Mom’s Best Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe

Thanksgiving is here and it’s time to make memories and mom’s best sweet potato casserole ticks all the boxes!

During my childhood, holidays were such a joyful time. My mom, my sister and I would get up early and head to my Grandparents’ house. It was the most wonderful place on earth and I can still feel the happiness that would wash over me any time I was there.

Grandma would be busy in her tiny kitchen, a cook pot on every stove eye, oven filled with a huge turkey, a ham, and buttery rolls. Yummy smells would fill every corner of the house. 

Grandpa would be in his recliner watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade or whatever game was on. My aunts and cousins would be there to spend the day playing games and stuffing ourselves on delicious food.

One of our family’s many favorite Thanksgiving side dishes is this sweet potato casserole recipe. Most years you’ll find it on the holiday table at Christmas too. I’m not sure from whom this recipe was passed down, but I know we’ve been eating it since I was a kid.

The creamy souffle-like sweet potato mixture will please even the pickiest eaters. Save the marshmallows for the campfire, we’re topping our sweet potato casserole recipe with a healthy, crunchy pecan crumble topping. 

I’ve swapped the brown sugar for the deep delicious caramel-y flavor of coconut sugar. 

When making mashed sweet potatoes, my preferred method is to steam them with the peel on. After steaming, you can simply peel the skin off the potatoes. Any time I can eat potato skin I do because it is so healthy. Although, in this dish, we need to remove them. 

Another good method to cook the sweet potatoes quickly is in the instant pot. This works especially well if you have rather large sweet potatoes. Once they are cooked till fork tender, allow them to come to room temperature. Next, remove the skins and use a hand mixer or potato masher to mash them. 

Yams are wonderful at Christmas, but not for this casserole. Don’t substitute yams in place of the sweet potatoes, they’re completely different. Yams are drier and sweet potatoes are sweeter.

Pair this casserole with other traditional thanksgiving dinner dishes such as cranberry salad or Persimmon Harvest Salad. I adore this sweet potato dish right out of the oven, but it tastes even better the next day. I especially appreciate the streusel style topping. 

This delicious recipe has been in my recipe box for several decades alongside green bean casserole and pumpkin pie with marshmallow topping. All of these traditional thanksgiving dishes deserve a spot on your Thanksgiving table. 

I hope you’ll whip up a few new recipes to go with your traditional fare.