I love sweet potatoes. In pretty much every incarnation. Sweet, savory, plain. I love them. Granted, this version is a special occasion dish, but it is so flavorful and perfect, that I want to eat it every. single. day. Even though my thighs say no. Not only does it taste divine, it is gorgeous on a plate. One of the things about a Thanksgiving plate is that it can be rather monochromatic if you are not careful. Lots of beige and white. Turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potato, you see where I am going with this. This bright orange side dish is like a ray of sunshine.
I know that a lot of people think of sweet potato casserole with the little marshmallows on top, but I much prefer this pecan topping. Give this a try this year, I promise that it will be the best sweet potato casserole that you have ever eaten.
For the topping:
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 cup pecans
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
For the sweet potatoes:
6 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 teasspoon cinnamon
In a small bowl, combine the melted butter, flour, sugar, and maple syrup.
Mix well and stir in the pecans. Set aside.
Steam or boil the sweet potatoes until soft.
Mash the sweet potatoes with a potato masher. Stir in the butter, milk, orange juice, vanilla, sugar, maple syrup, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.
Put the mashed sweet potatoes in a casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray.
Spread the pecan mixture over the top of the casserole. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until the casserole is heated through.
– this recipe was inspired from this Vegan one.
Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping
Sweet Potato Casserole with Crunchy Pecan Topping - I've tried other sweet potato casserole recipes and always come back to this one. The original recipe was vegan, so you can sub out vegan butter and milk to keep it vegan.
Ingredients
For the topping:
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 cup pecans
- 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
For the sweet potatoes:
- 6 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 3/4 teasspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the melted butter, flour, sugar, and maple syrup.
- Mix well and stir in the pecans. Set aside.
- Steam or boil the sweet potatoes until soft.
- Mash the sweet potatoes with a potato masher. Stir in the butter, milk, orange juice, vanilla, sugar, maple syrup, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.
- Put the mashed sweet potatoes in a casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray.
- Spread the pecan mixture over the top of the casserole. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until the casserole is heated through.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 0 Total Fat: 0g
21 Comments
This looks fantastic! My Mom makes a very similar casserole on Thanksgiving except there are eggs in it. It really feels like I am eating dessert whenever I eat it!
it is like dessert. It was my favorite thing this year for sure.
Hello Bree, pleasure to meet you! I am loving your bakedbree site and have wandered around your personal blog as well and feel I know you just a little. You have beautiful children and your photography is wonderful. Thank you for sharing it all with us. I learned to bake from my beloved Gram and learned to cook from my mom — nothing fancy, just good home cooking with recipes that have been passed down through the years. I hold all the family gatherings every year — no big deal as you say — and look forward to it always. For Thanksgiving I usually do a cornbread stuffing but I think I will try your Johnson’s Stuffing recipe this year and make a nice corn tomalito on the side — you know that sweet corn pudding stuff that Chevy’s plops on its plates. Your sweet potato recipe looks wonderful and I will definitely try that sometime. I grate fresh ginger in my sweet potatoes with a few generous spoonfuls of sour cream (butter and brown sugar on top). Thank you again.
Thank you so much Robin!
Oh, I forgot to ask you a couple of questions: 1) what kind of camera do you use?, and 2) where did you get the adorable speckled cutting board? Or is it your countertop? I can’t tell. Thanks, Bree!
A Nikon D700 and I have more photography info in the photography section above. The speckled board is my Corian countertop.
I too make something very similar to this. Mine also has eggs in it and brown sugar is added to the topping. I sooo can’t wait for Thanksgiving! Your posts are making me hungry.
me too… I am lucky, this year we get to have 2 Thanksgivings.
I love sweet potatoes and I love pecan. These two would go so good together, thank you for this recipe!
you are welcome!
Hi Bree,
I really enjoy your blog. This casserole looks great! I want to try it for our family’s Thanksgiving dinner. How long do you usually boil the sweet potoatoes? Sometimes it seems like it takes forever for them to get done! But maybe I’m just impatient. Thanks!
Thank you Amy. Probs 15 minutes? It depends on how big your pieces are.
I made this last night to try it out for Thanksgiving. I usually make a similar dish with pecans, but this one beat it out for sure! This is my new Thanksgiving Sweet Potato Dish! Yummy! Thanks! 🙂
So glad!
Just finished my holiday dinner, and the sweet potato casserole was AMAZING!
Isn’t it crazy good? So glad that you liked it.
SO delicious! It was a hit and is now officially on the menu for years to come:)
That makes me so happy!
I make a similar dish but mine has eggs in it and the topping is more streusel-like. Instead of orange juice, I add the zest of one orange to mine. Either really brighten the flavor of this very sweet dish. I use brown sugar rather than maple syrup but I may have to try that.
Sounds good.