Go Back
Old-fashioned sweet potato casserole with pecan streusel in a white baking dish

Old-Fashioned Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Streusel

Silky mashed sweet potatoes with butter and warm spices, baked under a thick, crunchy pecan streusel. The church-cookbook classic — make it ahead for Thanksgiving.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings: 10
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Calories: 412
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the filling
  • 4 lbs sweet potatoes about 5–6 medium, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
  • 1/3 cup milk whole milk is best
  • 2 large eggs room temperature
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 3/4 tsp salt
For the pecan streusel
  • 1 cup brown sugar packed
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter cut into small cubes
  • 1 1/2 cups pecans roughly chopped
  • Pinch of salt

Method
 

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter.
  2. Put the sweet potato chunks in a large pot, cover with cold water, and add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer 15–20 minutes, until very tender when poked with a fork. Drain well and let the steam drift off for 2–3 minutes — this keeps the filling from going watery.
  3. Mash the sweet potatoes until smooth (a hand masher leaves a little character; a mixer makes them silk). Stir in the melted butter, brown sugar, milk, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt until everything is glossy and combined.
  4. Spread the filling evenly in the prepared dish.
  5. Make the streusel: in a bowl, rub the brown sugar, flour and cold butter together with your fingertips until it looks like coarse crumbs. Stir in the pecans and the pinch of salt.
  6. Scatter the streusel thickly over the filling, edge to edge.
  7. Bake 30–35 minutes, until the topping is deep golden and crisp and the filling is bubbling at the edges.
  8. Rest 10 minutes before serving — it sets up and slices cleaner. Serve warm.

Notes

Make ahead: assemble the filling in the dish, cover and refrigerate up to 2 days. Keep the streusel separate in a bag in the fridge; scatter it on just before baking and add 5–10 minutes to the bake time.
Leftovers keep 4 days in the fridge and reheat beautifully at 325°F.
Nutrition is an estimate per serving.