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Baked sweet potato casserole with a golden brown-sugar pecan streusel topping in a rustic white dish

Sweet Potato Casserole

Creamy, deep-orange sweet potato casserole under a crisp brown-sugar pecan streusel. The one trick is roasting the sweet potatoes instead of boiling them, so the filling comes out thick and naturally sweet, never watery or bland.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours
Servings: 10
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the sweet potato filling
  • 4 lbs sweet potatoes about 5 medium
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
  • 2 large eggs lightly beaten
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream or whole milk
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 3/4 tsp salt
For the pecan streusel topping
  • 1 cup pecans roughly chopped
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar packed
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Method
 

Roast the sweet potatoes
  1. Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and line a baking sheet with foil. Prick each sweet potato several times with a fork and roast them whole, directly on the sheet, for 60 to 75 minutes, until they are completely soft and starting to collapse. This is the whole trick: roasting drives off water and caramelizes the natural sugars instead of washing them away.
  2. Let the sweet potatoes cool until you can handle them, then split them open, scoop the flesh into a large bowl, and discard the skins. You should have about 4 cups of soft, deeply orange flesh.
Make the filling
  1. Reduce the oven to 350°F (175°C) and butter a 9x13-inch baking dish. Mash the warm sweet potato flesh until smooth.
  2. Add the melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, heavy cream, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Stir until silky and fully combined, then spread the filling evenly into the buttered dish.
Add the streusel and bake
  1. In a bowl, stir together the chopped pecans, brown sugar, flour, and salt. Pour in the melted butter and toss until the mixture is crumbly. Scatter it evenly over the filling.
  2. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the topping is deep golden and the edges are bubbling. Let the casserole rest 10 minutes before serving so the filling sets up.

Notes

Make-ahead: Assemble the filling (without the topping) up to 2 days ahead and refrigerate. Add the streusel and bake day-of, giving it about 10 extra minutes since it starts cold.
Want marshmallows too? Scatter mini marshmallows over the streusel for the last 5 minutes of baking for the best of both worlds.
Freezer: Freeze the unbaked filling up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the fridge, add the topping, and bake.