,

Sweet Potato Casserole

Katie Wells Avatar

Reading Time: 3 minutes

This post contains affiliate links.

Read my affiliate policy.

Wellness Mama » Blog » Recipes » Sweet Potato Casserole

Sweet potato casserole is beloved (by some) as a classic holiday recipe. If I’m being honest, I’m more of a plain baked sweet potato kind of gal, but since some of our extended family prefer the marshmallow-topped type, I decided to concoct a healthy version.

Homemade Sweet Potato Casserole

To make the sweet potato part of the sweet potato casserole, you need cooked sweet potatoes. If I’m making the casserole for a crowd, I like to roast them ahead of time so I don’t have so much to do on a busy cooking day.

You can absolutely boil them if you prefer, but I like the deeper flavor from roasting.

Most recipes for sweet potato casserole include sugar mixed into the sweet potatoes. I’m not taking that advice! Sweet potatoes are already plenty sweet enough, so there’s no need for adding even more sugar! Some recipes also add eggs and milk, but since they don’t really change the flavor or texture and are allergens for some, I leave them out.

Important Note: If you make the sweet potato part of the casserole ahead of time, make sure you heat it up prior to putting on the topping.

To Marshmallow or Not to Marshmallow?

Sweet potato casseroles are usually topped with something sweet like marshmallow or strudel. I do make my own marshmallows, and I’ve found that if I reduce the amount of gelatin in the recipe I can make a marshmallow fluff topping. (Mom Hack: The “marshmallow” topping also makes a great cake icing on coconut flour cakes for kids’ birthdays!)

Another option is to make a Swiss meringue with egg whites and honey. I heat and whisk it over a double boiler until it’s thick and fluffy. If you’re really feeling fancy you can even put the finished meringue in a piping bag and pipe pretty designs on top of the sweet potatoes. As a final step, broil the casserole for a few minutes before serving to brown the meringue just a little.

Important Note: Since the casserole is only in the oven for a couple of minutes, it’s important to make sure that the sweet potatoes are already nice and hot.

If you prefer the streusel-topped sweet potato casseroles, you could try combining the nut and oat topping from this casserole with the topping from my berry cobbler recipe.

Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe

A healthy take on sweet potato casserole with a completely optional honey and egg white “marshmallow” topping.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Calories 345kcal
Author Katie Wells

Servings

8

Ingredients

"Marshmallow" Topping (optional)

  • 5 egg whites
  • cup honey

Instructions

  • In a 425°F oven, bake the sweet potatoes about 40-50 minutes or until soft.
  • Cool slightly.
  • Remove peels and mash with butter or coconut oil, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla.
  • Spread evenly into a 9×13 baking dish.

For the "Marshmallow" Topping (optional)

  • In a double boiler or small pan with water and a glass bowl on top, whip the egg whites with a hand blender until fluffy.
  • Add the honey to the egg whites and place the double boiler on the stove, turning on the heat to medium.
  • Using a hand mixer or whisk, whisk the egg white and honey mix as it heats until thick and fluffy.
  • Spread the topping over the sweet potatoes and put in the oven and broil for a minute or two to brown.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe
Amount Per Serving (1 cup)
Calories 345 Calories from Fat 54
% Daily Value*
Fat 6g9%
Saturated Fat 3.7g23%
Cholesterol 15mg5%
Sodium 224mg10%
Carbohydrates 70.2g23%
Fiber 6.7g28%
Sugar 24.2g27%
Protein 4.9g10%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notes

You could make the sweet potato part of this recipe ahead of time and reheat it in the oven while you’re making the topping. 

Every time I’ve made this sweet potato casserole for family and friends, it’s been a huge hit. This is still pretty high in starch so it shouldn’t be eaten every day, but it is definitely a healthier alternative to the traditional version!

Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!

How does your family cook sweet potatoes? Are you a butter and salt purist or a marshmallow junkie? Share below!

Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe- real food and gluten free

Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

23 responses to “Sweet Potato Casserole”

  1. Megan Avatar

    4 stars
    I haven’t been able to have anything resembling marshmallows for years since all recipes call for gelatin and I am hyper sensitive to glutamate. This recipe was simply amazing! My family loved it. Thank you!!!

  2. Jamie Merritt Avatar
    Jamie Merritt

    Can you make and freeze or should you make the topping fresh just before baking?

  3. Joanne Foster Avatar
    Joanne Foster

    We call these kumara (pronounced coo-ma-raa), Always savoury and never thought of as a sweet dish. If you suggested putting sugar or marshmallows on them, people would ask why. Its just not done and not even considered. They are peeled, roasted whole, boiled, steamed or made into french fries. Personally I love them steamed in the skin, peel the skin and eat them as they are. Bliss. Amazing mashed with butter and salt. Incredible flavour all on their own and so easy to grow.

  4. Alexandra Avatar
    Alexandra

    While this looks like a fun and tasty recipe, we love our sweet potatoes roasted in the oven with a healthy dose of coconut oil. I add fresh organic cranberries and some chopped sweet onions. The sweetness of the sweet potatoes and sweet onions (used Walla Walla sweets this year) is offset by the delicious tang of the roasted and softened cranberries. You could also add a few curls of orange rind to the mix. Adding a handful of chopped and toasted pecans after the potatoes are done is a great idea too.

  5. Layla Avatar

    We normally do a topping with flour, brown sugar, butter, and pecan. It makes an AMAZING top layer after baking. I am trying to think of a way to recreate this in a healthy way since flour and brown sugar are out. Maybe almond or coconut flour with maple syrup instead of brown sugar? Would I use the same amount of flour that the “normal” recipe calls for. I have never heard of marshmallows on top of sweet potatoes, must be a Northern thing. In southern Mississippi, everyone does the sugar/pecan crust for sweet potato casserole. The sweet potatoes themselves even have egg, vanilla, and sugar in them.

  6. Carleen Avatar

    I am assuming the vanilla and cinnamon go in with the sweet potatoes instead of the topping? the ingredients are listed in the topping, and no where in the instructions does it say to add them.

    1. Krys Avatar

      Yes, I was wondering this as well since I have not ever even had anything other than sweet potato fries so I’m not sure how this pie is supposed to be!

  7. Danielle Avatar

    This sounds yummy. Do you have a photo of the finished dish? I would really appreciate it, so I know what it’s supposed to look like when finished. 🙂

  8. Heather Johnson Avatar
    Heather Johnson

    I can’t have dairy, so I bake them up then peel them and mash them up with some coconut oil, honey and cinnamon! My son and I love to eat them that way all the time, at least once a week. Another favorite way is to cube them and fry them up in coconut oil and add some ground breakfast sausage, real maple syrup and cinnamon. Both are so yummy and my son can’t stop eating them.

  9. Tessa Avatar

    Growing up, the only time sweet potatoes were even prepared was during Thanksgiving and Christmas. At that time, they were only served up “candied.” I didn’t like them as a child and never realized there was any other way to eat yams or sweet potatoes. When I went to my husband’s family’s Thanksgiving meal and saw something topped with marshmallows I had to try it! I had never seen sweet potatoes look so good. LOL I know now that it is full of chemicals and HFCS, but at least marshmallows introduced me to my favorite potato. We love them baked, plain with nothing at all or with some butter and a little salt if I’m in the mood. Although, every time the holidays come around, we all crave the sweet potato casserole topped with marshmallows. This will be a healthier version to satisfy that tradition. Thanks so much, I can’t wait to try it!

  10. Katie Avatar

    We don’t do the marshmallow sweet potatoes. We do candied sweet potatoes. You cook the peeled and quartered sweet potatoes in brown sugar and butter on the stovetop in a cast iron frypan on low heat for a long time. The other non thanksgiving way we eat sweet potatoes is like a baked potato and topped with butter and cinnamon sugar. I recently cubed and roasted sweet potatoes in coconut oil and butter and topped with some sea salt and I was surprised at how yummy it was! We are sugar fiends but we are slowly switching over to healthier and cleaner eating. And discovering I need to eat GF has helped push us along toward Paleo/Primal stuff. It is so much to learn and figure out. But we are trying!

  11. Emily Avatar

    I just read your post on eating gelatin. Have you considered making honey marshmallows to put on top? I just made them for the first time and they were great 🙂

  12. Ruth Avatar

    Actually, I prefer roasted sweet potatoes.  I take the turkey out of the oven and let it rest in a foil jacket, and crank the heat in the oven up to 425.   I have already prepared the sweet potatoes — I take chunks of peeled raw sweet potatoes and chunks of onion and put them in a big zip lock plastic bag.  I add olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs (I like Bragg’s Organic Sprinkle) and smush the bag around until everything is evenly incorporated.  I also have prepared a large baking pan by covering the bottom with parchment paper.  I pour the coated sweet potatoes and onions into the parchment covered pan and roast them while the turkey is resting.  The turkey is juicier after it rests, and if – by the time it is cut and out on the platter – the meat is slightly above room temperature it doesn’t matter – as long as the gravy is nice and hot.  The sweet potatoes and onions take around 30 minutes or more to roast – I don’t keep track of the time, I just poke a fork in a sweet potato chunk to make sure it is done.  This is an awesome, healthy sweet potato side dish!

    1. Alaina Avatar

      This is ABSOLUTELY my favorite way to make sweet potatoes! It only takes a tiny bit of olive oil, and I also add red or green bell peppers and bacon 🙂 I keep the skin on, and roast the potatoes with the peppers first, then half-way through I add the bacon and onions (i’ve found that they will burn since I like to cook my potatoes longer I guess!)

      1. Nadene Avatar

        5 stars
        This sounds delicious! Thank you both for sharing – I am definitely going to make this soon!

  13. Debi Avatar

    Hi, I’m Ali’s mom (above post). Normally I favor baked with lots of butter and sprinkled with cinnamon 😉 We have those in the family that have asweet tooth though and really like it when I’m willing to add marshmallows … I’m going to surprise them this year and try this recipe. Hopefully they will enjoy the honey as much as the marshmallows;-) 

  14. malaelle Avatar

    I prefer my sweet potatoes more plain, but my Mom and older sister’s family can’t do Thankgiving without them topped with marshmallows.  Will send them this recipe and see if it’s an acceptable compromise.  Sounds great!  

  15. Michelle Albanese Avatar
    Michelle Albanese

    I like mine with chopped nuts on top. This year I’m going to try chopped pistachios for something different. I keep bees so I’m definitely going to use the honey idea.

  16. Tanya Torst Avatar
    Tanya Torst

    Wow, I am going to do this for my husband’s large family. I am volunteering to make most of the food, since that’s the only way I can ensure it will be gluten free and mostly paleo.

  17. Ali Lomneck Avatar
    Ali Lomneck

    This sounds great! I’m going to my mom’s house for Thanksgiving, but I’m sending her this link and suggesting this much healthier option. Thank you! 8)

  18. Erin Avatar

    I’m excited to try this. Since my family’s eating habits have changed over the last year, the traditional marshmallow version ( which we’ve done in the past) will be way too sweet ( among other negatives). It looks to be delicious!

    1. Moriah lee Avatar
      Moriah lee

      5 stars
      You could also try just topping with lots of pecans (or other nuts like walnuts) as well.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating