Southern Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecans

This delicious Southern Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecans makes a lovely side dish to any meal.

The sweet and crunchy pecan crust tops a creamy rich sweet potato filling.

This family recipe is a favorite Thanksgiving side dish tradition in our home.

What ingredients do you need?

For this recipe, you need the following ingredients:

• canned sweet potatoes or yams- you can use roasted or baked sweet potatoes
• eggs
• sugar
• butter
• vanilla
• pecans
• brown sugar
• flour

Watch sweet potato casserole video

Steps

Making sweet potato casserole is super easy! Just follow these steps:

1. In a large mixing bowl, blend sweet potatoes, eggs, sugar, ½ cup butter, and vanilla until smooth.
2. Add to a 9×13 baking dish. 
3. In a mixing bowl, mix pecans, flour, and brown sugar. Add the melted butter and stir until the pecans are completely covered in flour mixture.
4. Add pecan topping to casserole.
5. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes.

Note

Note: My mother-in-law cooks this recipe in a 9×13 pan. It will be a thinner version than a typical sweet potato casserole. You can double the recipe in the 9×13 pan or cook it in an 8×8 pan if you want the casserole to be thicker. 

Can you use yams?

Canned sweet potatoes are often labeled as yams in the grocery store. Therefore, you can use either.

This Southern sweet potato casserole recipe is easy because it uses canned sweet potatoes.

However, you can roast fresh sweet potatoes for this recipe.

Just make sure that you bake them until they are completely softened.

Can you freeze sweet potato casserole?

You can freeze sweet potato casserole. Follow these steps:

• Make sweet potato casserole according to directions without the topping.
• Wrap with plastic wrap and aluminum foil to keep the freshness, then freeze.
• Completely thaw out casserole before baking.
• Make your crunchy pecan crust topping when ready to bake and continue baking according to directions.

Growing up, I had never even heard of sweet potato casserole with pecans.

My mother is from Wisconsin, and she didn't make very many casseroles on Thanksgiving.

It wasn't until I shared my first Thanksgiving with my husband's family, that I was introduced to the tasty variety of casseroles that Southerners enjoy making such as vegetable casserole, green bean casserole, Cranberry Apple Casserole, and broccoli and cheese casserole.

This Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecans is my mother-in-law's (Patricia Crenshaw) recipe.

One bite of that crunchy sweet pecan topping with a buttery, sweet potato filling is like heaven in your mouth.

Patricia makes it every year, and it disappears quickly in our household!

It is one of my favorite dishes I look forward to on Thanksgiving.

My Mother-In-Law is as sweet as this Sweet Potato Casserole.

My children absolutely adore her.She also is a big support to me and is always there for me when I need her.

I am so lucky to have such a loving, thoughtful mother-in-law.

It brings me joy to share this beloved recipe of hers so that my children may one day have it to make it in their home.

For more casserole side dishes, try:

• Southern Cornbread Dressing
• Southern Spicy Tomato Grits Casserole
• Hash Brown Casserole
• Cranberry Apple Casserole
• Jalapeno Cheese Grits
• Southern Cornbread

When you make this baked sweet potato casserole, tell me what you think in the comment section! I would love to hear back! My readers will too.

Also post your picture of your sweet potato casserole on Instagram or Facebook, and tag @aforkstale and use #aforkstale hashtags! I will share with my followers! xoxo!