It’s time to start thinking about the best holiday side dishes! And this Sweet Potato Soufflé is one of them. Sweet potatoes are whipped perfectly to be light and fluffy and then topped with the sweet cinnamon pecan crumble.
Easy Sweet Potato Soufflé
The colors are changing and the weather is getting a little cooler. And that means Thanksgiving is just around the corner! We love bookmarking recipes early (and often!) for this food-focused holiday. This Sweet Potato Soufflé needs to be on that list!
This is one of those side dishes that everyone loves (whether or not they love sweet potatoes any other time of year!). Thanksgiving is the perfect excuse to indulge in this seemingly dessert-like side dish. It has the savory and earthy flavor we love from sweet potatoes, but also is incredibly sweet and delicious!
The sweet potatoes are whipped to form a light and fluffy base layer for this casserole. And then this is the part that everyone loves – the brown sugar pecan topping! It’s so good you could eat it by the spoonful. But we highly recommend saving some to top this sweet potato casserole.
Looking for more easy sweet potato recipes for the holidays? We think you will also love this recipe for Candied Sweet Potatoes with Pecans and this easy Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes with marshmallows!
What You’ll Need
Here is everything you need to make the sweet potato soufflé and the pecan topping. Don’t forget to scroll down to the recipe card for the exact amounts.
Pecan Topping:
- All-Purpose Flour: This helps create a crispy and tender crumble. It coats the pecans so they are seasoned with cinnamon.
- Light Brown Sugar: Brown sugar gives the best flavor with its touch of molasses. However, you could use just white sugar if that’s all you have.
- Cinnamon: You could also use pumpkin pie spice as a fun alternative.
- Salt
- Pecans: Walnuts could also work here.
- Butter: This is another ingredient that helps everything stick together, but also creates that crunchy, buttery texture.
Sweet Potato Soufflé:
- Sweet Potatoes: High in fiber and so delicious. While this recipe may not be the healthiest, you can remind yourself that sweet potatoes have insanely high amounts of Vitamin A (769% of your daily value to be exact!).
- Butter: The ingredient that makes these delicious sweet potatoes so rich and creamy.
- Vanilla Extract: Always use the good stuff! Never the imitation vanilla.
- Granulated Sugar: If you don’t like the potatoes super-sweet, just cut back on the sugar a little bit.
- Brown Sugar: You could try substituting maple syrup for this ingredient for another fun way to make this dish.
- Salt
- Egg: Eggs are the main ingredients in soufflés. It’s what makes the sweet potatoes airy and light.
How to Make the Best Sweet Potato Soufflé
Here’s how to make this sweet potato side dish! It’s pretty simple and straightforward.
To Make the Pecan Topping:
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl.
Then add the pecans. Toss the pecans so they are coated with the flour mixture.
Pour in the butter. Slowly pour the butter in so that it becomes crumbly (you don’t want a ball of dough).
To Make the Soufflé
Mash the sweet potatoes first. You’ll want to use a potato masher or the backside of a fork. Make sure that there are no large clumps.
Add the sugars and the egg. You want to be sure the potatoes and the egg are both at room temperature so that the heat from the potatoes doesn’t scramble the eggs!
Whip together the ingredients. Add everything to a bowl and then either whip by hand or use an electric mixer.
Spread the sweet potato mixture into a baking pan. Once everything is nice and smooth, it’s time to put it into the baking pan. Work carefully and gently so you keep those fluffy air pockets. Make sure your pan is buttered so that the sweet potatoes don’t stick!
Spread the pecan on top evenly. It’s important that you cover all of the sweet potatoes with the topping.
Bake for 30 minutes. Place the pan in a preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. You’ll want to let it rest before serving so that it can set up a little and cool down.
Tips for Success
We really love making this dish. So, throughout the years we’ve learned a few handy tips that assure this sweet potato casserole comes out perfectly!
- How to create the light and fluffy texture: Whipping the sweet potatoes with a stand or hand mixer really helps them to be light and fluffy. It’s optional, you can use a spoon, and your soufflé will just be a little less light and airy.
- The best way to cook sweet potatoes: To cook sweet potatoes I used my easy Instant Pot Sweet Potato Recipe. You can also bake them or boil them.
- Do not add the egg to hot sweet potatoes. You’ll end up with scrambled eggs.
- We bet you’re wondering about the marshmallows…If you prefer, you can swap the pecan and brown sugar crumble topping for marshmallows. Or you can have the best of both worlds and add a few marshmallows on top of the crumb mixture in the last 10 minutes of baking.
- Butter or use non-stick spray on the casserole dish. I buttered mine for extra flavor!
Common Questions
Yes, you do not need to use pecans for this recipe. You can substitute it with another nut (like walnuts). Or, to make it nut-free, just omit altogether. The thing to keep in mind is that you want a crumbly topping – not a batter or dough. So, you might not need as much butter. Add it gradually.
Yes! This recipe makes a 9×9 casserole dish worth and feeds 4 to 6 people depending on how large of servings you would like. This souffle can easily be doubled and baked in a 9×13 and will feed 10 to 12 people if you’re feeding a larger crowd.
Of course you can! Thanksgiving is always a busy day. Make the filling and topping up to 3 days before. Store in airtight containers in the fridge. On Thanksgiving day assemble the soufflé and bake. When making it ahead, we like to re-whip my sweet potato mixture before adding it to the casserole dish. This is optional, but will help it be fluffy again!
What Goes With Sweet Potato Soufflé?
Whether you’re serving it at Thanksgiving or another time of year, here are our favorite suggestions for items that pair well with sweet potatoes.
- Crispy Kale: There is something about fiber-rich kale that pairs perfectly with sweet potatoes. Perhaps it’s savory flavor and the fact that it’s incredibly healthy! It’s a great way to balance everything out.
- Salad: If you are looking for a festive salad, this Holiday Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad is a crowd favorite!
- Turkey: Well of course turkey goes! Try our favorite Crockpot Turkey Breast!
- Chicken: When you’re not serving it at Thanksgiving, try it with a simple chicken dish like our Lemon Pepper Chicken or Baked Chicken Legs.
- Pork: Sweet potatoes also pair well with pork dishes. Try this dish with our Pan Fried Pork Chops or go for the ultimate comfort dinner with our Crockpot Pork Chops and Stuffing!
Can I Prep This Casserole Ahead?
Yes! Do all the steps, up until you are ready to put the casserole into the oven. Then, instead of baking it, wrap it tightly with foil or saran wrap and store it in the fridge for up to 48 hours.
30 minutes (or up to an hour before) remove the casserole from the fridge and set it on the counter to warm up. Then bake as directed!
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
We’ll be shocked if there are leftovers! But if there are, here’s how to keep them fresh.
Store in an air-tight container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator. Then, simply reheat in the microwave when you’re ready to eat. If you stored them in the original casserole dish, you can also just reheat them in the oven again.
Can I Freeze It?
You can also freeze this dish. We recommend skipping the baking instructions if you’re going to freeze the whole dish.
Just make sure that you wrap it really tight, and label and date the dish. You can keep it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Move the casserole to the fridge the day before you want to bake it, to allow it to thaw. Then 30 minutes before you want to bake this casserole, set it on the counter to warm up. Then bake as directed!
Sweet Potato Soufflé
Ingredients
Pecan Topping
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- ½ cup 1 stick melted butter
Sweet Potato Soufflé
- 3 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes, about 3 medium sweet potatoes worth
- 4 tablespoons butter, softened or melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×9 casserole. (Or if doubling, grease a 9×13 casserole.) Set aside.
Pecan Topping:
- In a medium bowl, add flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Mix until just blended. Add pecans and toss until pecans are covered with flour mixture.
- Pour melted butter over pecan topping and stir until everything is blended. Don’t over mix, you want the pecan topping to be crumbly.
Sweet Potato Soufflé:
- In a medium size bowl, combine the mashed sweet potatoes, butter, vanilla, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt and egg. You can mix this with a spoon, or beat it with a hand mixer to make it extra fluffy. I prefer beating it with a hand mixture to make sure you get lots of air into your sweet potato mixture.
- Pour sweet potato soufflé mixture into a buttered baking dish. Spread the pecan topping evenly over the top of the sweet potatoes.
- Bake in pre-heated oven on or 30 minutes, until top is golden brown. Let rest for 5 minutes (so casserole can set up a little) and serve warm!
Notes
- Store in an air-tight container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
- Reheat in the microwave when you're ready to eat. If you stored them in the original casserole dish, you can also just reheat them in the oven again.
- If you want to freeze this casserole, stop at step #5 (do not bake the casserole). Wrap the casserole tightly, and label and date the dish. You can store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Move the casserole to the fridge the day before you want to bake it, to allow it to thaw. Then 30 minutes before you want to bake this casserole, set it on the counter to warm up. Then bake as directed!
I made this for the first time to take to a family Thanksgiving dinner. I was told it would be required at Christmas!! They loved it!!