If you are starting to plan out your Thanksgiving menu then this one is for you. I “real foodinized” an old family sweet potato casserole recipe that called for 2 cups of brown sugar…yikes!
If you are starting to plan out your Thanksgiving menu then this one is for you. I “real foodinized” an old family sweet potato casserole recipe that called for 2 cups of brown sugar…yikes! Why would sweet potatoes even need that much sugar when they’re already naturally sweet?
Well, once you try this dish I think you’ll agree this “better for you” version is actually quite delicious and would be a great addition to any Thanksgiving Day spread. If you have the pleasure of serving an extra big crowd this holiday season then double the recipe!
Sweet Potato Casserole
If you are starting to plan out your Thanksgiving menu then this one is for you. I “real foodinized” an old family sweet potato casserole recipe that called for 2 cups of brown sugar…yikes!
Print Recipe
Servings: 6 people
Ingredients
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 3 tablespoons butter (preferably unsalted)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
For The Topping
- 1 cup pecans (chopped)
- 1/3 cup whole-wheat flour
- 4 tablespoons butter (preferably unsalted)
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Peel, cube and boil sweet potatoes until tender. If you cut the cubes small enough (1 ½” to 2”) they shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes. Drain potatoes.
- Add the butter, vanilla, milk, egg and syrup to potatoes and mash/mix together by hand with a potato masher or fork or you can use an electric mixer.
- Transfer mashed potato mixture to a square casserole dish.
- Mix together the pecans and flour for the topping. Melt the butter and syrup together and stir into the pecan mixture.
- Evenly spread pecan topping on top of the potatoes in casserole dish.
- Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until bubbly.
Notes
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition Facts
Sweet Potato Casserole
Amount Per Serving
Calories 331
Calories from Fat 234
% Daily Value*
Fat 26g40%
Saturated Fat 10g63%
Cholesterol 64mg21%
Sodium 157mg7%
Potassium 264mg8%
Carbohydrates 21g7%
Fiber 4g17%
Sugar 7g8%
Protein 5g10%
Vitamin A 6625IU133%
Vitamin C 1.2mg1%
Calcium 60mg6%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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The PRINT function is not working on this page? Looking forward to making this today! Happy Thanksgiving!
Melody
Hi Melody,
I just tested out the print button on my end and it seems to be working. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and the recipe turned out delicious for you. – Nicole
Great recipe of the classic sweet potato casserole without all the added sugar! It was a great side dish to our Thanksgiving meal. Thank you!
So glad you all enjoyed it! – Nicole
I need to make this a few days ahead of time, could it be frozen?
While we haven’t tried, it should be fine, but I might suggest keeping the topping off and add when you’re ready to eat. – Nicole
Can I use yams instead of sweet potatoes for this dish?
Hi Ashley, yams and sweet potatoes are often interchangeable, so it should be fine. – Nicole
add a little molasses , makes it surprisingly “Wow” that’s so good!
What size pan will I need for this casserole?
I use an 8×11.
I don’t normally like sweet potatoes as a casserole because they are so sweet. I just tried this for a Sunday dinner side and it was delicious! My 4 year old said it was good but didn’t really eat it. However, the next morning I used the leftovers to make pancakes. My 4 year old devoured them and said he LOVED the maple pecan pancakes. When I told him they were from lasts nights potatoes he thought it was funny that there were potatoes in the pancakes. Great recipe, two meals!
This is one of my favorite recipes and I am not usually a sweet potato fan. It is June 2nd and I am making it today so I can eat through out the week! With dairy free options it makes a great meal(or several!) for me. YUM!!!
Help!! I made and had to triple the recipe but it is too runny! I havent baked yet what can i add to mixture to thicken it up?
Thanks!!
Oh dear. Sorry, were you able to fix it? Tripling the recipe is not something we’ve done.
My sweet husband ran to the store and bought me more sweet potatoes:) I was not sure if flour would mess them up! Thanks!
Any suggestions for a nut free topping?
Hi. You could try pumpkin seeds prepared the same way.
My son and his girlfriend are vegan. I was planning on using vegan butter but do you think almond or soy milk would be the best dairy free option here? ( I know it won’t be clean but I love your recipes and thought this one might be a good compromise for the holidays)
Hi Ashley. I think either would work.
This is so delicious. Would be great with ice cream or whipped cream!
About how many cups do 2 medium to large sweet potatoes yield? I would like to try this with butternut squash (family members have potato allergy), but not sure how much butternut squash to use. Thanks!
Well, I’m not sure about everyone else, but my sweet potatoes yielded about 1-1 1/2 cups apiece when diced. Hope that helps.
What gluten free flour could you sub for this recipe Almond flour? Also could you sub Stevia for the sweetener if so how much?
Hi. While I really like both coconut and almond flour, I find a whole grain gluten free flour blend, like Bob’s Red Mill, to be the easiest sub. We’ve never subbed with stevia so I can’t give advice there. ;)
This was awesome!! I think I used more sweet potatoes than the recipe called for. I also used about 1/2 the amount of butter. I hosted a holiday party with tons of food and this was everyone’s favorite dish. Thank you for remaking this classic.
Has anyone tried a dairy-free version (due to allergies)? Will the topping come out right if I use margarine instead of butter?
Hi Anita. We would not sub with margarine. Margarines can be particularly unhealthful. Our typical sub for butter is coconut oil. ~Amy
Anita, you can probably leave out the butter in the sweat potato mixture and used oil to mix in with the pecans. I used 2 T. of butter when I made this casserole and it was plenty- I would use the same amount of oil.
Hi…I noticed that this recipe and many others call for butter…any recs for my lactose free husband? Thanks!
Hi Jennifer. Our typical dairy free sub for butter is coconut oil. We’ve not tried it in the recipe, however.
Hello, can I sub out the milk for unsweetened almond milk? :)
Hello Shirley. Almond milk should work fine. ~Amy
Just made a trial run of this for Thanksgiving. It is wonderful! Thanks for a great recipe!
Haven’t tried yet but have my eye on it for thanksgiving! Trying to do as much ahead as possible. Any chance you’ve tried/had success making ahead & freezing and maybe just doing topping day-of? Thanks in advance for any insight :)
Hi Michelle. We’ve not but I imagine it would work. :)
FYI this recipe is actually for yams not sweet potatoes! I never knew the difference until we moved to the Northwest! Sweet potatoes look just like baking potatoes but they are sweet. Sweet Potato casserole actually uses yams which are also sweet but an orangish color. I personally like the flavor of yams better than sweet potatoes so I am also so disappointed when I ask my Hubby to pick up sweet potatoes for dinner and he takes me literally and buys sweet potatoes and not yams. Sweet potato casserole is just not the same!
Hi Barbara. You might find this interesting: http://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-between-yams-and-sweet-potatoes-word-of-mouth-211176. :) ~Amy
Is there a substitute for the topping due to a nut allergy?
I have a version from the Barefoot Contessa from many years ago that uses apples as the topping. That might work as a substitute for the nuts for you. Cut up 1-1/2 apples into wedges or 8ths. Melt some butter in a skillet and add the apple wedges and a little bit of maple syrup. Then lightly brown the apples wedges. Then place them on top of the sweet potatoes.
This was great! My family is used to the “old” recipe with the 2c brown sugar and two sticks of butter (yes, really!!), but they ate this right up! My husband commented that it wasn’t as sweet as it usually is, but he ate two servings. :-P I used walnuts instead of pecans since that’s all I had on hand.
How about almond milk instead of regular milk?
Hi Deb. Many readers regularly replace milk with almond milk. :)
Can I substitute the maple syrup for honey?
Hi. Yes, that should work. ~Amy
I’ve noticed lots of your recipes call for unsalted butter, particularly the biscuits and this dish. As an inexperienced baker, I was just wondering why it needs to be unsalted? Is it simply to cut the sodium content of the dish or is there another reason? I really love your blog and am learning so much! Thanks!
Hi Marcy. It will only affect the saltiness of your recipe. If you only have salted butter on hand for a recipe that calls for unsalted, a good rule of thumb is to cut the salt in the recipe by half. I’ve used salted butter in this recipe with no ill effects. :) ~Amy
YUM!!! this has just the right amount of sweet mix with savory, this recipe will be added to the Thanksgiving recipes!
Made this today and it was DELISH!! For the topping I used soaked, dehydrated almonds (I didn’t have pecans), half butter and half coconut oil and, instead of whole wheat flour I used about 2T coconut flour. It was wonderful!
This was so good!! So wholesome! Will deff be making this more often! My 2 and half year old son loved it and all the family for thanksgiving! Thankyou:)
We have nut allergies in our house, can you recommend a different ingredient for the topping?
thanks
Hi Kadie. You could try doing a similar combination with pumpkin and/or sunflower seeds. ~Amy
Thanks! I can’t wait to try this tonight
Hello! Would coconut oil and soy milk work instead of butter and milk?
Hello Linda. We’ve not tried that combination. If you do, let us know how it turns out. ~Amy
Can you clarify the amount of butter to be used in this recipe? It lists 3 tablespoons and then 4 tablespoons as well. Thanks!
The 3 TBSPs is for the main dish. The 4 TBSPs is for the topping.
Hi! I am making this for a potluck tomorrow and was wondering, do you think I could mix everything up after cooking the potatoes and cook in my crockpot for an hour or so (on low)? I was going to toast the pecans and add on top. Thanks!
Hi Lauren. We’ve never tried this in a crockpot, so I cannot predict the outcome. ~Amy
Hi there! I am planning to make this for Thanksgiving. Do you think I could make this the day before, minus the pecan topping, refrigerate and bake with the pecan topping on Thanksgiving day?
Hi Annie. I think that will work fine. :) ~Amy
If you double this recipe, do you bake it in a 9×13″ dish?
Hi Jessica. That should work. ~Amy
Hi! Love Love Love your blog! I wanted to try and make this dish for a gluten free family member. Do you think ground up gluten free oats would work as a flour subsitute? Thanks for all you do😃
Hi Lynn. We’ve not tried a gluten free substitution. If you do, please let us know how it goes. ~Amy
You should try adding shredded coconut to the topping, it is like heaven on a plate!
Is honey an ok substitute for maple syrup? I have noticed that several other recipes also call for maple syrup.
Thanks so much!
Hi Rona. Honey and maple syrup can be used pretty much interchangeably as a sweetener. ~Amy
Just made this as I am starting to experiment with foods to use for Thanksgiving using as much real food as possible. It was a success!! Three out of four LOVED IT!!! I did add some cinnamon to the sweet potato mix and it tasted fantastic!!! Found one side dish for holiday dinners, now to continue the search… ;)