Growing up, for the holidays, my mother opened a can of sweet potatoes and heated them on the stove. They were bland and tasteless orange blobs with a strange texture. It’s funny, my mother was a phenomenal cook. She cooked the most wonderful German and Hungarian foods. I guess since most Thanksgiving foods are iconically American, I don’t think she knew what the heck to do with sweet potatoes.
Sadly the same can be said for her idea of cranberry sauce. I remember opening the can and out slid the gelatinous cranberry sauce, except it didn’t look like sauce, it just looked like a cylinder shaped crimson blob of dense jello. She served it sliced and I always took the smallest, teeny, tiniest slice.
For most of my life I thought I didn’t like sweet potatoes. Until my sister Liz hosted Thanksgiving in her beautiful new house several years ago and served up this scrumptious sweet potato casserole. This has become my favorite Thanksgiving side! It’s utterly delectable!
I fell in love! I hate to admit it, but I think I even went back for thirds! I love to serve this not only at Thanksgiving but at Christmas as well. It can be made ahead and stored in the fridge, so the convenience is perfect for holiday entertaining. Plus I rarely have any left overs. Darn!!! It’s very popular with my guests that try it. It’s fun to watch them take just a little bit to be polite and then see them going back for a generous second helping. LOL!
The brown sugar and pecan topping gives it a lovely sweetness. Not the over the top, hurts your teeth, sticky, cloying sweetness you get with a marshmallow topping. Just a lovely nutty, slightly sweet, topping that compliments the creaminess of the sweet potatoes perfectly.
You won’t find any canned sweet potatoes in this easy to make recipe, just wholesome ingredients. No holiday plate would be complete without this delicious side taking its rightful spot.
Start with 5 lbs of yams. Choose yams with the orange flesh for this casserole. Sweet potatoes have a creamy white flesh and they don’t have the same lovely orange color. The flavors are similar but the color of the yams makes for a much lovelier casserole.
Peel the yams with a vegetable peeler.
Cut them into chunks, all about the same size. This will speed up the cook time and ensure they all cook to doneness at the same time.
Cook sweet potatoes in a large pot of boiling water until very tender, about 12-15 minutes.
Drain sweet potatoes. Let stand in colander 15 minutes to cool.
Prepare the topping:
Chop 1/2 cup pecans.
Mix sugar and butter in a small bowl.
I like to use a pastry cutter to combine the cold butter into the brown sugar.
Stir in pecans. Cover and chill until ready to use.
In another bowl, beat together eggs, maple syrup, vanilla extract, lemon juice and salt until combined.
Purée sweet potatoes in mixer.
Add the egg mixture to the puréed sweet potatoes and mix well.
Grease a 13X9 inch casserole dish. Spread mixture evenly into prepared casserole dish.
Sprinkle pecan topping evenly over sweet potato mixture.
Cover with foil.
TIP: This casserole can be made up to 2 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator. Just pop it in the oven to bake it when you are ready to serve dinner. That makes it the perfect dish for the holidays
Bake casserole in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Remove foil.
Return to oven and continue baking until sweet potato mixture is set and topping bubbles, about 15 minutes more.
Let stand 15 minutes before serving.
No holiday meal is complete without this delicious side!!! So easy to make and so delicious to eat!!! This is hands down my favorite Thanksgiving side. It’s creamy and luscious with a not overly sweet nutty topping. It’s a delectable side dish tha’s not only delicious but easy to make as well. Add this side to your traditional Thanksgiving meal, everyone will be coming back for seconds!
Pecan & Brown Sugar Sweet Potato Casserole
Ingredients
For the Topping:
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup chopped pecans, about 2 ounces
- ¼ cup chilled butter, cut into pieces (½ stick)
For the Casserole:
- 5 lbs red skinned sweet potatoes (yams) peeled, cut into equal sized chunks
- 4 large eggs
- 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Cook sweet potatoes in a large pot of boiling water until very tender, about 12-15 minutes. Drain. Let stand in colander 15 minutes.
- Grease a 13X9 inch casserole dish.
Prepare Topping:
- Mix sugar, pecans, and butter in a small bowl. Cover and chill until ready to use.
Prepare Casserole:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Purée cooked sweet potatoes in mixer.
- Beat eggs, syrup, vanilla, lemon juice and salt in a bowl. Add to puréed sweet potatoes and mix well.
- Spread mixture evenly into prepared casserole dish.
- Sprinkle pecan topping evenly over mixture.
- Cover with foil. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil.
- Bake until sweet potato mixture is set and topping bubbles, about 15 minutes more.
- Let stand 15 minutes before serving.
Did You Make This?
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