If you are looking for a healthier version of sweet potato casserole…this isn’t it! But this is THE sweet potato casserole that Thanksgiving and Easter dreams are made of! Gorgeous, fluffy old-fashioned sweet potato casserole with streusel pecan topping that pairs perfectly with turkey or ham. Yum!
Note: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through a link, Hickory Hollow Farm will receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you, used toward keeping our recipes and country life coming to your inbox! I only recommend products I appreciate and trust. Thank you for your support! Full disclosures here.
Old-Fashioned Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping
Years ago, when I first started bringing sweet potato casserole to my in-laws, my casserole was typically overlooked for the mashed potatoes or my mother-in-law’s creamy cheesy potatoes. But finally, the sweet potatoes are also popular, so now I have to make a big portion size for both sides of the family.
The recipe below feeds up to 8-10 people! And you’ll still have some leftovers.
Sweet Potato Casserole Made with Fresh Sweet Potatoes
Old=fashioned sweet potato casserole recipe is made with fresh sweet potatoes. And you will be able to tell a difference in the bright color and deep flavor. But if you are just starting out, you can use canned yams instead for this recipe.
However, if you are ready to tackle making sweet potato casserole from scratch here are a few tips to know!
How to Cook Fresh Sweet Potatoes
- Rinse off uncooked sweet potatoes.
- Cook your washed, but unpeeled sweet potatoes in water. You will place the sweet potatoes in a soup pot whole, no need to chop.
- Cover with water and cook for 1/2 hour over medium heat until you can easily stick a fork in the potatoes.
- Pull sweet potatoes from hot water and allow to cool slightly in a bowl. Slide a knife through the skin to release some of the heat. The potatoes are easier to work with while still warm but not too hot.
- Gently peel skins from the potatoes. Throw away skins.
How to Remove Strings from Fresh Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes have root strings in them. And since we want our sweet potato casserole to be as smooth as possible, we will want to remove those after we cook the sweet potatoes.
- You can either use a mixer or a potato masher to remove the strings.
- If using a potato ricer or masher, simply place cooked, peeled potato into the ricer and squeeze handle. All the strings will be left behind in the masher.
- Or you can use your mixer. Simply add cooked, peeled potatoes to the mixer. Before adding any other ingredients, simply turn on mixer. Stop after 30 seconds, lift mixer head and remove the strings from the mixer blade. Repeat! You can watch me demonstrate here in this short video.
- Continue on with your recipe!
Sweet Potato Casserole with Brown Sugar Pecan Topping
While marshmallows are a popular topping for sweet potato casserole, nothing beats a pecan streusel topping. And for this recipe, I make a big batch of brown sugar streusel pecan topping so there is plenty of topping for everyone.
One little tip, I use for when adding your topping, is to only add 1/2 of the topping. Then take a fork or knife and poke holes into the sweet potato mixture to allow the topping to mix into the casserole.
Lastly, pour the rest of the topping onto your casserole for a yummy taste and perfect look!
Make Ahead Sweet Potato Casserole
You can absolutely make this old-fashioned sweet potato casserole ahead of time. Cook your potatoes and add in the eggs, milk, butter, sugar and spices. Mix, then pour into casserole dish. Cover casserole dish and store in fridge. I have kept it in the fridge 2 days ahead, and it stayed super fresh!
Next, go ahead and mix all your topping ingredients, except the butter. Chop your pecans and add together with the brown sugar and flour. Pour into a zip lock baggie and just store on top of your sweet potato casserole dish.
On the day you are ready to serve, simply remove casserole dish from the refrigerator. Uncover casserole dish and turn oven on to preheat. Pull out baggie with topping and 4 tbls of butter. Slightly melt butter in bowl in microwave. Mix in the brown sugar topping into the melted butter. Stir. And then add topping to casserole. Cook casserole as normal.
Old-Fashioned Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping
The recipe calls for about 5 lbs of potatoes which will make around 5-6 cups of mashed cooked sweet potatoes. But don’t get too worried if the amount of potatoes is a little more or less. This recipe is pretty fool-proof!
Do make sure to add the spices! The fresh ground nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves, makes such a difference!! Enjoy!!
Find the handy printable recipe below.
Old-Fashioned Sweet Potato Casserole with Streusel Pecan Topping
Equipment
- Mixer or Potato Ricer/Masher
- 2 1/2 Quart Casserole Dish
Ingredients
- 5 lbs sweet potatoes (whole) Will make around 5-6 cups cooked
- 2 eggs
- 1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup flour
- 4 tsp butter, softened
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Wash sweet potatoes and place in a big soup pot covered with water. Turn on medium heat.
- After 1/2 hour, test sweet potatoes with fork to see if softened. Continue to cook until soft.
- Place cooked sweet potatoes in bowl. Run a knife through skin to let some of the heat out. Wait a few minutes. Then gently peel off skins. Throw away skins
- Place sweet potatoes through potato masher. If you don't have a masher, go ahead and place potatoes in mixer. Run mixer, stopping every few minutes to remove sweet potato "strings" from mixer blade. Repeat 2-3 times.
- Add milk, eggs, 1 stick of butter, sugar, vanilla, and spices to sweet potatoes. Mix in mixer.
- Place sweet potato mixture in greased 2 1/2 quart casserole dish.
- You can then add topping and cook or place in fridge for a day until ready to cook.
- Combine topping. Mix brown sugar, flour, butter and nuts. Stir together with fork.
- Add 1/2 topping to sweet potatoes, poking down into sweet potato mixture with a knife or fork. Spread the remaining topping on top.
- Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Check after 1/2 hour. If sweet potatoes are getting too brown on top, then cover lightly with foil.
- Cover sweet potato casserole until ready to serve.
