This easy Sweet Potato Casserole will convert any sweet potato skeptic. The brown sugar pecan streusel topping is an absolute game-changer – it’s crunchy, sweet, and a little life-changing. Pile the topping high over a creamy sweet potato filling sweetened with brown sugar and maple syrup, and spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, and you are in business!
This recipe was originally published in Nov of 2017, I updated with new photos in Nov of 2018, and I just updated it again with new photos and more tips and tricks to keep this recipe as simple as possible.
Let me start off here by telling you that I am not the biggest sweet potato fan. I’m all for the idea of sweet potatoes; they’re healthy, they’ve got fiber, Vitamins A, C, and B6 – I could go on. But, I’ve just never loved them. Until now. Let me introduce you to this life-changing sweet potato casserole. Dramatic? Maybe a little, but this casserole deserves it.
How to Cook your Sweet Potatoes:
This recipe is simple enough to make the day of Thanksgiving, but I’ve also included make-ahead tips at the end of the recipe. Start with whole sweet potatoes and cook them in your Instant Pot for about 10 minutes, until nice and tender. There’s no need to peel them first – the peels will slide right off once they’ve been cooked! You can also use canned sweet potatoes or canned yams for a quick time-saver.
Sweet Potato Casserole Filling:
Then, we’re mixing that cooked + mashed smooth sweet potato goodness, with a little bit of melted butter, a splash of milk, a touch of cinnamon, and some brown sugar, and a couple of eggs. These ingredients will all add tons of flavor, and create a rich, creamy casserole.
How to Make a Pecan Topping for Sweet Potato Casserole
And we must talk about this topping situation. Honestly, the topping makes this. The sweet potato filling is good on its own but it really thrives when paired with something that has a little crunch. Our life-changing topping consists of flour, brown sugar, softened-bordering-on-melted butter, a pinch of cinnamon, and pecans – that’s all! Whip it up in your food processor and you have the most glorious topping to anything you have ever eaten.
Crumble your topping over the sweet potato mixture, and bake! Once the casserole is finished baking, I like to add a minute or two under the broiler to add a bit of extra golden brown color and crispness to the topping. what was already amazing to a whole new level.
Make-Ahead Tip:
You will be happy to know that this topping does NOT get soggy in the fridge, should you choose to make this casserole a day before Thanksgiving and I tested it – even after two nights it wasn’t soggy. When you’re ready to reheat it, just cover with foil and pop it in the oven at whatever temp you have it at to finish baking anything else that needs baking (somewhere between 300 F and 425 F should be fine). Give it about 10-15 minutes, or until it’s warmed through.
This is just about easiest Thanksgiving recipe ever – and anyone can pull it off! Well, this and my Brioche Stuffing. In fact, I wouldn’t be sad if our Thanksgiving dinner consisted of only those two things.
Once you’ve discovered this casserole, you will look back on all previous Thanksgivings with a twinge of sadness because this casserole was not a part of them. This is the year to change that.
This will surely steal the show at your Thanksgiving celebration. And, you won’t have any pesky leftovers to worry about. One less thing to try to fit back into your refrigerator. I have a feeling that this could make an appearance at more than one holiday gathering this year (looking at you, Christmas!).
Happy Baking, friends! I hope you are able to have a restful weekend before the craziness of Thanksgiving prep hits.
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For the Sweet Potato Filling
- 4 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed a No need to peel
- 6 tbsp salted butter, melted
- 3 tbsp milk Any kind should work – I used 2%
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tbsp real maple syrup
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
For the Brown Sugar Pecan Topping
- 2 cups pecans
- 3/4 cup salted butter (12 tbsp, or 170 grams)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Cook the Sweet Potatoes: Scrub your sweet potatoes and place them (whole, and unpeeled) on the trivet (it comes with the Instant Pot) inside the Instant Pot. Add 1 cup of water. Cook on High Pressure using the Manual setting for 11 minutes. If your sweet potatoes are especially large, start with 12-13 minutes.
Let the steam release naturally once the potatoes are done (or you may have a mess). Open the Instant Pot and use tongs to remove your sweet potatoes. Set them on a cutting board to cool a bit (or you'll burn your hands!). Once cooled, you'll be able to slide the peels off easily.
Make the Filling: Add the cooked, peeled sweet potatoes (or use one 29-ounce can of cooked sweet potatoes or yams – be sure to drain them) to a large mixing bowl and mash until smooth, using a potato masher. Add all filling ingredients, and stir to combine, making sure the eggs get well incorporated.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 pan with nonstick spray. Evenly spread the filling into the pan.
Make the Topping: Soften your butter in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds (it should be very soft, with melted butter pooled around the softened parts). Add butter, pecans, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon to food processor or a blender and pulse until just combined. It will be sort of a wet, clumpy mixture. Crumble it over the sweet potato filling.
Tip: If you don't have a food processor, or if yours can't handle all that mixture, simply melt the butter in a medium bowl. Then, chop your pecans roughly, and add them to the bowl with the remaining topping ingredients. Stir until a clumpy streusel mixture forms.
Bake: Bake for 25-28 minutes. The topping will be lightly browned. Set your oven to "broil" and broil an additional 1-3 minutes. Keep an eye on it while it broils – it can go from perfectly browned to burnt quickly.
Serve + Store: Serve while it's nice and warm from the oven. Store leftovers, covered, in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Make ahead tip: You can assemble everything the day before Thanksgiving and wait to bake it until Thanksgiving day – just cover it with foil and keep it in the fridge overnight.
You can also make + bake it the 1-2 days before serving. Let the baked casserole cool completely, then cover and refrigerate it. Reheat it in the oven at 350, covered with foil, until warmed through. If you microwave it to reheat the topping will get a bit soggy.
A note about your Instant Pot: NEVER place food or liquid directly into your Instant Pot – always use the metal liner pot that comes with it! To help your Instant Pot build to pressure faster, hit “saute” before you add the water/liner/sweet potatoes. It will heat up quickly so avoid touching the inside of the liner with your bare hands. (None of this is sponsored – I just like cooking my sweet potatoes with this method!)
A note about Sweet Potatoes: One of my sweet potatoes didn’t get quite as soft as the others in the Instant Pot, so I just popped it in the microwave (in a microwave safe bowl) for 30 second intervals for about 2 min and then it was fine. You can also leave it in the Instant Pot (take the done ones out) and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
A note about yield: If you don’t need 12+ servings, cut the topping portion of the recipe in half, keeping the filling the same, and bake in an 8×8 dish for about 6 generous servings. The recipe, as written, makes 12 servings, or likely more since everyone will be taking semi-small portions to make room for all the various sides on Thanksgiving.
Calories: 434kcal
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