Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows & Streusel

How to make sweet potato casserole

• Start by Making the Mashed Sweet Potatoes:  Peel and cut sweet potatoes. Place in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, and boil until tender. Drain and mash. Keep them chunky or mash them completely smooth – your choice.
• Season the Mashed Sweet Potatoes: Butter, milk, cinnamon, brown sugar, and salt take these potatoes over the top. Adjust these seasonings to suit your taste. Sneak a few bites and see what you think. Transfer the mashed sweet potatoes to a greased casserole dish.
• Brown Sugar Streusel: Mix up a quick topping of flour, brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon, salt, and softened butter. This is what takes this recipe over the top! Sweet, salty, buttery, crunchy bites that get distributed all over the sweet potatoes.
• Marshmallows: The classic sweet potato casserole topping! Scatter mini marshmallows all over the top of the potatoes. Then drop bits of streusel topping over the marshmallows.
• Bake It: 10-15 minutes in the oven is all this needs. Just enough to get the potatoes hot, the marshmallows toasted, and the streusel set.

Sweet potato casserole make ahead option

I always make this a couple days ahead and assemble and reheat in the hour or so leading up to dinner. Here’s how to do it:

• Assemble the cooked and seasoned mashed sweet potatoes in a casserole dish and refrigerate tightly covered for up to 2 days (without any topping).
• Prepare the streusel topping (without the marshmallows) and refrigerate that separately.
• Before serving, bring the streusel topping to room temperature. Heat the potatoes (without any topping) in the oven until heated all the way through (30-ish minutes depending on the size of your casserole dish). Once the potatoes are warm, sprinkle on the marshmallows and streusel and return to the oven for 10-15 minutes, until the marshmallows are toasted.

Can you use canned yams?

Yes. Although I highly recommend fresh sweet potatoes/yams, you can take a shortcut with canned yams. Here’s how to do it:

1. Use two and a half to three 29-oz cans of cut yams (this will vary based on the casserole dish you use).
2. Drain them well.
3. My recipe calls for milk to be added to the yams. You may be able to omit the milk completely. The yams will already be quite wet, and you don’t want them to be runny. After mashing you can decide if you want to add some milk.
4. Mash the canned potatoes along with butter, cinnamon and salt as the recipe instructs. Taste them. If you’d like them sweeter, add up to 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. Most canned yams come packed in syrup, so they are already sweet.
5. Continue with the recipe at step 3.

FAQ’s

• Can I omit the pecans in the streusel topping? Yes. I recommend adding an extra tablespoon of flour to the streusel topping to “bulk it up” a bit, since there are no nuts.
• Can I freeze this? You can freeze the mashed sweet potatoes (without the topping), but the texture might be compromised a bit. I recommend making it up to two days in advance and storing it in the fridge. This allows almost all of the work to be done in advance.
• Can I make this in a crock pot/slow cooker? I have only made this recipe in an oven, but I assume that you can add the cooked and mashed sweet potatoes to a slow cooker, top with streusel and heat for 30 minutes to an hour. Shortly before serving add the marshmallows. NOTE: The marshmallows will melt and they will not be toasted (as pictured). Also, the moisture from the slow cooker might make the streusel more soft than if cooked in an oven.
• Do I have to use MASHED sweet potatoes? No. After boiling, drain the chunks of potato well, then gently toss with butter, cinnamon, brown sugar and salt (omitting the milk). Transfer to a greased casserole dish and proceed with the topping as written.
• Can I use canned yams? Yes. See the instructions above for adapting this recipe using canned yams.
• Can I make this ahead? Absolutely! See my tips above or in the recipe card.

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