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!
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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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I’ve been dying to make this and finally made it yesterday for Thanksgiving. It was amazing! It was my favourite part of the meal and the favourite part of a lot of my guests too-
Such a hit! Also, for those of you wanting to do some advanced prep I did baked, mashed my potatoes the night before and prepared the dry crumble ingredients then on the big day I just had to melt the oil, butter and syrup and mix up the crumb topping. Note that I did cook it for about 15 mins longer to ensure it was well heated through. Thanks Angela for the excellent recipe! You never disappoint!
Oh my goodness, this looks delicious! I’m definitely making this! thanks for sharing! A healthier option for a family favorite.
I made this and brought it to Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. Everyone loved it! Thank you!!
Made this for my family yesterday (Thanksgiving) everyone LOVED it and said the recipe is a keeper. Leftovers are even good cold right out of the fridge!
Wow, made this yesterday and LOVED it!!! thank you so much for a great recipe!
Angela, I made this saweet potato casserole this weekend for our US Thanksgiving and it was delicious!! The crunchy nut topping was by far my favorite part. It matched perfectly and contrasted the mashed sweet potatoes well. I feel like that nut topping would make a really great granola base. Thanks again for the amazing recipe. Can’t wait to make this for years to come!
Made this for Thanksgiving…AH-MA-ZING! Will now be a holiday staple in our house.
I have been craving a vegan seasonal dessert and this totally hit the spot! So easy and delicious. I think it’s my new favorite :)
I took this to a Thanksgiving potluck this year and at first everyone was reluctant to try it as it wasn’t wearing marshmallows and coated in sugar, but once people tried a little, it ended up being the most popular side dish. Thank you for being the first person to show me that plant-based food can be savory and delicious :-)
I made this for my vegan/non-vegan family for Thanksgiving and it was INCREDIBLE. This is an absolute keeper.
I made these today to bring to my family’s small group meeting for church. Sweet potato casserole is one of my favorite dishes for thanksgiving, and this being my first vegan thanksgiving I must say these are great! It seemed an easy enough dish to veganise, but I really liked that you also didn’t even use sugar for sweetening it. It was perfect, in my opinion! Thanks so much for sharing!!
I forgot to mention!–the rest of my group (all omnivores) enjoyed these too!
Oh my goodness! Was introduced to this last night and my socks were completely blown off! A fantastic combination of flavours and a wonderful way to indulge in my favorite tuber. I can not get enough of this. In planning out my weekly menu I noticed that I have this listed for 3 meals and two snacks…. a day….. for the next seven days.
I made this for our extended family for Thanksgiving – my first sweet potato recipe, as I’ve traditionally made squash in the past. I received raves from everyone who tried it, and my 10-year-old daughter absolutely LOVED it (she said to put LOVED in all caps, that’s how much she loved it :).
Made this for Thanksgiving last week. All of my non-vegan relatives (which is all of them) were very impressed.
Thanks for this awesome recipe. It was a big hit at Thanksgiving for vegans and non-vegans!
Amazing recipe! Just had this for an early Christmas dinner and it was the talk of the table! Made no changes – perfect as is! Thank you for sharing!
I made this for the first time at Thanksgiving and it was so so delicious – will definitely be added the the menu for years to come. Thank you for this recipe and your wonderful blog!
Are these sweet potatoes or yams? Yams are more orange. Just curious. Thanks!
Hey :) sorry if this has already been asked, I did have a little look – just wpdering whether this could be frozen before cooking? Trying py get a load of Christmas prep done! Thanks x
I remember making something like this before and my culinary skills have improved also so will give it a try again. It seemed like effort the last time and I nearly ate all the sweet potato mash before it went in the casserole dish haha. This time it looks easy and delicious. Thanks for the lovely pics for inspiration. I feel this will be making an appearance on the 25th!