Southern Sweet Potato Casserole, or Soufflé as it is also known, is a traditional holiday side dish here in the South. This sweet dish is topped with marshmallows or a pecan praline, or both as I like to prepare it, and teeters on the verge of being a dessert.

Southern sweet potato casserole may be sweet enough to be a dessert but it has always been considered a side dish. A colorful and delicious addition to the holiday table.

You may have noticed that I made this dish in one of those handy disposable foil pans. They’re really convenient when you need a bit of a time saver cleaning up.

Moving into a new house the beginning of November and trying to get settled before hosting for the holidays left me a bit overwhelmed. Real life happens to us all. Typically, I enjoy pulling out the “nice” dishes for holidays.

Why didn’t I do that this time? This house has no dishwasher. WHAT? That’s right, no dishwasher. I could have one installed but made the decision not to because I didn’t want to lose any of the original hand built cabinetry in this old house.

That being said, back in November, I was still trying to get myself accustomed to hand washing ALL of the dishes. I wanted to save myself some work this year. No harm in that, right? I’m getting into the swing of things now with hand washing and it’s not so bad.

Sweet potato casserole is really easy to prepare. You could used organic canned sweet potatoes but fresh sweet potatoes are so plentiful this time of year, so why not take advantage of it.

Many folks bake the sweet potatoes for this dish but I just peel them and cut them up to boil as I would regular potatoes. Boiling takes a little time out of the process. Time savers are great during times of busy holiday cooking.

Southern Sweet Potato Casserole

“In the southern half of the country perhaps no crop has larger possibilities for quick increase of production of food for both men and animals than the sweet potato.” ~David F. Houston

Ingredients

• 4-5 Sweet Potatoes (medium to large in size)
• 1/4 c Butter, softened
• 1/2 c Granulated Sugar
• 1/4 c All Purpose Flour
• Pinch of Salt
• 2 Eggs, beaten
• 1/4 c Heavy Cream
• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Ground Ginger
• 1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• Water, for boiling potatoes
• Mini Marshmallows (optional for topping)
• Praline Topping (recipe follows)

Printable Recipe Card at the end of this post

Holiday Casserole with Pecans

Peel the sweet potatoes and give them a rinse, then cut into cubes.

Add the cubed sweet potatoes to a pot and cover with water.

Bring to a boil and cook for twenty minutes until tender.

Drain the potatoes and mash with a fork.

Creamy Sweet Potato Casserole

To save yourself some time, the sweet potatoes can be cooked and mashed and stored in the refrigerator a few days in advanced until ready to use.

Preparing the Southern Sweet Potato Casserole:

Preheat oven to 375°F

Add the mashed sweet potatoes to a mixing bowl.

Add the softened butter and granulated sugar. Use a hand mixer to combine.

Next, add the flour and mix to combine.

Finally, add a pinch of salt, eggs, heavy cream, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and vanilla. Mix to combine.

Add the mixture to a casserole dish.

Top with the praline topping if desired.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. If using mini marshmallows for topping, add them the last 10 minutes of baking and leave the casserole uncovered so the marshmallows brown slightly.

Praline Topping

• 1/4 c Melted Butter
• 1/2 c Brown Sugar, lightly packed
• 1/4 c All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 c Chopped Pecans

Mix all ingredients to combine and use as topping.

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You might also enjoy this recipe for Sweet Potato Bars with Streusel Topping from Miss in the Kitchen

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