Pretty Sweet Potato Casserole with Peppery Pecan Topping

This sweet potato casserole is an impressive, easy side dish ideal for your Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday dinners. The sweet potatoes are shingled (sliced thinly), then stacked in a casserole dish with a bit of maple syrup poured over the top. Once they’re soft and slightly crispy at the edges, sprinkle with peppery pecans and serve.

We’re calling it—it’s officially holiday season. That means cookies, turkey dinners, and all our favorite Thanksgiving and Christmas side dishes. I love kicking things off with this sweet potato casserole because it’s not only beautiful and delicious, but also surprisingly easy to make.

This is the kind of dish that earns you plenty of compliments when it hits the table, even though it’s our little secret how simple it really is. The sweet potatoes roast until soft and tender, with a touch of maple syrup for gentle sweetness, crisp edges, and peppery pecans for contrast. It’s pure holiday magic. I also love that it can be assembled in advance and made with real, feel-good ingredients—no marshmallows in sight.

For a different take, try my mashed sweet potato casserole with candied pecans.

Quick tip

Even though this casserole looks impressive, it’s pretty simple to make. The one tool that will really help you here is a mandolin. It quickly slices the sweet potatoes and ensures each slice is uniform. This is the mandolin that we have. While higher-quality options are available, this one is inexpensive and does the trick.

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Prettiest Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr 35 minutes mins

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This sweet potato casserole is an impressive, easy side dish ideal for your Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday dinners. The sweet potatoes are shingled (sliced thinly), then stacked in a casserole dish with a bit of maple syrup poured over the top. Once they're soft and slightly crispy at the edges, sprinkle with peppery pecans and serve.

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Ingredients

• ▢ 3 lb sweet potatoes (sliced ⅛ inch thick)
• ▢ ¼ cup avocado oil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon cayenne
• ▢ ¼ cup maple syrup

Peppery Pecan Topping

• ▢ 2 tablespoons salted butter
• ▢ 1 cup pecans
• ▢ 1 tablespoon chopped, fresh sage
• ▢ 1 clove garlic (finely minced)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pepper

Instructions 

• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9×13-inch casserole dish with oil. Cut the sweet potatoes, preferably with a mandoline, and place them in a large bowl.
  3 lb sweet potatoes
• Add the avocado oil, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and cayenne to the bowl and carefully mix the sweet potatoes.
  ¼ cup avocado oil, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon cayenne, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• Add the sweet potatoes to your casserole dish so that they stand on end – see picture. Cover the casserole dish with a lid or foil and bake for 30 minutes.
• Take the casserole out of the oven and remove the foil or lid. Pour the maple syrup over the top and put it back into your oven, uncovered, for 40 minutes.
  ¼ cup maple syrup
• While the casserole is baking, make the peppery pecans. Heat the butter in a medium frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the pecans and let them toast until they begin to darken and smell fragrant, about 4-5 minutes. Add the sage and garlic and let them cook for 30 seconds. Remove them from the heat and stir in the pepper.
  2 tablespoons salted butter, 1 cup pecans, 1 tablespoon chopped, fresh sage, 1 teaspoon pepper, 1 clove garlic
• Turn your oven to broil (see notes) and broil the casserole for about 5 minutes, or until the top starts to brown. Remove the casserole from the oven and pour the buttery pecans over the top.

Notes

If you can’t control the broil temperature on your oven, keep a close eye on it to ensure it doesn’t burn. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1 serving = ⅛ of the recipe, Calories: 361kcal (18%), Carbohydrates: 53g (18%), Protein: 5g (10%), Fat: 16g (25%), Saturated Fat: 2g (13%), Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 9g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 4mg (1%), Sodium: 429mg (19%), Potassium: 837mg (24%), Fiber: 8g (33%), Sugar: 14g (16%), Vitamin A: 32254IU (645%), Vitamin C: 6mg (7%), Calcium: 87mg (9%), Iron: 2mg (11%)

© Author Kristen Stevens

We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.

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