This sweet potato casserole is for everyone, even the people who don’t like sweet potato casserole. I’m serious! If you enjoy sweet potato casserole, I’m confident you’ll love this marshmallow-free version. If you don’t like sweet potato casserole, this recipe will change your mind. I know it will, because it changed mine. I’ve sworn for years that I only like savory sweet potatoes, but I’m officially eating my words. I love this recipe.
This sweet potato casserole features an ultra creamy, pillowy interior with deep sweet potato flavor. The buttery pecan topping is crunchy-tender and lightly sweet, with optional fresh rosemary. Overall, this dish is entirely irresistible. I hope it’s a big hit at your Thanksgiving table.
Watch How to Make Sweet Potato Casserole
How to Make the Best Sweet Potato Casserole
Here are a few reasons why this casserole is so delicious:
1) Baked Sweet Potatoes are Better Than Boiled
We’ll roast the sweet potatoes whole in the oven until they’re tender and cooked through. The sweet potato condenses and caramelizes in the oven, producing superior flavor. Boiling chunks of sweet potatoes just adds more moisture. Baking takes longer than boiling, but it’s easy and worth the wait. You can bake the sweet potatoes in advance or go ahead and prepare the whole dish in advance, if desired. More on that in the next section.
2) No Marshmallows, No Flour, No Nonsense
In this recipe, toasted pecans and creamy sweet potatoes take center stage. There are no puffy marshmallows getting in the way, and no flour to damper the flavors. Make this recipe and I think you’ll agree with me. Note: No flour means this recipe is naturally gluten free.
3) Less Sugar Makes a Better Casserole
I’ve always wondered why we add so much sugar to sweet potato casserole when the sweet potatoes themselves are already sweet. I reduced the sugar in the filling and the topping as much as I could, while still retaining that classic holiday flavor. Success!
4) Rosemary: Optional But So Good
I added some finely snipped rosemary to the topping, which lends a lovely savory, herbal note to the dish. It’s subtle but so nice.
A Few Notes & Tips
How to Chop the Pecans in a Hurry
Throw your pecans in the food processor and blitz! As a bonus, if you chop your pecans more finely than shown here in the photos, your topping will look more abundant even though you’re using the same amount.
How to Snip Rosemary
I’ll admit that preparing the rosemary is a little fussy. If you have clean kitchen scissors, simply snip the fresh rosemary leaves in tiny increments until you have about two teaspoons’ worth (you’ll need a couple of short sprigs). Snipping is easier than chopping, that’s for sure.
How to Reduce the Sugar
This naturally sweetened sweet potato casserole already has significantly less added sugar than most recipes. To bring it down even further, you can reduce or omit the maple syrup in the filling. I included the maple syrup because it tastes more decadent and holiday-like with it, but I also enjoyed the version without. Up to you!
How to Prepare This Casserole in Advance
You can roast the sweet potatoes in advance and chill them for later. Or, prepare the whole dish up to three days in advance and refrigerate until you’re ready to bake. Since your dish is starting off cold, it will likely need an additional five minutes or so in the oven.
More Holiday-Worthy Side Dishes
Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries & Pecans Best Ever Green Beans Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Soup Favorite Green Salad with Apples, Cranberries and Pepitas Kale Colcannon or Lucille’s Mashed Potatoes
Please let me know how your casserole turns out in the comments! I love hearing from you.
