Paula Deen's Sweet Potato Casserole is a creamy sweet potato bake topped with a brown sugar and pecan crumble. This sweet potato souffle is a perfect side for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, or any family gathering. Sure to be a family favorite and an instant hit.
I've tried so many different types of variations of this recipe and this is by far the best. It's better than any marshmallow topped sweet potato casserole you'll ever have.
Be sure to check out our other favorite Copycat Paula Deen recipes like the Green Been Casserole, Gumbo, Deviled Eggs, and Pumpkin Bars!
Make it a Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter spread with this Ocean Spray cranberry sauce, Chick-fil-A Mac and Cheese, or creamed corn recipe. Try this fun Sweet Potato Pie for a sweeter version.
This recipe is from Paula Deen's website and alterations have been made. This is a sweet recipe, for a savory sweet potato casserole check this recipe out.
Ingredients
Casserole
- Sweet potatoes, skinned and mashed
- Granulated sugar
- Butter melted
- Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground nutmeg
- Whole milk
Topping
- Brown Sugar
- Flour
- Chopped pecans or walnuts
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
First start by skinning and cooking sweet potatoes.
Placed cooked sweet potatoes in a large mixing bowl and mix until smooth.
In the same mixing bowl add white sugar, melted butter, eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix.
Add in milk and mix until a smooth mixture.
Pour Mixture into a greased 9x9 casserole dish.
Sprinkle Topping on top of sweet potato mixture.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, when then center is set.
Topping
In a small mixing bowl, mix together butter, flour, brown sugar, and pecans.
Sprinkle topping mixture on top of the uncooked sweet potato mixture.
Hint: This recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar. We cut the sugar in half to ½ cup and love the results. The casserole has a more flavorful taste as the sugar doesn't overpower the other ingredients.
Substitutions
- Half the sugar- the original recipe calls for one whole cup of sugar. We half the sugar to ½ cup and love the results. The sweet potatoes stand out more without being overpowered by sugar.
- Walnuts - use walnuts instead of pecans for the top crumble.
- Almonds- use sliced almonds instead of pecans for the top crumble.
Variations
- Nut Free - Having guest over that may have a nut allergy? When making the top crumble exclude the pecans and just make the topping with the flour, brown sugar, and butter crumble.
Equipment
To make this recipe you will need a 9x9 baking dish.
I like to mash my cooked sweet potatoes with a hand mixer. You will also need a large mixing bowl.
Storage
Cover any leftovers with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Or store in an airtight container. Reheat in a microwave safe dish or reheat in the casserole dish in the oven.
These ingredients don't stand up well to freezing as the potatoes will have a different texture when thawed.
Top tip
Make sure to cook until set in the middle. The texture and look will resemble that of a pumpkin pie!
Recipe
Paula Deen's Sweet Potato Casserole
Equipment
- 9x13 Casserole Dish
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
- 1 cup white sugar* we half the sugar to ½ cup when making this recipe and love the less intense sugar flavor.
- ⅓ cup butter melted
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ cup whole milk or half and half, or heavy cream
Topping
- 3 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup flour
- 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix sweet potatoes, white sugar, melted butter, eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- Mix in whole milk until smooth. It will resemble a pumpkin pie filling texture.
- Pour mixture into a greased 9x9 casserole dish.
- Sprinkle topping over the top of the sweet potato mixture.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Topping
- In a small mixing bowl, mix together butter, flour, brown sugar, and pecans.
- Sprinkle over the top of the casserole dish.
Notes
- When we make this recipe we only use half of the sugar and it turns out delicious! We find the original recipe to be too sugary, and we love our sugar. Try using ½ cup sugar for a less intense sugar taste.
Andrea
This is such a great copycat paula deen sweet potato casserole. My family loved it. I will be making this for thanksgiving and probably Christmas and easter!
Martha
If I double this recipe do I need to make it in two pans of 9 by 9??
Andrea
If you double this recipe you will want to make two 9x9 pans or you can use one 9X13 pan. You may need to adjust the cook time slightly if using a 9x13 pan.
Meg
Can this recipe be made the day before and re-heated to taste just the same??
Andrea
Yes! This is a great recipe to make ahead of time and it reheats great!
JH
I wasn't planning on making this for Easter until I made it for Thanksgiving and a family member requested I make this recipe again. This copycat Paula Deen sweet potato casserole is by far the best sweet potato dish I have ever had. I like how you less sugar than the original recipe calls for, it tastes even better.
Annie
This is a family favorite recipe! We make it every year for Thanksgiving!!! I even gave it to 3 friends this year.
Nicole
Annie, that's wonderful, we are thrilled you love this sweet potato casserole as much as we do 🙂