This decadent amalgam of sweet potatoes, marshmallows, and pecans is held together with a buttery brown sugar cinnamon trifecta of amazingness. It’s one of my favorite side dishes because it’s quick, easy, you can make it in advance, and everyone loves it.
What You’ll Need for This Recipe
Pecans: Give them a toast before using for extra depth of flavor.
Brown Sugar: Light or dark brown sugar will work.
Butter: If you would like to use salted butter then just reduce the added salt in the recipe by a pinch.
How to Make Sweet Potato Casserole
1. Preheat oven to 375F (190C). Place your sweet potatoes on a baking sheet, pierce with a fork or knife and bake for about 45 minutes or until tender. Allow sweet potatoes to cool slightly then peel, place in a bowl and mash. I like to use a potato ricer for this step but any mashing tool including a large fork will work well.
2. Add the brown sugar, eggs, cinnamon, salt, vanilla, and melted butter to the sweet potatoes.
3. Use an electric hand mixer or stand mixer to mix the ingredients well. The beaters will pick up a good number of fibers from the sweet potatoes giving you an even smoother filling.
4. Fold in the chopped toasted pecans. Toasting them adds so much extra flavor to the dish, I can’t recommend it enough.
5. Spread the sweet potato filling into your baking dish and smooth out.
6. Top with marshmallows and remaining pecans then bake at 375F or 190C for about 25 minutes or until the marshmallows are nice and golden.
Pro Tips for this recipe
- Try adding candied Pecans in for an extra decadent treat. Click here for my simple candied pecan tutorial.
- Skip the marshmallows if it’s not your thing or replace them with an Italian meringue (use this recipe, just skip the butter). You can toast before serving with a torch or pop into an oven set to broil for a few minutes.
- To toast the chopped pecans spread them out on a baking sheet and bake at 375F for 6-8 minutes. Move around halfway though the bake. They’re done when slightly darkened and fragrant.
- Feel free to add more pecans between the layers for added crunch!
- Add a few tablespoons of bourbon to the mashed sweet potatoes for an optional but delicious addition.
Frequently Asked questions
How should you Prepare sweet potatoes?
You really have two choices either slice and cook the sweet potatoes in water OR bake the sweet potatoes and peel and slice afterwards. Boiling the slices in water is faster but I prefer to bake them as it gives you a more concentrated flavor.
How to bake sweet potatoes
If you’re baking sweet potatoes just pierce with a knife several times and bake at 400F for about 45 minutes on a foil-lined baking sheet. Allow to cool before peeling and slicing.
Can you make this ahead of time?
You can make this dish up to a week ahead of time (minus the marshmallow topping). Wrap well and refrigerate then when you’re ready to bake remove from from refrigerator top with marshmallows and pecans, cover with foil and place in oven to bake.
Can it be frozen?
You can also freeze this dish for up to a month. Wrap well without topping and when you’re ready to bake just pop into the oven at 375F for about 40 minutes then add the marshmallows and pecans and continue baking another 20 minutes until warm throughout with a golden top.
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this Sweet potato casserole recipe then don’t forget to leave a rating and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Sweet Potato Casserole
Equipment
- Baking dish (approximately 9x13 inches)
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes
- 3/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup chopped pecans toasted
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 cups mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and pierce with a knife or fork and bake for about 40 minutes or until tender.
- Allow sweet potatoes to cool slightly then cut the ends off, slice down the middle and remove skin.
- Transfer sweet potatoes to a large bowl and mash with a potato ricer or large fork.
- Add the eggs, melted butter, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon to the sweet potatoes then beat with an electric hand mixer until well combined. Fold in half the toasted pecans.
- Spread the sweet potato mixture into a baking dish and smooth out.
- Top with mini marshmallows and remaining chopped pecans. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden.
Video
Notes
-
- Try adding candied Pecans in for an extra decadent treat. Click here for my simple candied pecan tutorial.
- Skip the marshmallows if it's not your thing or replace them with an Italian meringue (use this recipe, just skip the butter). You can toast before serving with a torch or pop into an oven set to broil for a few minutes.
- Feel free to add more pecans between the layers for added crunch!
- Add a few tablespoons of bourbon the the mashed sweet potatoes for an optional but delicious addition.
- To toast the chopped pecans spread them out on a baking sheet and bake at 375F for 6-8 minutes. Move around halfway though the bake. They done when slightly darkened and fragrant.
Nutrition
