Old fashioned sweet potato casserole is the traditional Thanksgiving side dish everyone expects. Made with fresh sweet potatoes and topped with pecans or marshmallows, it’s creamy, sweet, and comforting.
This recipe is written for a crowd but adapts perfectly for small-batch cooking, making it just as practical for two as it is for the big Thanksgiving feast.
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Featured Comment by Ellen:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐"Just made this for Thanksgiving dinner, and I'm blown away by how good it is! ….Turned out fabulous, my favorite dish this year!"
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Thanksgiving classic – Old fashioned sweet potato casserole with fresh sweet potatoes and your choice of topping.
- Flexible servings – A full-size 8-serving casserole that easily scales to a small-batch casserole for 4 or even a quarter casserole for 2.
- Two topping options – Crunchy brown sugar pecan or classic marshmallows — both traditional favorites.
- Make-ahead friendly – Mix it up the day before and bake when you’re ready.
- Leftovers reheat well – Stays creamy and sweet for days (or freeze for later).
🍠 Ingredients
This old fashioned sweet potato casserole is made with fresh sweet potatoes for the best flavor and texture.
- Fresh sweet potatoes – the star of the dish. Skip the canned for the best results.
- Pantry basics – eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt, butter, and milk make the custard base.
- Pecan topping – chopped pecans, brown sugar, butter, and a little flour for that crunchy finish.
- Optional marshmallow topping – mini marshmallows (or chopped larger ones) for the traditional sweet Thanksgiving twist.
👨🍳 Quick Overview: Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Casserole
The photos show my daughter making a double batch; the same steps are used for a full 8-serving casserole, a small-batch for 4, or a casserole for 2.
1. Prepare the sweet potatoes & custard
Scrub and bake sweet potatoes 1–1½ hours until soft. Cool, peel by hand, and mash until smooth.
Whisk the custard: eggs, sugar, salt, melted butter, vanilla, and milk.
2. Mix the casserole base
Mix the custard with the mashed sweet potatoes, then spoon into the casserole dish.
3. Make & add topping
Chop pecans; mix with brown sugar, melted butter, and flour.
Spread the topping evenly over the casserole.
4. Bake until golden
Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes, until golden brown and the center reaches 160°.
👇 Scroll down for the printable recipe card and complete step-by-step photo instructions—or keep reading for tips and variations.
📅 Make Ahead
For safety, the USDA recommends casseroles with raw eggs be refrigerated no longer than 24 hours before baking to 160°. Assemble the casserole base but hold off on the topping. Cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
Do not freeze uncooked — the guidance on this is inconsistent, and it’s not worth the risk. If you want to freeze, bake it fully, cool, then freeze.
✅ Pro Tip: Bake the sweet potatoes a few days ahead (that’s the most time- and oven-consuming part). Then assemble and refrigerate within the 24-hour window, adding the topping just before baking.
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😊 Marshmallow Topping for Sweet Potato Casserole
Skip the brown sugar–pecan topping and use marshmallows instead. Sprinkle ½ cup of chopped pecans over the casserole before baking. Bake for about 20 minutes, then add 1½ cups of marshmallows for the last 10 minutes.
You can use mini marshmallows or cut up larger ones.
✅ Pro Tip: Some minis don’t melt or brown well. Unless you’re confident in your brand, cut full-size marshmallows into smaller pieces — they brown more evenly and look better on the finished casserole.
🥘 Small-Batch & Baking Dish Options
This recipe is written as a full-size casserole with about 8 servings. You can also make a half recipe for 4 servings or a quarter recipe as a true casserole for 2.
- Baking dishes – Full recipe fits in a 2½-quart casserole or 9×12 baking dish. Half recipe: 6×9, 8-inch square, or 9-inch round. Quarter recipe: 6-inch round or 5-inch square (or whatever small dish you have that fits).
- Scaling tips – Adjust servings in the recipe card to 4 or 2. Use the ingredient list amounts (the step instructions don’t auto-adjust). Round the egg to a whole number.
- Cooking time – Bake until browned on top and the center reaches 160°. Time will vary depending on dish size and casserole thickness.
✅ Pro Tip: The leftovers are wonderful. A quarter batch is a lot of work for only two servings, so I usually suggest making a half batch and enjoying a few leftovers or freezing some.
🍽️ When to Serve
Sweet potato casserole is an essential part of our Thanksgiving dinner spread — right alongside Roasted Turkey Breast, Homemade Gravy, Green Bean Casserole, Broccoli Slaw, Sausage Dressing, and Easy Dinner Rolls.
❄️ Storage
Refrigerate leftovers — cooked or uncooked — for up to 4 days. For longer storage, freeze for up to 3 months and thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Small portions – Reheat in the microwave.
Larger amounts – Cover with foil and warm in a 325°–350° oven for 20–25 minutes.
❓ FAQs
Yes and no—it depends on geography. True yams are mostly grown outside the U.S. and are much less commonly sold here.
In the U.S., firm varieties of sweet potatoes are frequently called sweet potatoes, while soft varieties are called yams. This goes back to enslaved Africans, who called the soft, sweet potato yams because they resembled the true yams from Africa.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture requires labels with the term yam to be accompanied by the term sweet potato. To find true yams in the U.S., you will need to hunt.
The USDA recommends casseroles with eggs be cooked to 160°F in the center before serving.
Not recommended. The texture is too soft and won’t give the same flavor or consistency as using fresh sweet potatoes.
📖The Recipe Card
Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Casserole (Traditional Thanksgiving Recipe)
Video Slideshow
Ingredients
- 3 cups sweet potatoes - about 3-4 medium
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ stick butter - melted
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup pecans - chopped
- 1½ cups brown sugar
- ½ cup flour
- ⅓ stick butter - melted
- 1½ cup mini-marshmallows - or chopped large marshmallows
- ½ cup chopped pecans - optional
Step-by-Step Instructions
Prepare the sweet potatoes & custard
- Scrub and bake sweet potatoes. Give them a good scrub and poke with a fork a few times to vent steam. You will need about 3 cups, so 3-4 medium sweet potatoes. Bake at 375° for 1 to 1 ½ hours until very soft.
- Allow the sweet potatoes to cool, then peel them by hand—they will peel easily. You can refrigerate them before or after peeling until needed, up to three days.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat 3 cups of sweet potatoes until smooth. A stand or hand mixer works, but you can also do this by hand. A bit more sweet potato is fine.
- In a separate bowl, beat 2 eggs, ¼ cup of sugar, ½ teaspoon of salt, ½ stick of melted butter, 1 ½ teaspoon of vanilla, and ½ cup of milk.
Mix the casserole base
- Add to mashed sweet potatoes and mix well.
- Pour into a well-oiled (using Pam or butter) oven-safe casserole dish of 2½ quarts or larger. You may cover and refrigerate at this point for 24 hours.
Brown Sugar Pecan Topping
- Chop the pecans.
- Mix topping in a medium bowl. 1½ cup of brown sugar, ½ cup of flour, ⅓ stick melted butter, and ½ cup of chopped pecans.
- Add topping to sweet potatoes. You may cover and refrigerate at this point for 24 hours or freeze.
Bake until golden brown
- Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes until golden brown and 160° minimum internal temperature.
Marshmallow Topping Option
- Skip the above topping. Top with ½ cup of chopped pecans before baking. With about 10 minutes left in baking, add 1½ cups of mini marshmallows or chopped full-size marshmallows.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- Precook the sweet potatoes up to 3 days ahead.
- The recipe calls for 3 cups of sweet potatoes, but a bit more is fine. That will be 3-4 medium potatoes.
- This fits in a 2½-quart or larger casserole dish. You can use a 9x12 baking dish if you want.
- Instructions for making this old fashioned sweet potato casserole as a half or quarter batch are in the post.
- Cook to a nice brown with an internal temperature of at least 160°.
- If the top browns too quickly but the temperature is still too low, tent lightly with foil until done.
- Make-ahead options are in the post.
- After cooking, store refrigerated for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You can adjust the number of servings above; however, only the amount in the ingredient list is adjusted, not the instructions.
Nutrition Estimate (may vary)
This wonderful recipe was brought into our family from our son-in-law's family for our first Thanksgiving together and has been a staple ever since.
Editor's Note: Originally Published December 3, 2011. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Ashlee says
The better came out great. It would have been even better if I invested in a mixer. I added pecan and marshmallow. I will make this again.
DrDan says
Hi Cary,
You are right, it is 1/2 stick for this size of recipe. We usually do a double or triple recipe.
However, 1/2 cup would be double the butter and would work fine.
You get the eagle eye award for the day. It has been this way since 2011 and the recipe has been visited over 300,000 times. You're the first. Now fixed.
Thanks for the proofread and have a great holiday.
Dan
Ellen says
Just made this for Thanksgiving dinner and I'm blown away by how good it is! I cooked it in an 8" square pan, so the topping was rather thick on top; after I took it out of the oven, I pushed the topping around with a fork and popped it under the broiler to brown. Turned out fabulous, my favorite dish this year! I had my doubts while I was making it because it doesn't use any spices, but it really doesn't need them. Thank you Dr Dan, I love your website and this recipe in particular turned out to be extraordinarily delicious.
DrDan says
Hi Ellen,
Welcome to the blog.
When I first did this recipe, I loved the simplicity but was concerned by the lack of other flavors. But it proved to have just the right combination without being overly complex.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Charlene says
This dish was the hit of our Thanksgiving - added bonus was that with a little bit of tweeking we were able to make it gluten free and substituted honey for the sugar for the Specific Carb diet as well! Yes, when I cook for my family I do face dietary challenges but this recipe was enjoyed by all - it will be my go to from now on!
DrDan says
Hi Charlene,
It is a fairly basic recipe and like all recipes "just guidelines". Depending on the family members present, we deal with mushroom and milk allergies.
Glad it worked well for you and have a great holiday season.
Dan