yet. It’s ok if it is just a tiny bit jiggle but it should be like a liquid-y jiggle, if that makes sense.
You can make 3 trays of it.
excellent recipe. My family loved it! Making it for the church pot luck!
I made a double batch and still had no leftovers! This is the easiest and most delicious way to make sweet potatoes! My son informed me that I need to make more because he wants more!
So I prepared this for Thanksgiving this year and I did the recipe exact. It was a huge hit and I was asked to make it every year! Yummy
Made this for the first time. It was easy and a big hit!
Found this at the last second on Thanksgiving day…total win! I returned to leave a review and print it out to add it to my permanent Thanksgiving binder!! Rave reviews from everyone who ate it, especially my 13 year old who has NEVER liked any sweet potato casserole I’ve ever made, hence why I was looking for another new one this year. The search has finally ended, thank you!!!!
So yummy!
this is the only recipe I use and it’s a hit everytime!!!! we double the recipe
Can this be made with sweet potato puree that comes in a can???
I’ve never tried that sorry
I’ve made a lot of sweet potato casserole recipes but this is the only one that everyone asks me to make again & again. Thanks so much!
Best sweet potato casserole! Had our Thanksgiving early so everyone could be together, made it the night before and refrigerated unbaked, so simple but tasted amazing!
LOVE THIS RECIPE!! I make so many of The Country Cook recipes because they are so delicious. This recipe I make every Thanksgiving for the family. It is a favorite. The only change is no nuts, because I am allergic. It is still so awesome!! 🙂
Did a test run before Thanksgiving to make sure I knew what I was doing lol. You can’t mess this recipe up! It is FREAKING DELICIOUS!!! Thanks girl!
I loved this recipe! The texture was perfect and the taste was awesome. I served it to my Bible Study ladies and this will be a repeat request.
is the casserole on the sweeter side? my family loves it really sweet
As a 3rd generation family of sweet potato growers, and someone who feeds 200 people sweet potato casserole every Nov, I would like to offer a tip on preparing fresh sweet potatoes. Scrub the potato whole with the skin on. Boil whole, until they start cracking and you can feel they are soft with tongs. Put them on a sheet pan and let cool enough to handle. The skins pull right off. It takes longer to boil, but the pain of peeling and chopping a hard sweet potato makes it well worth the time.
Thank you for that tip!!!
Can this be done in a crock pot?
I haven’t tested that out yet. If you try it, please let me know!
Perfect – I wouldn’t change a thing. Made it as written and we all really loved it.
Delicious! I was baking for someone with wheat and nut allergy, so I used cassava flour in the topping and replaced the pecans with 1/3 cup old fashioned oats. It was the best sweet potato casserole I’ve ever had.