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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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!