Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe

If you are looking for the perfect side for your upcoming holiday meal, registered dietician Kristen Carli has your back. Meet her sweet potato casserole, an inventive and delicious treat your family will ask for every year — or maybe more. As she told Mashed, "This sweet potato casserole is perfect for holidays like Easter and Thanksgiving." Carli added, "I love to serve this with an asparagus tart and fruit salad for Easter."

Don't worry if cooking outside the box feels a bit intimidating — raises hand. "This dish is very easy! Anyone can make this sweet potato casserole," Carli assured us. Indeed, if you can shop for just seven ingredients and have about half an hour for meal prep, you can deliver a hot, sweet, and savory side to your holiday guests, fast and without fuss. Best of all? Leftovers taste even yummier, with Carli telling Mashed about her dish, "This stores well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days, and easily reheats in the microwave."

For this sweet potato casserole dish, you will need four large sweet potatoes, as well as salt, vanilla extract, butter, brown sugar, all-purpose flour, and chopped pecans. You probably already have several of these ingredients hanging out in your cupboards and fridge.

Meanwhile, we asked Carli about her choice of nut here. "The sweetness in the potatoes pairs well with pecans," she told us, adding, "But you could easily substitute in walnuts if you prefer." Or, say, if you happen to have walnuts on hand instead of pecans. Done!

We also wondered why Carli adds salt to this dessert-like casserole, and her answer will help you in the kitchen whether you are making this dish or another. "With anything sweet, it is necessary to add a touch of salt to balance out the flavors," she explained. "This way, it is not just one-note." 

Step one to realizing sweet potato casserole glory is to preheat your oven to 375 degrees. But you won't be baking your potatoes in the oven, actually. Instead, go ahead and poke each potato with a fork several times. Then, Carli advises cooking your potatoes in the microwave — do this individually for about eight minutes each. "I love to cook the sweet potatoes in the microwave because they cook quickly, and you can easily tell when they are done," Carli told Mashed about this method. She adds, "The skins will easily peel off when the sweet potatoes are cooked enough."

Once your main ingredient is properly cooked, you will remove those skins — use a knife if you need to. Then, grab a stand mixer and add in the potatoes, a half cup of brown sugar, one stick of melted butter, the salt, and vanilla extract, with Carli noting you should employ the paddle attachment until the mixture is nice and smooth.

Set the sweet potato mixture aside, and now, in another bowl, combine the remaining stick of butter, flour, chopped pecans, and a cup of the brown sugar. This is your streusel topping that layers on top of the sweet potato mixture. 

To assemble the casserole, first, spray an 8x8-inch baking dish with non-stick spray. Then, spoon the sweet potato mixture into the dish, smoothing it out evenly. Next, sprinkle the streusel topping over that colorful sweet potato layer. All that is left now is to bake your casserole for 15 minutes. Once the top is golden brown and bubbly and your kitchen smells like heaven, it's time to remove the casserole and serve it up to your hungry friends or family. When they ask how you made the delicious dish, you don't have to tell them it took so little time and energy — your secret is safe with us!