This Thanksgiving, serve the most amazing Sweet Potato Casserole by topping it with cinnamon marshmallows and a pepita streusel. Everyone will be asking for seconds!
So, have you started looking towards Thanksgiving yet? I certainly have as I like to plan out my menu, shopping list and cooking schedule weeks in advance to make sure the day goes as smoothly as possible.
There are some recipe favorites that I know will always appear on our table alongside our brined turkey. One of those is sweet potato casserole. You will typically find recipes for sweet potato casserole with pecan topping, but we do ours a little differently and top it with cinnamon marshmallows and a pepita streusel!
I think Mathlete would eat sweet potatoes just about any way you could serve them but he really loves them when they are combined with delicious brown sugar and marshmallows. I like the little crunch that the pepita streusel offers for texture to this recipe.
Why You’ll Love This Thanksgiving Side Dish:
- This Thanksgiving casserole is fairly simple and traditional but gets a little extra something from the two different toppings.
- You can make most of the components of this recipe ahead of time. I typically bake, mash, and mix my sweet potatoes 1-2 days before and keep them refrigerated until Thanksgiving.
- This dish is relatively low cost to make as it utilizes a lot of basic ingredients that are easy to find.
Key Ingredients for Sweet Potato Casserole:
- Sweet Potatoes – This recipe uses about 3 pounds of sweet potatoes. You can substitute canned sweet potatoes but you’ll need to drain them very well before mixing as the cans tend to have a lot of moisture.
- Brown Sugar – I typically use dark brown sugar because that is what I keep on hand. Light brown sugar will work totally fine though.
- Butter – I typically use salted butter because that is what we prefer but unsalted works great. If you use unsalted butter, you may need to add additional salt when preparing the recipe.
- Vanilla Extract – You only need a little for the recipe. I’d recommend using a high quality extract, if possible.
The base of this Thanksgiving casserole recipe doesn’t include cinnamon or nuts. You can definitely add them but the cinnamon on the marshmallows and crunch from the pepita streusel are great replacements for those traditional items.
This sweet potato casserole with marshmallows is always a hit at our Thanksgiving feast and I love making something a little different from the normal candied yams or other sweet potato casseroles.
If you make this sweet potato casserole or any recipe from the blog, I’d love to hear about your experience. Let me know in the comments below or snap a photo and tag it #mysuburbankitchen on Instagram or Facebook. And be sure to pin this recipe to your Pinterest holiday board to make it easy to find later.
If you loved this easy Sweet Potato Casserole, check out these other great holiday side dish recipes:
Essential items for this recipe for Sweet Potato Casserole (contains affiliate links):
- Baking dish
- Nonstick cooking spray
- Foil
- Potato masher
- Mixing bowl
- Ziploc bag
- 3 lbs Sweet Potatoes
- 3/4 cup Packed Brown Sugar
- 1/4 cup Butter
- 2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla
- 1 cup Mini Marshmallows
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1/2 cup Packed Brown Sugar
- 1 tsp Salt
- 8 tbsp Butter softened
- 1/2 cup Unsalted Pepitas (Pumpkin Seeds) coarsely chopped
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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
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Clean the sweet potatoes to remove any dirt on the outside. Pierce with the fork about 4 times on each side. Wrap in foil. Place the sweet potatoes in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until soft. Remove the sweet potatoes and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
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Carefully remove the foil and then remove the skins from the sweet potatoes. Add the sweet potato pulp to a large bowl and mash lightly. Stir in 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter, 2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Mix well.
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In a small bowl, combine 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp salt and chopped pepitas to bowl. Using your hands or a pastry tool, blend in 8 Tbsp of butter.
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Combine marshmallows and cinnamon in a plastic bag. Seal bag and shake to coat the marshmallows in cinnamon.
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Cover the sweet potato mixture with marshmallows and streusel. Bake in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.
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