Clear a spot on your Thanksgiving table for this deliciously sweet and savoury Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole with irresistible, buttery pecan crumble topping!
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My love for this Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole is borderline over-the-top. I mean, what's not to love about creamy, lightly spiced, brown sugar sweet and savoury sweet potato mash filling, topped with buttery, golden, crumbly, herby, pecan crusted topping?
This comforting, cozy, classic holiday fave has it all: Absolutely delicious, amazing balance of texture and flavour, and super easy to make. It absolutely deserves a spot on your Thanksgiving table!
Ingredients
Nothing fancy required. Just sweet potatoes and some vegan pantry staples. Some fresh herbs if you've got them. No worries if not.
And a few ingredient notes:
- Sweet potatoes - These should be orange and not the yellow/white variety.
- Cornstarch - Used in this eggless sweet potato casserole to replace the eggs. It thickens up the filling and makes it creamier and more scoop-able. Arrowroot will work well too.
- Plant milk - Any unsweetened and unflavoured variety such as cashew milk, soy milk, oat milk, or almond milk will do.
- Brown sugar - Dark brown if possible for maximum flavour. Coconut sugar would work well too.
- Flour - For the topping. This can be swapped for gluten-free all purpose flour if necessary.
- Vegan butter - Adds great flavour to the crumble topping. Oil could be used instead but it won't taste nearly as good.
- Herbs - If you can have some fresh sage or rosemary it's well worth adding to the crumble topping. It adds so much fresh fragrant flavour. Unfortunately dried herbs are no good in this recipe. If you don't have fresh simply omit them.
- Pecans - My preference in this recipe but walnuts would work well too.
Are you a marshmallows on your sweet potato casserole type person? See the FAQ's for a great way to enjoy this casserole with vegan marshmallows and the crunchy pecan topping!
How To Make Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole
Vegan sweet potato casserole is really quick and easy to prepare. Here's how:
- Cook the sweet potatoes.
- Blend the potatoes with all of the filling ingredients. I like to do this in a food processor or blender rather than with a potato masher, so everything including the cornstarch gets combined thoroughly.
- Spoon the sweet potato filling into a casserole dish.
- Mix up the pecan topping and sprinkle all over the top. Bake until golden brown.
Serving Suggestions
This classic is just perfect for gracing your Thanksgiving or holiday table. It's a vegan side dish that is particularly delicious with:
- Roasts & Meatloaf - Serve it up alongside seitan recipes like my vegan turkey-style roast, vegan beef, or vegan chicken. It's also amazing with my vegan meatloaf, cranberry mushroom lentil loaf and Beyond Meat meatloaf.
- Delicious veggies - Like brussels sprout salad, air fryer carrots or red cabbage with apples.
- Other sides - The classics like vegan mashed potatoes, vegan green bean casserole, vegan stuffing, vegan Yorkshire puddings, quick & easy vegan gravy or red wine gravy. Also for a bit of tangy zip my green bean potato salad and cranberry sauce.
Leftovers are also pretty amazing for breakfast or even dessert! ;O)
Making Ahead
Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole can easily be made up to 2 days ahead. I do recommend keeping the pecan crumble topping separate until shortly before baking though. Prepare the sweet potato filling and spoon it into your oven proof dish. Cover tightly with cling-wrap then refrigerate. Mix up the crumble topping and store in an airtight container in the fridge. Sprinkle it over the sweet potato filling before baking.
Storing leftovers
Store leftovers covered tightly in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Reheat in the oven if you want to keep the top crunchy, or reheat individual portions in a microwave or air fryer.
Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe FAQs
Simply replace the flour in the crumble topping with gluten-free flour and you're all set.
Yes we can make that work! I highly recommend you keep some of the crumble topping because the texture is a huge part of this recipe. But so you can enjoy that texture AND marshmallows, I recommend halving the crumble topping. Scatter it around in clumps, then fill in the empty spots with nice big marshmallows. I love Dandie's. Bake as directed.
I don't recommend freezing it. The filling will become looser and potentially watery, and the topping will become soggy. it can be made a couple days ahead though. See my instructions in the post above.
Recipe
Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole
Author:WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ingredients
For the casserole
- 2lb (900 grams) orange sweet potatoes
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) creamy plant milk
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch , or arrowroot
- ½ cup (100 grams) dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- OPTIONAL 2 tablespoons bourbon , (but use 2 tablespoons less milk)
For the topping
- ¾ cup (75 grams) chopped pecan nuts
- ½ cup (50 grams) rolled/old fashioned oats , certified GF if necessary
- ½ cup (63 grams) all-purpose flour , or GF all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup (67 grams) dark brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary or sage , (omit if you don't have fresh. Dried doesn't work well)
- 4 tablespoons melted vegan butter , or olive oil
- OPTIONAL 1 handful whole pecans , for decorating
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)
- Cook the sweet potatoes. Peel, cube, add to a saucepan, then cover in water. Boil for 8 to 10 minutes or until just fork tender. Don't overcook them.
- Drain the sweet potatoes through a sieve or colander, then return to the pan and leave on the turned off but still warm stovetop with the lid off so they can steam dry for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Make the pecan topping while the sweet potatoes are cooking. Add all of the dry topping ingredients to a bowl (pecans, oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and chopped sage/rosemary). Stir to combine then pour in the melted butter. Stir really well until clumpy with no dry bits. Set aside.
- Blend the filling. Add the sweet potato to a food processor then add the milk, cornstarch, sugar, cinnamon, salt, black pepper, nutmeg, ginger, and optional bourbon. Process until completely smooth.
- Spoon the sweet potato mixture into a shallow baking dish (that will hold about 2 quarts/litres. Mine is 10.5 x 7.5-inch), level the top then sprinkle over the pecan topping in an even layer. Decorate the top with a handful of whole pecans if you have some.
- Bake for 40 mins. It's best if left to rest for 15 to 20 minutes before digging in. If you have some fresh sage leaves they look pretty on the top when serving!
NOTES
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Kate Wood says
Could I mix butternut squash or pumpkin with the sweet potato if I don't have enough sweet potato?
Melanie McDonald says
I guess you could but it will be better with sweet potatoes. If you are going to try it squash would be the best choice as its sweeter. Pumpkin would change the sweet/savoury balance of the dish too much. Using squash will change the texture somewhat though.