This is a side dish you’re going to want on the holiday dinner table. Or maybe, on your regular fall dinner table. Because who can wait for the holidays? It is sweet potato season after all, which means in this house we’re cooking them a couple times a week. Give me all the sweet potatoes, please. They are the edible equivalent to a big warm hug.
Now that it’s officially November (plus chilly and dark at 6pm…tear…sob), I figure some of us are thinking about happier things…like the holidays and all the delightful holiday food. I know I am. It’s my favourite time of the year to cook and bake. For some reason, I always have oodles and oodles of recipe ideas floating through my mind this time of the year and can’t keep up with testing them all out. You should see my “to make” list…it’s massive!
In preparation for the holidays, I decided to do something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time; I revamped my old sweet potato casserole recipe from 2009. It’s a good recipe, but with 5 years of recipe development under my belt I knew I could improve upon it. This version got lightened up and given a crazy good pecan oat maple crumble topping. It totally blew us away and the previous recipe is all but history in my mind.
Just look at this crunchy crumble…
Here are a few things I changed up:
1) cut sweetener by over half (you won’t even notice)
2) added some heart-healthy virgin coconut oil
3) added a new and improved crunchy topping – gives it a great texture contrast!
4) made this one gluten-free as the old one wasn’t
5) amped up the maple + cinnamon flavours
6) new photos…because 2009 wasn’t my best year for photography…hehe
I recommend serving each portion with a pat of vegan butter or coconut oil on top to really take it over the edge. The butter/oil melts and cascades all over the casserole. Bliss!!
I love you, sweet potatoes.
PS- If you haven’t tried it already, check out my Sweet Potato Oatmeal Breakfast Casserole. Dessert for breakfast!
Sweet Potato Crumble Casserole
Yield
12 large side servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
This is a side dish you're going to want on the holiday dinner table! The crunchy nut crumble tastes just like an oatmeal cookie. I recommend serving this casserole with a pat of vegan butter or coconut oil to really take it over the top. Also try serving it with Coconut Whipped Cream for a decadent twist. In this recipe, I swapped out half the vegan butter for virgin coconut oil to add some heart-healthy fats while still retaining that lovely butter flavour.
Ingredients
For the sweet potato mash:
- 4 1/2 to 5 pounds sweet potatoes (about 4 to 5 large)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 mL) vegan butter
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 mL) virgin coconut oil
- 2 1/2 tablespoons (37 mL) pure maple syrup, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon (5 mL) pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon fine grain salt, or to taste
For the Crunchy Nut Crumble:
- 1 cup rolled oats (use certified gluten-free if necessary)
- 1 1/3 cups pecan halves, chopped
- 1/3 cup almond meal or almond flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 2 tablespoons (30 mL) virgin coconut oil, melted
- 2 tablespoons (30 mL) vegan butter, melted
- 2 1/2 tablespoons (37 mL) pure maple syrup
Directions
- Peel and roughly chop sweet potatoes into large chunks. Place into a large pot and cover with water. Bring water to a boil, reduce heat to medium-high, and gently boil for 10 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain.
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Lightly grease a 2 1/2-quart (10-cup) casserole dish and set aside.
- Prepare the crumble topping: Pulse the oats in a food processor until coarsely chopped. In a medium bowl, stir together the chopped pecans, oats, almond meal/flour, cinnamon, and salt. Pour on melted coconut oil, melted butter, and maple syrup. Stir until combined.
- Once cooked and drained, place sweet potatoes into a large bowl.
- Mash potatoes with the butter and coconut oil until smooth. Now, stir in the maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Adjust to taste if desired. Spoon into casserole dish and smooth out.
- Sprinkle the crumble topping all over the sweet potato mixture, evenly.
- Bake, uncovered, at 375°F (190°C) for 16 to 23 minutes, until the dish is hot throughout. Plate and serve immediately with a pat of vegan butter or coconut oil.
Tip:
- For a creamy twist, try subbing some of the butter/oil in the sweet potato mash for full-fat canned coconut cream.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
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Took this recipe to a potluck and it was fabulous!
To finish the casserole in the over I put it in my Cast Iron skillet and it worked perfect!
Thank you for sharing!
Oh yumm. Sweet potatoes and oats in the same recipe! And some added sweetness, mmm. ;)
I have some sweet potatoes that will go bad in a few days if I don’t cook them. Definitely making this!
I can’t wait to try this tonight!
This sounds lovely. Going to give this a go. thanks for sharing this recipe.
Simon
Oh my goodness! This is so so good :-) Tastes so divine. Thank you for such a taste explosion Angela.
This looks delicious! Any substitutions for all the nuts for a person with a severe nut allergy? (I’m allergic to all peanuts and tree nuts)
I made this for a Thanksgiving potluck, and it was a delicious, under-the-radar-healthy, crowd pleaser. I used coconut flour instead of almond (solely because it’s 1/3 of the price), and it came out great!
Can’t wait to try this one!! Can I use coconut flour instead or almond?
Everyone loves this dish. My MIL was in love with the taste!! This will be my second time making. I just wish the topping was a little crunchier. I plan on not adding as much wet topping (butter and coconut oil).
Holy cow these are AWESOME! It’s not the point when cooking *healthy*, but my boyfriend and I ate the whole batch in, um, maybe one day and really didn’t feel that bad about it ;)
I didn’t have the *butter* and just used extra coconut oil in place and it was still just divine. I’ve already shared it three times and will be including it in some of my social media shares.
MAKE THESE!
I made this yesterday to ‘test’ for my Christmas Eve menu. It is wonderful! The smoothness of the sweet potato with the crunchiness of the topping is just fabulous. This will certainly be on the Christmas Eve menu. Thank you!
Sounds great! I’m going to try this for Christmas. I don’t usually keep almond flour at home; could I substitute regular all purpose flour, or something else?
Hi, can you use oat, plain, rice or tapioca flour instead of almond flour? Also, does it work OK with macadamia or almonds instead of pecans?
I’ve made this the past two Thanksgivings… since it’s been up on the blog. It is a wonderful crowd pleaser and your non-vegan family members will love it. Not too sweet, and you use real sweet potatoes (none of that canned stuff). The lovely crust it makes on the top is to die for.
I made this! My tip? Increase the maple syrup and add coconut whipped topping, its a dessert. For a side dish, decrease the syrup by half and its perfect.
I also omited the margarine…still delish! Great recipe all round.
Any options if no vegan butter is available? (small town, no stores that carry it!)
Hi Zahra, I’d say you could replace the vegan butter with more coconut oil. Or for the mash, simply omit the butter altogether (especially if you don’t want the coconut flavour to be too strong). Another option is to try full-fat coconut cream, or if you aren’t a fan of the coconut flavour, try refined coconut oil which is flavourless. Hope this helps!
THIS IS MY FAVOURITE FALL MEAL
Thanks for the options Angela!
Loved the recipe and it came out great. I used my kitchenaid to whip the potatoes and mix everything in. Loved the crumble topping, it would be perfect on a fruit dessert as well.
Pretty easy to throw together, too
Yay! Glad it was a hit. :)
I just made this using walnuts (ran out of pecans..) and it was sooo good. Thank you for a wonderful recipe! :)
Glad you enjoyed it Anya!
Love this recipe and have made it for the last few years at Thanksgiving! This year I need to make accommodations for a friend with a coconut allergy. Is there another vegan option?
This looks amazing and I am definitely planning on making this for Thanksgiving! I have family with nut allergies, would the recipe work with vegan marshmallows on top?
Hi Emily, sincere apologies for not getting back to you sooner! Did you end up trying it with the marshmallows? I’d love to hear how it went. :) (I expect the results would be pretty delish!)
I really love this recipe! I’m trying to remember though that I thought you offered a variation on the crust topping. Was there one with walnuts? and possibly brown sugar with oats.
This is the third Thanksgiving in a row that I am making this for my husband’s family! It’s such a crowd pleaser for ALL the palates (including my brother-in-law, who doesn’t like sweet potatoes, but loves this dish!). The whole family also likes the Double Chocolate Coconut Torte, but I was too lazy to make that one too this year :) Thanks for your awesome recipes!
One note to make this recipe even easier: roast the sweet potatoes in the oven a day ahead. If you roast them a bit extra, the skin will come right off when they’re cool, and it’s way easier! They’re also easier to mash this way.
Hi Kristen, Thanks so much for the lovely comment! And for sharing the great tip, as well. :) I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with the family!
Can you cook this in a slow cooker?
Could you substitute veggie broth for the oil and butter?
Newbie trying to eliminate oils.
Hi there! I think you try omitting the butter and coconut oil from the mash, and then if it looks like it needs a bit more moisture, add some veggie broth a bit at a time–but be careful, you don’t want your potatoes to end up on the watery side (the butter and oil and moisture, but they also add a richness that you can’t really mimic with veggie broth). Actually, what I would probably try first is to swap the oil and butter with coconut cream (the white cream), as it’s oil-free yet still really rich! As for the crumble topping, a good swap may be harder to find…pure maple syrup, maybe, and then watch it closely as it may bake faster?
The sweet potato casserole is amazing! I made that last night with the vegan caesar salad recipe! Both were amazing! Happy Canadian thanksgiving!
Love this website!
Hey Denise, I’m so happy to hear this (and the salad) were hits! Happy Thanksgiving to you too!
Do you think I could sub olive oil for coconut oil? My husband only eats olive oil if any oil is used. Thanks so much! Looks delicious!
Hey Carrie, I think it would depend on the olive oil most likely…some are quite strong tasting, but if you use a light olive oil I think that would probably be okay. :)
Hi, what is a better substitution for rolled oats, quick or steel cut oats? Thank you!
Hi Irina, Steel cut oats wouldn’t have enough time or liquid to cook so those are out. As for quick cook, I find those tend to get quite mushy so I’m not sure about those either. It would be an experiment!
I suggest baking the sweet potatoes on a foil covered sheet pan at 350F for 2 hours. Just put them on the pan and let them bake. They caramelize so beautifully and almost jump out of their skins! I think it’s best to peel them soon after they cool and then store them in the fridge if necessary.
I’m slicing the sweet potatoes after they are baked, adding a recipe of your warm nacho dip as a “cheese” sauce and covering with a pecan crumble. Your topping looks excellent so I’m switching to it. We’ll see whether folks like it or not …
Hey Steve, Oh I love that method of roasting sweet potatoes…you’re so right! I can almost taste them the way yo’ve described it. So good. So fun that you’re creating a dish with the cheese sauce and pecan crumble…sounds incredible!
This was fantastic! Not that I had any doubts. I’ve actually enjoyed the leftovers more today than I liked the right-out-of-the-oven creation last night. I followed the recipe as written, except added about 1/4 cup of coconut sugar and 1/4 cup of sweetened coconut flakes CAUSE IT’S THE HOLLIDAYS YA’LL! Thanks for the great recipe!
haha love your additions…why not right? And I agree with you that the leftovers are so good. Really nice topped on a hot bowl of oatmeal, too!
can’t wait to make this for christmas day! what do you think about using coconut butter instead of something like earth balance?
Hey Heather, Oh that’s a great question. I’m not sure if it would be too “coconut-y” or not if using coconut butter. I find it can have a strong taste, but maybe the potatoes would mellow it out. If you try anything please let me know how it goes!
Great recipe!!! I absolutely love it!!! However, I was slightly disappointed because I was searching for a main dinner dish and this one was suggested. My BF and I really loved it but really thought we were having dessert for dinner… But hey, no harm done!! We enjoy breaking the rules on occasion!! Thanks Angela!!
Hey Ve-Jen, Oh thank you so much for trying it! Glad it was a hit. And also thanks for the mention that it’s coming up under a main dish (it shouldn’t be!), so I will go fix that now.
Can you make this ahead of time without baking and then bake it the day of? Would you leave the toppings off until ready to bake?
How would you go about preparing it the day before? Thank you!!
Hey Stephanie, Yes you certainly can! I’ve done this the day before (wrap it up well so it doesn’t dry out) and then I let it come to room temperature before baking it (or I simply tack on some extra bake time to make up for the chilled state).
Hey Angela! Hoping to bring this to a potluck…would it work in a slow cooker?
Oh wow, that’s a fun idea!! I’m really not sure. I wonder if the slow cooker would allow the crumble to get crunchy enough? If you try anything I would love to hear how it goes.
Hi Angela!
SO love your blog and your recipes. Quick question – any issues with just skipping the nuts? Or a swap idea? We have to be nut-free due to allergies…
Thanks!
Crissie
Hey Crissie, Oh good question! I would probably swap the nuts for sunflower seeds, but I haven’t had a chance to try this out I don’t think. I think if you totally omitted them you might miss the crunch factor. ;) I would probably try 3/4 cup sunflower seeds (just so they don’t overwhelm the flavours as they are more bitter) and omit the almond flour (potentially replace it with a tablespoon or two of oat flour).
This will be my 3rd Thanksgiving making this dish and it’s always a hit! Just reread the recipe and can’t wait for next week! I always double the topping which pushes this into borderline dessert territory. Thanks for the recipe and sweet potatoes rule!!!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Scott! Happy cooking :)
Nice blog comment Thank you
Thanks Angela! I’ve been making this recipe for like 3 years now. Just made it again for Christmas Eve. Happy holidays!
I swear this is so good. It’s even good the next day to eat cold as a desert.