We are firm believers here at Mom's Dinner that recipes do not need to be full of complicated ingredients and steps to be absolutely delicious. This Sweet Potato Casserole fits the bill if you are looking for a super easy sweet potato side dish! It is made with canned yams which takes half the work out of making a Sweet Potato Casserole. They are mashed up and mixed with butter, eggs, brown sugar and seasonings. The topping is a pecan and brown sugar crumble that is SO delicious. I promise no body will know you used canned yams!
This Sweet Potato Casserole is not like these Savory Mashed Sweet Potatoes or Sweet Potato Souffle that lean towards the balanced sweet/savory flavors. This Sweet Potato Casserole recipe is definitely on the sweet side. Which makes it a great "sweet" side dish for a savory dinner, like Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Jump to:
- Ingredient Details
- Watch The Recipe
- How to Make Sweet Potato Casserole with Canned Yams
- Can you make sweet potato casserole ahead of time?
- Recipe Tips to Remember
- More Sweet Potato Recipes
- Did you make this recipe?
- Sweet Potato Casserole with Canned Yams
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Ingredient Details
- Canned Yams – are generally cooked sweet potatoes in a syrup. The syrup is drained off and they make an excellent sub for boiled of baked sweet potatoes in this dish. I have tried a few canned yams and found that Bruce’s Yams have a nice flavor.
- Brown Sugar – Just a little brown sugar rounds out the sweetness of the canned yams/sweet potatoes.
- Butter – Use a salted butter for the most flavor.
- Eggs – Just 2 eggs bind the sweet potato casserole together just enough so it is more of a casserole than soup.
- Milk – Adds liquid to the smashed yams. Any type of milk will work – 2%, whole, and even half&half.
- Pecans – you will want chopped pecans or pecan pieces. If you buy whole pecans you will want to chop them. Then toast them in a dry pan to bring out their nutty flavor and crunch
- Flour, Brown Sugar, Butter, Kosher Salt – all mix together then toasted pecans are added and it is a wonderful crumble topping on the sweet potato casserole.
How To Toast Nuts
Place a skillet over medium low heat. NO need to add oil, you want a dry pan. Once it is warm add the chopped pecans. Let them toast a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Once they start to darken (not burn!!) and smell nutty, they are toasted. This can take up to 5 minutes.
Yams VS Sweet Potatoes
This can get confusing… but no, sweet potatoes and yams are not the same thing. Although in America yams and sweet potatoes sometimes are confused or interchangeable because in the 1930’s Louisiana farmers named their sweet potatoes “Yams” to differentiate them from other states’ produce. Because of this marketing campaign, canned sweet potatoes are usually called yams.
Yams are a tuber and generally have a white flesh. They have an earthier flavor. While sweet potatoes are a root and have a bright orange flesh. They are also sweeter in flavor.
Watch The Recipe
How to Make Sweet Potato Casserole with Canned Yams
This is a quick over-view, with pictures, of how to make a super easy Sweet Potato Casserole with Canned Yams. For more detailed instructions and ingredients, pop down to the recipe card.
Step 1
Drained the canned yams.
Step 2
With a potato masher, completely mash the canned yams. Then mix with the brown sugar, melted butter, egg, milk and seasonings/spices.
Step 3
Toast the pecans and make the brown sugar, butter, pecan crumble topping.
Step 4
Grease an 8×8 baking dish, pour in the sweet potato mixture, then top with the pecan crumble.
Step 4
Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes at 350°F.
Can you make sweet potato casserole ahead of time?
You can make this Sweet Potato Casserole ahead of time, especially during the holidays when you have 20 other dishes to make!!
Simply prep the casserole completely, the day ahead, and cover with foil. Pop in the fridge. When it is time to bake, take it out of the fridge while the oven preheats. Bake as directed in the recipe card. You may need to add 5 minutes to the cooking time when baking straight out of the oven.
Recipe Tips to Remember
- Be sure to drain the syrup from the yams/sweet potatoes before mashing.
- Mash the yams with a fork or potato masher, do not use a potato ricer or food processor that will make the potatoes too smooth, you still want a little texture.
- Toast the pecans to bring out their nuttiness and crunch.
- Stir the topping really well so there are no ore dry ingredients in the bottom of the bowl.
More Sweet Potato Recipes
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Did you make this recipe?
I would love to hear your review, especially if you have tips and tricks to add! Pop down to the comment section and connect with me
Sweet Potato Casserole with Canned Yams
Equipment
- 8×8 casserole pan
Ingredients
Sweet Potatoes
- 40 oz canned yams - drained
- 5 tablespoon salted butter - melted
- 2 large eggs - lightly beaten
- ⅓ cup milk
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- non stick spray
Pecan Topping
- 1 cup pecans - toasted and chopped
- 5 tablespoons butter - slightly melted
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- pinch kosher salt
Instructions
Sweet Potato Mixture
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Grab an 8×8 or 9×9 baking pan, spray with non stick spray and set aside.non stick spray
- Drain the canned yams. Mash in a large bowl with a potato masher or large fork.40 oz canned yams
- Melt the butter and pour into the yams, add in the eggs, milk, brown sugar, vanilla, kosher salt and cinnamon.5 tablespoon salted butter, 2 large eggs, ⅓ cup milk, ¼ cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Pour into a greased pan. Smooth the top.
Topping
- Toast the pecans in a dry pan.1 cup pecans
- In a bowl combine the brown sugar, flour and kosher salt. Then add in the pecans and melted butter, stir with a fork until it starts to form into crumbles.5 tablespoons butter, ⅔ cup brown sugar, ½ cup all purpose flour, pinch kosher salt
Assembly
- Pour the sweet potato mixture into the prepared pan. Crumble the brown sugar pecan mixture over top the sweet potatoes.
Baking
- Bake at 350℉ for 45 minutes until the topping is bubbly.
Recipe Tips and Notes:
- Be sure to drain the syrup from the yams/sweet potatoes before mashing.
- Mash the yams with a fork or potato masher, do not use a potato ricer or food processor that will make the potatoes too smooth, you still want a little texture.
- Toast the pecans to bring out their nuttiness and crunch.
- Stir the topping really well so there are no ore dry ingredients in the bottom of the bowl.
Michelle S. says
Hi! Can I replace the pecans (which sound delicious to me, but I have to please the …. others…. Can I replace the pecans with marshmallows? And how would that affect the cooking time? I’m assuming it would reduce…? Thanks & Happy Thanksgiving!
Susie Weinrich says
Hi Michelle- I don’t think I would replace the pecan with marshmallows, I personally think that would be way too sweet.
If they can have seeds you can maybe sub in pepitas so you still get the crunch. The other option would be to do an oat crumble topping:
¾ cup all purpose flour
¾ cup old fashioned oats
½ cup brown sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
6 Tbsp cold butter cut into ½ inch pieces
Crumble all that together and then sprinkle over the top of the sweet potato mixture. Then bake at 350°F for just 40 minutes.
(( I haven’t tested this but it should work perfectly)) Happy Thanksgiving! Susie
Angela Feyerabend says
How much does this recipe serve?
Susie Weinrich says
I would say 6 people.
TERESA D. MCINTYRE says
Do you have to use the kosher salt ?
Susie Weinrich says
No, but if you use iodized table salt you will want to cut it back by half.
Linda Mikunda says
I want to make this in a 9×13 dish Do I just double the recipe? Please help
Susie Weinrich says
Exactly! Double the ingredients, pop it in a 9×13… baking time should be the same or maybe 5 minutes more. Just watch that the topping doesn’t get too dark if adding cooking time. If it’s looking dark just tent some foil over the pan.
Madeline says
I was wondering if this could be done in a crockpot? I have a Thanksgiving i must attend before hosting another at my home, and it would massivly save on my oven space if it could be done in a crockpot!
Susie Weinrich says
Unfortunately, I don’t think the topping would turn out quite right in the crockpot.
Linda says
Hi, I was wondering if this is freezable?
Susie Weinrich says
I have not tested that so I cannot say with 100% certainty. I would be afraid that freezing would change the texture quite a bit.
Margaret says
Going to make this for Thanksgiving,can this be put together the day before and then cooked the day of? Thanks
Happy Holidays!
Susie Weinrich says
Yes, but I would wait until it is time to cook to add the pecan topping.
Shelly says
I am in Ontario, Canada. It is our Thanksgiving weekend here. I had 2 cans of Bruce’s Yams from my last trip to the US, so I used them in this recipe and brought it to our family dinner tonight. It was a hit, everyone loved it! I had doubled the recipe so there was a lot to go around. It’s definitely a keeper recipe!
Andrea says
great taste, easy to prepare. will use a lot. thanks
Susie Weinrich says
Wonderful! It’s a great one to make for your holiday table.
Sharon Hughes says
Delicious and so easy to make!
Dannette Reed says
Yes and it was a big hit . Thank you so much for this recipe
Susan says
Add a tablespoon or two of Bourbon to the sweet potatoe mixture. It takes it over the top.
Susie Weinrich says
What a great idea!!!!
Debbie G says
Yummy! This was so good and I was tempted to eat it for dessert. This is the way I remember sweet potato casserole when I was a girl. My granny added crushed canned pineapple to hers, but I followed your recipe and it was amazing.
Earl C says
how about trying to put the instructions in a specific order and not repeat in a mixed up way. Too confusing and you could have removed half of what was on here doing so.
Susie Weinrich says
It actually is in a very specific order… Yams, Topping, Bake. I’m sorry you found that confusing. I try to be very concise with my instructions, even including photos and the associated ingredients with each step. Did you make the recipe?
Susie Stagno says
Please don’t change how you wrote this yam casserole. This is easy to read, not confusing at all, (to me).
I’m a teacher for Special needs students for a High School in Northern California.
On the 21st of this month we’re having a little feast for our students. I’ll let you know how it went with a photo.
Thank you Susie for sharing your Sweet Potato Casserole with us.
Blessings
Susie Stagno
Susie Weinrich says
A fellow Susie!!!!!!!! Hello!!!
Im so glad this recipe will work for you. Please report back how it goes over with everyone.
Anna Marie Hansel says
can you double the recipe for a 9 x 13 pan and add mini marshmallows?
Susie Weinrich says
You can definitely double the recipe, a 9×13 should work great. I haven’t tested it with mini marshmallows, but you do you!!! If it sounds good, go for it! 🧡
Pat Breeden says
This is a question, can you reheat it?
Susie Weinrich says
For leftovers, absolutely! If you are thinking of making it ahead of time I would make the sweet potato portion and refrigerate.
But I would wait to make the topping right before baking. Does that answer the question? If not, let me know.
Kim says
This lovely dish is already very sweet; it tastes almost like a dessert. You might want to try it as the recipe is written before you add marshmallows.
Nicole says
I can’t wait to try this, but could you please explain a little more about how you toast the pecans? I’ve never done it before and I’m not sure if it’s a dry pan on the stove top or in the oven? If the oven, approximately how long and what temp? Thanks!
Susie Weinrich says
Absolutely…. You will want to put a dry skillet (no oil) on the stove top at about medium to medium low heat.
Add the pecans and warm them, making sure they don’t burn. Toss or stir them for a few minutes. They may turn a little deeper golden
color and will start to smell strong of pecans/nuts.
Let me know if you have other questions!