Sweet potato casserole with brown sugar and pecans

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Ali Nardi

Want to step up your mashed sweet potato game? Use a food processor to whip boiled sweet potatoes into a quick and creamy purée, then stir in eggs, maple syrup, vanilla, and lemon juice before baking into a dynamic and comforting Thanksgiving casserole. (No food processor? Use a potato masher to mash the boiled potatoes by hand before stirring in the other ingredients. The resulting casserole won't be quite as smooth, but it'll still be delicious.)  

For topping: Skip the marshmallows in favor of brown sugar and pecans, which turn into a crunchy, buttery, candylike crust.

Ingredients

12–14 servings

For the topping:

1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

½ cup chopped pecans (about 2 ounces)

¼ cup (½ stick) chilled butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces

For the sweet potatoes:

5 pounds red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams), peeled, cut into 1½-inch pieces

4 large eggs

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons salt

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix sugar, pecans and butter in small bowl. Cover and chill until ready to use. (Can be made up to 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

Step 2

Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Cook sweet potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until very tender, about 12 minutes. Drain. Let stand in colander 15 minutes. Purée sweet potatoes in processor.

Step 3

Beat eggs, syrup, vanilla, lemon juice and salt in large bowl. Mix in puréed sweet potatoes. Transfer sweet potato mixture to prepared dish. Sprinkle pecan topping evenly over mixture.

Step 4

Bake until sweet potato mixture is set and topping bubbles, about 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes and serve.

How would you rate Mashed Sweet Potatoes With Brown Sugar and Pecans?

Reviews (238)

• My edits because I am sugar averse (did not make this for thanksgiving so felt it did not need to be so rich; I would not have rated it if the outcome was bad since I didn't follow recipe!): reduced the sugar in the sweet potatoes to 2 tbsp and modified the topping by reducing the sugar in the topping all the way from 1 cup to 1 tbsp, using walnuts instead of pecans (it's what I had), adding muesli topping and cutting 1/2 of the butter. Turned out plenty sweet, so would definitely encourage others to cut sugar if they are concerned. As-is, definitely agree with some other posters that this is more of a 'dessert' than a vegetable side.

• I have been making this for years and it is the most requested item every year. i always make more to send home with guests and to have at home for leftovers...one serving is never enough!

• I've been making these for over a decade. Always a hit! I do reduce the brown sugar and add more pecans to the topping. Add vanilla extract to taste probably closer to 1 TB. Excellent

• Very tasty, simple and easy to cook, an original dessert.

• Instead of eggs and vanilla, try eggnog. Works really, really well.

• I have been making this for at least 20 years. Most requested dish at Thanksgiving.

• For Dkatzut in Baltimore: My daughter-in-law has a nut allergy, so I make her a special streusel topping with a generous cup of crushed ginger snaps, a quarter cup of brown sugar, a quarter cup of butter, a tsp. of ground ginger and a tablespoon of flour. It’s delicious!

• I used Indonesian honey sweet potatoes and made it into a cupcake dessert. Half the recipe (skipped vanilla) with 1/4 of the topping (also cut the sugar & butter in half in the topping), baked for 15 minutes and yielded 15 cupcakes. I brought it to a dinner party and paired it with vanilla ice cream. Everyone loved it.

• My husband who previously didn’t take a helping of sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving said this was his favorite part of the meal! I used a pressure cooker for about 10 minutes to cook the sweet potatoes and they turned out great.

• Almost skipped sweet potatoes at thanksgiving this year since we had a small group but I decided to try this recipe instead. I halved it, but wish I made the whole thing because there was nothing left- everyone went back for 2nds and 3rds. Delicious- and I now have my go-to Sweet potato recipe for years to come. Only change I made was to steam the sweet potatoes in the instant pot on step 2 (scrubbed, steamed, let them cool slightly and then peeled the skin, quick and easy). Puréed the potatoes and then froze them until the Wednesday before thanksgiving. Came quickly together the morning of. The crunch of the topping was AH-MAZING!

• I've been making this recipe for years and always get rave reviews. Instead of boiling the potatoes, I bake the potatoes for an hour or so at 350. I find that the baking enhances the flavor of the potato, it also makes peeling a breeze (skin slides off after baking).

• We have a guest coming for Thanksgiving with a nut allergy. Any suggestions for what to sub for nuts in the topping? Oats?

• Wow. This is 100% a keeper. Brought it for Christmas dinner to my boyfriends house and his grandma was shocked that it beat her classic recipe. The creamy sweet potato with the crunchy topping make this recipe an all-star. (fair warning this is incredibly sweet and could be subbed as a dessert dish)

• Will definitely make this again. I didn't have orange juice, so I used some bourbon. I used walnuts because I had them chopped already. Received rave reviews, I think I will make this for Thanksgiving next year. It is pretty sweet, and I was surprised at the amount of vanilla used (I've never used that much in any recipe), but the result was excellent. Served with a beef tenderloin.

• This is my second time making this dish and it's a hit. I haven't changed the amount of brown sugar in the topping, though after reading other reviews may try it next year. People thought this was a dessert and not a main side! Also, I accidentally bought a bad 5lb batch of sweet potatoes, ended up using the "proper" red skinned version (yams), and was not disappointed. Also, I used raw pecans and alcohol-free vanilla. Everyone who tries this dish (with no substitutions) loves it!

See Related Recipes and Cooking Tips

• Our Best November Recipes for 2022

  Recipes for the big feast—and dinners that are just right for right now.

• 91 Easy Thanksgiving Recipes for a Less-Stressful Feast

  No matter your skill level or available time, these simple recipes will help you pull off the meal of the year.

• 57 Pecan Recipes Including Pecan Pies, Tarts, Cookies, and More

  The best pecan recipes for making the most of this luxuriously rich nut.

• 91 Vegetable Sides for Your Thanksgiving Menu

  Here’s how to make sure your guests get plenty of brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, and green beans on Turkey Day.

• 61 Vegetarian Thanksgiving Recipes That Will Make You Forget About Turkey

  The best vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes, including creamy mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, and more.

• What to Cook for Canadian Thanksgiving

  The best recipes for Thanksgiving turkey, stuffing, green beans, and more.

• 102 Traditional Thanksgiving Recipes, From Turkey to Sides and Desserts

  Here you'll find all the classics: turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and pie—lots of pie.

• Our 111 Best Gluten-Free Recipes for Thanksgiving

  It's easy to be gluten-free at Thanksgiving with these crowd-pleasing recipes.

• Our 62 Best Sweet Potato Recipes for Thanksgiving

  We've got the orangest part of the Thanksgiving table covered.