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    🏠Home » Recipes » Holiday Recipes

    Traditional Sweet Potato Casserole

    Oct 27, 2020 | Last Updated Oct 27, 2021 by Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

    Recipe Table of Contents    
    4.77 from 13 votes

    Easy sweet potato casserole with your choice of a pecan or marshmallow topping will become a family favorite. A classic holiday side that will have them asking for the recipe.

    Close up image of a large serving of sweet potato cassierole on a white plate

    Table of Contents
    • 🍠Sweet Potato vs. Yam
    • 👨‍🍳Topping
    • ♨️Baking
    • ❄️Storage
    • 📖Side Dish Recipes
    • 🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
    • 📖Recipe
    • 💬 Comments

    Blue ribbon divider used for visual effect

    Introduction

    When families come together for a holiday, traditional dishes from all sides of the family help make the event special.

    This 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. It is very similar to The Best Sweet Potato Casserole from the Food Network.

    Enjoy this classic Sweet Potato Casserole.

    My Rating

    My rating system. Great 5 out of 5

    A strong five all around. My daughter makes a triple recipe for leftovers.

    🍠Sweet Potato vs. Yam

    The debate rages on. Are they the same?  Are they totally different? So the answer is yes to all those questions.  True yams are mostly grown outside of the US and are much less commonly sold here.

    In the US,  firm varieties of sweet potatoes are frequently called sweat potatoes, while soft varieties will be called yams.  This goes back to African slaves called the soft, sweet potato yams because they resembled the true yams from Africa.

    Unless you are specifically searching for yams, you are probably eating sweet potatoes in the US. If you truly want yams, then you perhaps need an international market.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture requires labels with the term yam to be accompanied by the term sweet potato.

    👨‍🍳Topping

    I have provided a very nice crispy nutty topping that most families will enjoy. But some family traditions need the marshmallow topping.

    To create a marshmallow topping, you just give it a nice topping of mini-marshmallows on the top with or without the pecans but not the other topping ingredients. It will take about 1 ½ cups depending on the size of the baking dish.

    ♨️Baking

    Due to the raw eggs, the casserole needs to reach 160°+ internal temperature, and the topping should be nicely brown. A marshmallow topping will brown a bit faster.

    If ether topping is browned, but the internal temperature has not reached 160, tent the casserole with foil lightly to prevent further browning and continue to bake until you reach the safe internal temperature of 160°.

    This fits nicely in a 2-quart casserole dish. But use what you have, and it will be fine as long as you reach the endpoints.

    The oven temperature specified is 350°, and it will take about 30 minutes, but you can vary that some depending on what else you are baking and adjust the time and what the endpoints.

    ❄️Storage

    Can I make it ahead? Yes, but... the "but" is I'm not a big fan of uncooked casseroles with egg setting for more than a day in a refrigerator. Many will suggest 3 days, but I feel one day is enough. I can find no FDA guidance on this.

    You can cook the sweet potatoes ahead and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

    Leftovers are good for 3-4 days refrigerated.

    Either cooked or uncooked should freeze well for up to 3 months.

    📖Side Dish Recipes

    Green Bean Casserole Without Soup

    Easy Broccoli Slaw

    Easy Sausage Stuffing

    Homemade Rolls for Dinner in 60 Minutes

    Part of Thanksgiving Recipe Roundup

    This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.

    Casserole Recipes, Holiday Recipes, Side Dish Recipes
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    🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

    Note: The recipe is for about eight servings, and you will see pictures for a triple batch. There are only three adults eating today. My daughter was cooking for leftovers.

    raw sweet potatoes on trays

    Scrub and bake sweet potatoes. Please 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.

    pealing skin off sweet potato

    Allow to cool and then peel. You may refrigerate at this point until needed for up to 3 days.

    mixing cooked sweet potatoes in a stand mixer

    In a large mixing bowl, beat 3 cups sweet potatoes until smooth. A stand mixer or hand mixer work, but you can do this by hand. A bit more sweet potato is fine if that is what you have.

    whisking eggs and other ingredients in white bowl

    In a separate bowl, beat together two eggs, ¼ cup sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ stick melted butter, 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla, ½ cup milk. Beat well.

    adding egg mixture to sweet potatoes in mixer

    Add to sweet potatoes and mix well.

    pouring sweet potato into casserole bowl

    Place into a well oiled (Pam or butter) oven-safe 2-quart or larger casserole dish.

    chopping pecans on whte board with knife

    Chop pecans.

    mixing topping with wooden spoon in bowl

    Mix topping in a medium bowl. 1 ½ cup of brown sugar, ½ cup flour, ⅓ stick melted butter, and ½ cup chopped pecans.

    adding the topping to the casserole

    Add topping to sweet potatoes. You may cover and refrigerate at this point for the next day or freeze.

    cooked sweet potato casserole in white dish

    Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes until golden brown and 160° minimum internal temperature.

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    📖Recipe

    Close up image of a large serving of sweet potato cassierole on a white plate

    Traditional Sweet Potato Casserole

    From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
    Easy sweet potato casserole with your choice of a pecan or marshmallow topping will become a family favorite. A classic holiday side that will have them asking for the recipe.
    Tap to leave a Rating
    4.77 from 13 votes
    Print Email CollectionCollected
    Prep Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
    Cook Time: 30 minutes
    Total Time: 2 hours 50 minutes
    Servings #/Adjust if desired 8 serving

    Ingredients

    US Customary - Convert to Metric
    • 3 cups sweet potatoes - about 3-4 medium
    • 2 eggs
    • ¼ cup sugar
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ½ stick butter - melted
    • 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
    • ½ cup milk

    Pecan Topping Option

    • ½ cup pecans - chopped
    • 1 ½ cups brown sugar
    • ½ cup flour
    • ⅓ stick butter - melted

    Marshmellow Topping Option

    • 1 ½ cup mini-marshmallows
    • ½ cup chopped pecans - optional

    Instructions

    • 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.
      raw sweet potatoes on trays
    • Allow to cool and then peel. You may refrigerate at this point until needed for up to 3 days.
      pealing skin off sweet potato
    • In a large mixing bowl, beat 3 cups sweet potatoes until smooth. A stand mixer or hand mixer work, but you can do this by hand. A bit more sweet potato is fine if that is what you have.
      mixing cooked sweet potatoes in a stand mixer
    • In a separate bowl, beat together two eggs, ¼ cup sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ stick melted butter, 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla, ½ cup milk. Beat well.
      whisking eggs and other ingredients in white bowl
    • Add to sweet potatoes and mix well.
      adding egg mixture to sweet potatoes in mixer
    • Place into a well oiled (Pam or butter) oven-safe 2-quart or larger casserole dish.
      pouring sweet potato into casserole bowl
    • Chop pecans.
      chopping pecans on whte board with knife
    • Mix topping in a medium bowl. 1 ½ cup of brown sugar, ½ cup flour, ⅓ stick melted butter, and ½ cup chopped pecans.
      mixing topping with wooden spoon in bowl
    • Add topping to sweet potatoes. You may cover and refrigerate at this point for the next day or freeze.
      adding the topping to the casserole
    • Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes until golden brown and 160° minimum internal temperature.
      cooked sweet potato casserole in white dish

    Marshmallow Topping Option

    • Skip the above topping. Using about 1 ½ cup of mini-marshmallows. You may add ½ cup of chopped pecans before the marshmallows if you want.
    See the step-by-step photos in the post. Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print.

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    Recipe Notes

    Pro Tips:

    1. Precook the sweet potatoes the day ahead.
    2. The recipe calls for 3 cups of sweet potatoes, but a bit more is fine. That will be 3-4 medium potatoes.
    3. This fits in a 2 quart or larger casserole dish. You can use a deep 9 by 9 baking dish if you want.
    4. Cook to nicely brown with at least 160 internal temperature, which should be about the same amount of time. A marshmallow top may brown a bit faster.
    5. If the top is brown, but the temperature is still too low, tent lightly with foil until done.
    6. Make-ahead options. You can cook the sweet potatoes, and they will be good refrigerated for up to 3 days. You can assemble and refrigerate for a day or freeze for up to 3 months.
    7. After cooking, store refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.

    To adjust the recipe size:

    You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.

    Nutrition Estimate

    Calories : 403 kcal (20%) | Carbohydrates : 65 g (22%) | Protein : 4 g (8%) | Fat : 15 g (23%) | Saturated Fat : 7 g (35%) | Cholesterol : 67 mg (22%) | Sodium : 291 mg (12%) | Potassium : 296 mg (8%) | Fiber : 2 g (8%) | Sugar : 50 g (56%) | Vitamin A : 7461 IU (149%) | Vitamin C : 1 mg (1%) | Calcium : 80 mg (8%) | Iron : 1 mg (6%)
    Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
    Course : Casserole
    Cuisine : American

    © 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.

    Editor's Note: Originally Published December 3, 2011. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Ashlee

      December 08, 2020 at 8:07 pm

      5 stars
      The batter 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.

      Reply
    2. Cary

      December 25, 2018 at 7:34 pm

      In the ingredients list, it says 1/2 cup melted butter, but twice in text, it says 1/2 stick, so I’m going with that. Fingers crossed! Love your recipes. They rarely disappoint. Merry Christmas!

      Reply
      • DrDan

        December 25, 2018 at 7:46 pm

        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

    3. Ellen

      November 22, 2018 at 5:22 pm

      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.

      Reply
      • DrDan

        November 22, 2018 at 11:12 pm

        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

    4. Charlene

      December 03, 2017 at 8:53 pm

      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!

      Reply
      • DrDan

        December 05, 2017 at 8:52 am

        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

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