Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecans
This Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecans is straight from my Grandma’s recipe collection. It’s loaded with creamy sweet potatoes and finished with a sweet, crunchy pecan topping. It’s the perfect nostalgic side dish for your holiday table!
It’s not Thanksgiving without the sweet potato casserole! My Grandma made this exact recipe for decades, and I’m excited to share the recipe here (she would have been just tickled about it getting made by so many people).
There’s just something about the buttery, crunchy pecan topping on top of the light and fluffy sweet potatoes. It’s truly a treat of a side dish.
Since this is an Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Casserole, I couldn’t resist going down a rabbit hole of figuring out its origin story. Here’s a fun history on sweet potato casserole if you’re interested (it dates back to 1917!).
If you’d like more inspiration for your holiday meal, here are a few other of our family’s favorite holiday side dishes:
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Tips for making the best sweet potato casserole
- Use a mixer to mash the sweet potatoes. It not only saves time, but makes for the silkiest potatoes. Sweet potatoes are less prone to becoming gummy like white potatoes, so don’t stress about over mixing them.
- Put the crumble on top JUST before putting the casserole into the oven. If you let it sit on top of the potatoes, the warm potatoes melt the butter and the topping becomes runny.
Ingredients
- Fresh sweet potatoes are best for this recipe. See FAQs below for substituting canned sweet potatoes if you’d like.
- This casserole is indeed sweet! The granulated sugar is for the sweet potatoes themselves, and the brown sugar is for the topping.
- The eggs and milk turn the sweet potatoes almost soufflé like—very light, creamy, and moist.
- Chopped pecans add the perfect amount of crunch to the top.
How to Make Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecans
- Peel and cube the potatoes, cover with water, and cook in boiling water for 10–15 minutes, or until tender. Drain and place in a large bowl.
- Add the butter and milk, and beat until the potatoes are mashed and creamy. Stir in the sugar, salt, vanilla, and eggs, and beat just until combined. Pour into a 13×9-inch baking dish.
- Place the flour, brown sugar, and butter cubes in a bowl. Use your hands, a fork, or a pastry blender to work the butter into the flour and brown sugar until crumbly.
- Add the pecans.
- Sprinkle the crumble over the sweet potatoes RIGHT before you’re ready to bake it.
- Bake for 35–40 minutes at 350°F.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can substitute approximately 40 ounces of canned sweet potatoes for the fresh sweet potatoes. That’s about three (15 oz) cans. However, make sure that the can does NOT say “in syrup” or “in light syrup”. The can should say “cut sweet potatoes” or “sweet potato purée” and it should not contain any sugar. Read the label just to be sure!
You can use two 8×8 inch baking dishes instead of a 13×9 inch dish. Cut the recipe in half if you just want 4–6 servings.
Yes! Prepare the sweet potato layer as directed and pour into a greased, freezer-safe pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and then with foil. Freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost in the refrigerator for one day, then top with the crumble topping and bake as directed. If you place the crumble topping on the casserole before freezing, it will end up soggy instead of crunchy.
To reheat any casserole leftovers, place the casserole dish in a preheated 350°F for 15–20 minutes, or until the casserole is heated through.
You can also microwave individual servings of the casserole, but the topping won’t be as crunchy.
To use marshmallows instead of pecans, omit the pecan crumble. Top the sweet potato layer with one (10 oz) bag of mini marshmallows. Bake the casserole for 25–30 minutes at 350°F, or until the marshmallows are golden brown.
You can make it 1–2 days in advance. Scroll down to the “Notes” section in the recipe card and see how to make it ahead.
More holiday side dishes
Here are a few of my favorite sides for pairing with sweet potato casserole:
- Easy Green Bean Casserole
- Creamed Corn Casserole
- Apple Cranberry Sauce
- Sourdough Stuffing
- Old Fashioned Mac and Cheese
- Cranberry Jell-O Salad (so pretty and festive)
- Velveeta Broccoli Casserole
- Can’t forget the turkey for Thanksgiving: here’s my olive oil roasted turkey breast
And lastly, Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Pie or Old Fashioned Pecan Pie are a delightful ending to a meal.
📖 Recipe
Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecans
Ingredients
For the sweet potatoes:
- 2½ lbs sweet potatoes
- 1 stick butter
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the pecan crumble:
- ⅓ cup butter, cold
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup flour
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
For the sweet potatoes:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 13×9 inch casserole dish.
- Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1–2 inch chunks. Place them in a saucepan and cover with water.
- Place the pan over high heat and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer, and continue cooking the potatoes until they are tender, about 10–15 minutes. When they are tender, you should be able to easily slide a fork through the potatoes.
- Drain the potatoes and place them in the bowl of a stand mixer. Alternatively, place them in a large bowl if you are using a hand mixer.
- Add the butter and milk, and mix on low JUST until the mixture is blended and the potatoes are creamy.
- Add the sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt, and stir until combined. Pour the mixture into the greased 13×9 inch casserole dish.
For the pecan crumble:
- Cut the butter into small cubes. Place the flour and brown sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Add the butter.
- Use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour/brown sugar mixture until the butter is incorporated and crumbles form. Alternatively, you could use two forks or a pastry blender to incorporate the butter.
- Stir the pecans into the crumble. Sprinkle the crumble on top of the sweet potatoes RIGHT before it goes into the oven.
- Bake for 30–35 minutes. The top will be golden brown. Serve while still warm.
Notes
- Use chopped walnuts in place of the chopped pecans.
- Omit the pecan crumble and add several cups of mini marshmallows to the top instead. Bake for 25–30 minutes.
- Make it gluten-free by substituting an equal amount of cup-for-cup gluten-free flour in place of the all-purpose flour.
- Make it dairy-free by using dairy-free butter (such as Earth Balance sticks) in place of the regular butter. Also, replace the milk with oat milk, almond milk, or soy milk.
- Don’t want nuts? Simply omit them. You can increase the crumble ingredients by 1.5x so there’s plenty of topping!
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