Creamy whipped sweet potatoes with cinnamon and nutmeg are topped with a crunchy brown sugar pecan topping in this Southern Sweet Potato Casserole. It’s sure to become a family tradition if it isn’t already!

Southern Sweet Potato Casserole is a staple side dish for many families on Thanksgiving, and for good reason. This rich and sweet casserole pairs wonderfully with all the flavors of the season, is easy to put together, and can be made ahead of time. This version forgoes the marshmallow topping for a crunchy, crumbly pecan topping and it is a crowd favorite!

Southern Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe Ingredients
This sweet potato casserole recipe requires just a handful of common ingredients:
- Sweet Potatoes: You’re going to need 4-5 large sweet potatoes to end up with about 4 cups of cooked mashed sweet potatoes
- Sugar, eggs, evaporated milk, and butter to make your potatoes rich and creamy!
- Spices and flavors: pure vanilla extract, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg for those comforting fall flavors
- Crumb topping ingredients: butter, brown sugar, flour, and chopped pecans

How to Make Sweet Potato Casserole
Here’s the step-by-step guide to making our simple sweet potato casserole. And bonus – your home is about to smell amazing!
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Pierce potatoes several times all over with a fork and place on a baking sheet.
- Bake potatoes until tender, about 60 minutes.
- Once cool enough to handle, peel potatoes and add to a large mixing bowl.
- Whip potatoes with an electric mixer until fluffy and smooth. You need about 4 cups of whipped sweet potatoes.
- Add sugar, eggs, butter, evaporated milk, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg to the potatoes.
- Mix with electric mixer and put in a greased square casserole dish.
- Add topping ingredients to a bowl and mix well. Spread on top of potatoes.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until heated through.


Can you make sweet potato casserole ahead of time?
YES! You can easily turn this into a make ahead sweet potato casserole by cooking your sweet potatoes and whipping them up ahead of time. Store them in your casserole dish, tightly covered in the refrigerator for a couple of days. You can also make the topping ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator separate from the casserole. The day that you’re ready to bake it, spread the topping on top and pop it in the oven. You’ll need to add a few extra minutes in the oven since you’ll be cooking it from cold.

Can you freeze sweet potato casserole?
Again, YES! Sweet potatoes freeze well and this dish would be a great frozen staple to keep on hand for busy nights. We recommend preparing the potatoes as instructed but making the topping on the day you plan to bake it. Just thaw the casserole in the refrigerator overnight and you’ll be good to go!

What to Serve with Southern Sweet Potato Casserole
Thanksgiving first comes to mind when we think about serving sweet potato recipes but this dish is also excellent alongside ham (think Easter spread) and is a great potluck dish or a side for any meal of the year! You could also eat this as dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and I’m not against a little sweet potato casserole for breakfast too.
But let’s get back to turkey for a minute. Here are some scrumptious recipes to complement sweet potato casserole:
- Roasted Thanksgiving Turkey
- Slow Cooker Stuffing
- Squash Casserole
- Classic Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
- Button Mushrooms
- Caramel Apple Cake
- Pumpkin Dump Cake
- Turkey Tetrazzini
- Leftover Turkey Sandwich

I hope you’ll love this easy sweet potato casserole and that you’ll try it out for Thanksgiving. Let me know how you like your sweet potatoes in the comments below!

Southern Sweet Potato Casserole
Ingredients
- 4-5 sweet potatoes large
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 stick butter melted
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
For topping
- 1/2 stick butter melted
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup pecans chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Pierce potatoes several times all over with a fork and place on a baking sheet.
- Bake potatoes until tender, about 60 minutes.
- Once cool enough to handle, peel potatoes and add to a large mixing bowl.
- Whip potatoes with an electric mixer until fluffy and smooth. You need about 4 cups of whipped sweet potatoes.
- Add sugar, eggs, butter, evaporated milk, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg to the potatoes.
- Mix with electric mixer and put in a greased square casserole dish.
- Add topping ingredients to a bowl and mix well. Spread on top of potatoes.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until heated through.
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