Without question, this is the best sweet potato casserole recipe I've tried! Smooth and creamy sweet potatoes are topped with a savory pecan crumble.
This sweet potato casserole recipe is one of my favorite Thanksgiving side dishes. Instead of topping it with mini marshmallows, I cover it in a crisp pecan crumble. I love how this nutty, savory topping balances the creamy sweet potato filling. It’s delicious…and it tastes like it belongs at dinner, not dessert. 🙂
This recipe is great for the holidays because the ingredients are super simple (ALDI shoppers, you can get all of them there!) and you can make it ahead. Prepare the filling and topping up to 2 days in advance, and store them separately in the fridge until the day of the big meal. Before serving, just assemble and bake!
If you’re ready for a change from sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, I hope you’ll try this recipe. My family has started requesting it for Thanksgiving every year. I think yours will love it too!
Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe Ingredients
This sweet potato casserole recipe calls for simple ingredients. Conveniently, ALDI carries all of them, but you should be able to find them at most other major grocery stores too.
Here’s what you’ll need:
For the sweet potatoes
- Sweet potatoes, of course! You’ll need 5 large for a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Butter or olive oil – For richness.
- Milk – It helps the sweet potatoes blend into a smooth and creamy puree. Use any kind you like!
- Ground ginger – For warm depth of flavor.
For the crumble topping
Some sweet potato casserole recipes feature a brown sugar streusel topping like you’d find on an apple crumble. This isn’t one of them. Instead, I make a savory topping with these ingredients:
- Pecans and walnuts – I pulse some into the crumble and leave a few whole for garnish.
- Old fashioned oats – For hearty texture.
- Fresh rosemary, sage, and dried thyme – For savory autumn flavor.
- Garlic – Along with the herbs, garlic gives this sweet potato casserole its delicious savory taste.
- Pure maple syrup – It adds a touch of sweetness to the nutty topping.
- Butter or olive oil – To help the topping crisp up in the oven.
And of course, you’ll need sea salt and fresh black pepper to make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Sweet Potato Casserole
This easy sweet potato casserole recipe has 4 basic steps:
1. First, bake the sweet potatoes. Many sweet potato casserole recipes instruct you to boil the sweet potatoes, but I prefer to bake them. I love how the hot oven concentrates their naturally sweet flavor!
Bake the potatoes until you can easily pierce them with a fork. You want them to be super tender so that the sweet potato mixture gets totally smooth!
2. While the sweet potatoes are baking, make the pecan topping. Pulse the nuts, oats, herbs, garlic, maple syrup, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a food processor until just combined. The mixture should clump a bit, but it should still have lots of texture.
3. Then, blend up the filling. Instead of using a potato masher to mash the sweet potatoes, I use a food processor to get them super smooth.
Peel the cooked sweet potatoes, and place the soft orange flesh in a food processor.
Add the milk, ginger, salt, and pepper and pulse until well combined.
4. Layer and bake! Spread the creamy sweet potatoes in a large baking dish.
Add the topping…
…and a few whole pecans and sage leaves for garnish.
Bake at 425°F until the topping is nicely browned and crisp, and enjoy!
Make-Ahead and Storage Instructions
Wondering if you can make this recipe ahead? The answer is yes!
- Up to two days in advance, bake the sweet potatoes and blend up the filling. Store it, covered, in the casserole dish or an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Make the pecan topping, and store it in a separate container in the fridge.
When you’re ready to serve, assemble the casserole and bake!
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
To reheat, warm them in the microwave or bake in a 325°F oven until heated through.
Can you freeze sweet potato casserole?
Yes, you can also freeze sweet potato casserole.Â
If you’re freezing it before a holiday meal, I recommend ONLY preparing the sweet potato filling.
- Spread it in the baking dish and let it cool to room temperature.
- Cover tightly with aluminum foil, and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Let thaw overnight in the fridge before adding the topping and baking according to the recipe.
If you freeze the fully assembled casserole, the topping will lose its crisp texture. This may not bother you in the case of leftovers, but for a Christmas, Easter, or Thanksgiving dinner, I recommend adding the topping once the casserole thaws for the best crunch.
More Favorite Sweet Potato Recipes
If you love this sweet potato casserole, try one of these delicious sweet potato recipes next:
- Mashed Sweet Potatoes
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Roasted Root Vegetables
- Sweet Potato Fries
- Sweet Potato Soup
Looking for more holiday side dishes? Check out my best Thanksgiving side dishes or Easter side dishes!
Sweet Potato Casserole
Ingredients
- 5 large sweet potatoes, 3 pounds
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil or melted butter, plus more for drizzling
- 1¼ cups milk, plus more if necessary
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup fresh sage leaves, for garnish
Crumble Topping
- â…” cup whole rolled oats
- ½ cup pecans, plus more for garnish
- ½ cup walnuts, plus more for garnish
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or melted butter
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- ½ teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
- 1½ teaspoons sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with foil and brush an 9x13-inch baking dish with olive oil.
- Use a fork to poke a few holes into the sweet potatoes. Place on the baking sheet and roast until very tender, about 60 minutes.
- Make the crumble topping: In a food processor, place the oats, pecans, walnuts, garlic, maple syrup, olive oil, thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper and pulse until just combined. Remove and set aside.
- Scoop the cooked sweet potato flesh out of the skins and place in a food processor. Add the olive oil, milk, ginger, salt, and pepper and process to combine. Spread the mixture into the baking dish.
- Sprinkle with the crumble topping, additional nuts, and sage leaves. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 20 minutes, or until the topping is browned and crisp.
This post is in partnership with ALDI.
This turned out really good with our family for Easter dinner as a side with a bone-in ham. I prepared the sweet potatoes and topping the day before and baked them together on Sunday.
So glad you loved it!
I used yams instead. Smoked Carolina ribs and a southern ditalini salad.
Almost as good as sex.
Very tasty recipe, although there seems to be too much salt in the topping (at least for our taste). We will decrease the salt to 1/2 teaspoon and add more, if needed.
Thank you for all of your delicious recipes. Much appreciated!
Hi Kathy, I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I already have molasses. Could I use it instead of maple syrup?
Add milk with food processor running or it will leak onto the counter.
I might have missed it, and if I did–sorry! But can you substitute a plant based milk, and if so, which one would you suggest?
Hi Diana, yes, you can definitely use a non-dairy milk here! We’ve made this recipe many times with unsweetened almond milk and had great results.
Could you give information about the weight of the five large potatoes?
Hi Louise, Great question! 5 large sweet potatoes are about 3 pounds.
Could you please tell me how many lbs of sweet potatoes, mine are very large.
Thanks
Hi Claire, you’ll need about 3 pounds of sweet potatoes.
Hello
Can you use fresh ginger instead of ground?
yep! maybe 1/2 teaspoon grated.