Sweet potato casserole with marshmallows is a popular Thanksgiving side dish that combines creamy mashed potatoes with toasted marshmallows for an easy but delightfully delicious dish!
Sweet potato casserole is a popular Thanksgiving side dish for a reason! It's sweet with just a hit of spice, and the toasted marshmallows give the casserole a welcome bit of texture and crunch.
This easy sweet potato casserole recipe may just be the best sweet potato casserole recipe. It's made with just a few simple ingredients, and most of the time spent making the casserole is just baking time (roasting the sweet potatoes and heating the casserole through). There's very little hands-on time, which is great on busy holidays.
I've also included directions for making the casserole ahead of time. You can check that out below!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Sweet potatoes - Most of the yams sold in the U.S. are actually sweet potatoes. Feel free to use "yams" if you can't find sweet potatoes.
- Brown sugar - Light or dark brown sugar will work. Whether or not you should pack the brown sugar depends on your desired sweetness. Pack the brown sugar for a sweet casserole.
- Butter - I like to use salted butter. Feel free to use unsalted butter if you prefer.
- Milk - Any milk from skim to whole milk will work. Whole milk will give you a creamier casserole.
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
- Ground cinnamon - Pumpkin pie spice also work well.
- Mini marshmallows
How to make sweet potato casserole with marshmallows
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a sheet pan with foil.
Pierce the potatoes all over with a fork.
Bake for 30-50 minutes, depending, on the size of your sweet potatoes, or until the potatoes fork tender. You can tell if they're fork tender because the fork will easily go through the potatoes.
Carefully cut the potatoes in half, and allow them to cool. Decrease the oven temperature to 350°F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, butter, milk, eggs, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon.
Scoop the flesh of the potatoes, and add it into the bowl. Mash everything together, and give it a good stir.
Spread the mixture into a medium casserole dish (2 quart baking dish). Bake for 25-30 minutes until heated though.
Sprinkle the mini marshmallows over the sweet potato filling and return to the oven to bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until the marshmallows are golden brown.
Can I make this ahead of time?
You can! After you spread the sweet potato mixture in the casserole pan in step 9, cover it with plastic wrap and chill.
The casserole can be stored in the fridge for 1-2 days before baking. When you're ready to bake it, uncover it and continue cooking it as the directions state.
Just be careful if you're using a glass pan. You never want to put cold glass into a hot oven as it can shatter.
Will yams work in this recipe?
In the U.S., nearly everything that is labeled as a yam is actually a sweet potato.
Can I use canned sweet potatoes or yams?
While you can use the canned sweet potatoes or yams, I highly recommend using fresh sweet potatoes. It takes a little more time because you have to roast them, but it is work the extra effort as roasting the sweet potatoes helps to concentrate the flavor.
If you want to use the canned version, just skip the first three steps and continue with the drained sweet potatoes.
More sweet potato recipes!
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Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows
Equipment
- 2 quart casserole dish
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup butter melted
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 cups mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a sheet pan with foil.
- Pierce the potatoes all over with a fork.
- Bake for 30-50 minutes, depending, on the size of your sweet potatoes, or until the potatoes fork tender. You can tell if they're fork tender because the fork will easily go through the potatoes.
- Carefully cut the potatoes in half, and allow them to cool.
- Decrease the oven temperature to 350°F.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, butter, milk, eggs, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon.
- Scoop the flesh of the potatoes, and add it into the bowl.
- Mash everything together.
- Spread the mixture into a medium (2 quart) casserole dish.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until heated though.
- Top the potatoes with the mini marshmallows and return to the oven to bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until the marshmallows are golden brown.
Notes
- Sweet potatoes - Most of the yams sold in the U.S. are actually sweet potatoes. Feel free to use "yams" if you can't find sweet potatoes.
- Brown sugar - Light or dark brown sugar will work. Whether or not you should pack the brown sugar depends on your desired sweetness.
- Pack the brown sugar for a sweet casserole.
- Butter - I like to use salted butter. Feel free to use unsalted butter if you prefer.
- Milk - Any milk from skim to whole milk will work. Whole milk will give you a creamier casserole.
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- Salt
- Ground cinnamon - Pumpkin pie spice also work well.
- Mini marshmallows
- Nutrition values are estimates.
Linda
I tried out this recipe for Thanksgiving. It was delicious and will be going on our Thanksgiving menu next year.
Kate
Thank you!