Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping (Fluffy, Not Too Sweet)

This sweet potato casserole is the one dish on my Thanksgiving table that is scraped clean before the turkey is even carved: sweet potatoes boiled until tender, mashed with butter and whipped with eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and just enough brown sugar to taste like dessert without actually being one, then baked under a crunchy brown sugar pecan crumble that shatters when the spoon goes in. It takes about 1 hour 15 minutes with mostly hands-off time, it can be assembled two days ahead, and it has outlasted every marshmallow version I have ever tried. It goes into the oven right beside the green bean casserole I posted today, and in my house it is as much a part of the holiday as pumpkin bread on the counter and apple crisp after dinner.

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Why this sweet potato casserole beats the marshmallow version every year.

• Boiling, then whipping, gives the fluffiest base. Boiled sweet potatoes mash smoother than baked ones and whipping them with eggs and milk turns the filling light and almost souffle-like instead of dense and pasty. A hand mixer for 1 minute is the difference between a side dish and a brick.
• The pecan crumble is the whole point. Brown sugar, flour, melted butter and a cup and a half of chopped pecans bake into a crisp, toffee-like crust that gives this sweet potato casserole with pecan topping the crunch marshmallows never will. It stays crunchy for days, which is more than you can say for a toasted marshmallow.
• It is sweet enough, not candy. A third of a cup of brown sugar in the filling is half what most recipes call for, so the sweet potatoes still taste like sweet potatoes and it sits comfortably next to savory dishes. Nobody has ever called it bland, and it is why it holds a permanent spot alongside my pumpkin cheesecake bars and apple pie bars as the comfort food recipe relatives email me about in November.

Here's what you'll need.

Eleven ingredients, all of them pantry: sweet potatoes, butter, brown sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, pecans and a little flour for the crumble.

Here's how it all comes together.

STEP 1 — Boil the sweet potatoes.

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into 1 1/2-inch chunks. Put them in a large pot, cover with cold water by an inch, add a big pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Cook until a fork slides in with no resistance, 15 to 18 minutes. Drain very well and let them steam dry in the colander for 2 minutes — excess water makes a soggy casserole.

STEP 2 — Mash with butter.

Heat the oven to 350°F and butter a 9x13-inch baking dish. Tip the hot sweet potatoes into a large bowl, add the butter and mash with a potato masher until smooth and the butter has melted in. A few small lumps are fine; a hand mixer on low for 30 seconds gets them completely smooth.

STEP 3 — Whip in the eggs, milk and sugar.

Add the eggs, milk, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with the mixer (or whisk hard) for about 1 minute, until light, fluffy and uniformly orange. The eggs are what make it puff and set in the oven, so do not skip them.

STEP 4 — Mix the pecan crumble.

In a separate bowl, stir together the chopped pecans, brown sugar, flour and a pinch of salt, then pour in the melted butter and stir until it forms clumpy, sandy crumbs that hold together when squeezed.

STEP 5 — Assemble.

Spread the sweet potato mixture evenly into the baking dish and smooth the top. Scatter the pecan crumble over the whole surface in an even layer, right to the edges, breaking up any big clumps.

STEP 6 — Bake until golden and set.

Bake uncovered 30 to 35 minutes, until the topping is deeply golden and crisp, the edges are bubbling and the center no longer jiggles when you nudge the dish. If the pecans are browning too fast, tent loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes. Rest 10 minutes before serving — it firms up as it cools.

If simple, honest cooking with real ingredients is your kind of holiday, there is a whole book of vegetable-first sides and slow cooker mains to go with it in the Ultimate Slow Cooker Mediterranean Diet Cookbook.

Things I learned while testing this recipe.

• Use orange-fleshed sweet potatoes. Garnet or jewel sweet potatoes (the ones most stores just label sweet potatoes or yams) are moist and sweet and mash beautifully. Pale, dry Japanese or white sweet potatoes make a stiff, starchy casserole.
• Drain them hard. Waterlogged sweet potatoes are the number one cause of a loose, wet casserole. Drain, then let them sit in the colander 2 full minutes to steam off, and if they still look wet, return them to the hot pot for a minute over low heat.
• Whip, but do not overwhip. One minute with a hand mixer makes the filling light. Several minutes makes it gluey, because sweet potato starch overworks like any other potato. Stop when it looks fluffy and uniform.
• Cold crumble, warm oven. If you have time, chill the assembled crumble 10 minutes before baking. Cold butter clumps bake into bigger, crunchier clusters instead of melting flat into the filling.

Why this is the one Thanksgiving side I make every single year.

• It can be made two days ahead. Assemble the filling in the dish, cover and refrigerate; keep the crumble in a separate container. On the day, top and bake, adding 10 minutes. It can share the oven with the green bean casserole at the same temperature, which is the whole secret to a calm holiday kitchen.
• It is a vegetable, with real nutrition under the pecans. Four pounds of sweet potatoes across ten servings brings a day’s worth of vitamin A and 5g of fiber to each scoop, and the eggs, milk and pecans give it 6g protein — modest, but more than most sweet sides. If you are planning the plate, the protein calculator will tell you how much the turkey needs to cover.
• Leftovers are breakfast. A cold scoop of this next to cottage cheese egg bites the morning after Thanksgiving is, honestly, better than the pie. It also makes an excellent side for crockpot pulled pork all winter.

Here's what I'd serve with this.

• Crockpot turkey breast — juicy, hands-off and out of the oven’s way
• Green bean casserole — today’s other new recipe — the savory half of the holiday table
• Crockpot mac and cheese — because every holiday table needs it
• Crockpot pulled pork — sweet potatoes and smoky pork are a weeknight pairing all winter
• Smothered pork chops — the Sunday dinner this casserole was made for

Just in case you have leftovers.

Storing: Cool completely, cover and refrigerate for up to 4 days. The pecan topping stays surprisingly crisp for 2 days and softens a little after that. Unbaked, the filling keeps 2 days in the fridge with the crumble stored separately. Baked casserole also freezes well for up to 2 months, tightly wrapped; thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.

Reheating: Warm uncovered in a 350°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until hot in the center and the topping re-crisps. Single servings take 60 to 90 seconds in the microwave, though the pecans will not be crunchy; a minute under the broiler brings them back.

More easy comfort food recipes...

Apple crisp Pumpkin cheesecake bars Crockpot turkey breast Pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting

Also new today: green bean casserole from scratch — fresh green beans in a homemade mushroom cream sauce under crispy fried onions, no canned soup anywhere.

More holiday sides made from real ingredients

If a side dish built on vegetables, butter and nuts instead of a bag of marshmallows is your style, the Ultimate Slow Cooker Mediterranean Diet Cookbook is full of simple, ingredient-first sides and slow cooker mains for the same table.

Get the cookbook on Amazon

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