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A photo of a serving of southern sweet potato casserole
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5 from 4 votes

Southern Sweet Potato Casserole

An easy recipe for Southern Sweet Potato Casserole
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time55 minutes
Course: Side
Cuisine: American
Keyword: sweet potato casserole, yam casserole
Servings: 10 servings
Calories: 310kcal

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs Sweet Potatoes peeled and cut into 1” cubes.
  • 1/2 Cup packed dark brown sugar
  • ¼ Cup whole unsalted butter - melted
  • 1 Cup mini marshmallows
  • 1 inch fresh ginger - peeled and grated
  • ½ cup maple syrup
  • 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp real vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp almond extract
  • ¼ cup finely chopped pecans
  • 2 cups mini marshmallows

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375.
  • Place the cubed sweet potatoes in a large stock pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil over high heat. When boiling, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes until all of the potato pieces are fork tender.
  • Drain the potatoes and allow to cool slightly.
  • Place the potatoes back into the stock pot.  Add the brown sugar, butter, 1 Cup of marshmallows, grated ginger, maple syrup, salt, pepper, vanilla, almond extract and pecans and use a potato masher to mash the potatoes and mix all the ingredients together with the potatoes.
  • Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and pour the contents of the stock pot out into the baking dish.  Top with the remaining 2 Cups of mini marshmallows.
  • Bake at 375 for 25-35 minutes until the tops of the marshmallows are golden brown.
  • Serve warm.

Video

Notes

  • Be sure to cut the potatoes into as even pieces as you are able.
  • It is ok to substitute margarine for the butter if you need to, but I don’t recommend it.
  • It is ok to substitute full size marshmallows if you need to, but  cut them into smaller pieces to mix into the sweet potato mixture so that they melt easily.
  • Do not substitute dried ginger for the fresh.  If you can’t find fresh ginger, just leave it out. Dried/powdered ginger has a tendency to taste bitter. 
  • Be sure to use real vanilla not imitation.  The imitation will give a fake yucky vanilla taste.
  • You can always add more pecans if you want.
  • It is fine to make this the day or two before your event.
  • This freezes well, but I haven’t tried it myself.
  • It does make lovely leftovers. We usually can eat on this for several days.
  • Reheat in the oven or in the microwave.
PRO TIP:  Have the butter and the other ingredients ready to mix in right away.  As soon as you drain the potatoes, put them back into the hot pot and add the other ingredients.  The warm temp, helps meld everything together and makes mashing and mixing more easy. 

 

Nutrition

Calories: 310kcal | Carbohydrates: 62g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 12mg | Sodium: 481mg | Potassium: 520mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 35g | Vitamin A: 19445IU | Vitamin C: 3.3mg | Calcium: 71mg | Iron: 1mg