Our favorite holiday side dish is better than ever! This paleo or vegan sweet potato casserole recipe is a naturally sweetened combination of mashed sweet potato filling and a crunchy maple pecan topping your whole family will LOVE.
Since 2016, this paleo sweet potato casserole recipe has been a staple on our holiday table and hundreds of your holiday tables. It’s THE BEST!
- It’s EASY to make. No fancy skills or special equipment required! You won’t need any fancy flours or hard-to-find ingredients either.
- It’s DELICIOUS. Velvety smooth sweet potato puree is topped with a crunchy maple pecan topping. Every bite has a delicious combination of textures and balanced flavor.
- It’s HEALTHIER than classic sweet potato casserole. This gluten-free sweet potato casserole is naturally sweetened, easily dairy-free, and paleo AND vegan friendly. It works for so many different dietary needs!
- It’s a CROWD FAVORITE. This is always one of the first Thanksgiving side dishes to disappear! The creamy sweet potatoes, the perfect crunch of the pecans? ALWAYS a hit!
- It’s MAKE-AHEAD FRIENDLY. Another great thing about this classic side dish is that you can absolutely make it in advance, which frees up time on Thanksgiving Day!
Here’s all you need to get started on this healthy sweet potato casserole recipe…
Simple Ingredients To Start
So, what makes this paleo/vegan sweet potato casserole different from traditional sweet potato casserole? A few simple ingredient swaps! Let’s take a look:
- Fresh Sweet Potatoes. To start, you’ll need peeled, diced sweet potatoes. Look for orange-flesh sweet potatoes, rather than purple sweet potatoes or white sweet potatoes. (Some stores in the U.S. label these as yams).
- Dairy-Free Milk. Next up is your favorite non-dairy milk. Use whatever you drink at home–almond milk, cashew milk, oat milk, coconut milk, and soy milk all work! (For paleo, avoid soy milk.)
- A Little Fat. Next, you’ll need some melted butter, ghee, melted vegan butter (like Earth Balance), or melted coconut oil. Choose the one that fits your dietary needs best!
- Pure Maple Syrup. No white sugar or brown sugar here! Maple syrup (NOT pancake syrup!) adds just the right amount of subtle sweetness to both the sweet potato filling and the crunchy pecan topping.
- Salt & Vanilla. Some kosher salt and vanilla extract round out the flavors beautifully.
- Eggs or An Egg Substitute. For paleo, feel free to use regular eggs. For vegan, use 2 Tablespoons powdered egg substitute (such as Ener-G egg replacer or The Neat Egg), or 1 Tablespoon cornstarch).
- Raw Pecans. For the maple pecan topping, you’ll need RAW pecans. If you use toasted or roasted pecans, they’ll burn in the oven. Start with raw pecans for best results!
- Cinnamon. A little bit of cinnamon adds the perfect finishing flavor!
How To Make Vegan or Paleo Sweet Potato Casserole, Step By Step
As always, you can find the full recipe with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below.
First, Make The Sweet Potato Filling
- Cook Sweet Potatoes. Place sweet potato cubes in a large pot and cover by at least 2-3 inches of water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil until fork tender (potatoes will pierce easily with a fork). Drain sweet potatoes.
- Combine. Transfer cooked sweet potatoes to a large bowl. Add milk, butter/oil, syrup, salt, vanilla, and egg/egg sub.
- Mash with a potato masher, fork, or hand mixer until no lumps remain. If needed, add 2-3 Tbsp additional milk if your mixture seems too thick. (For perfectly smooth mash, you can work in batches and puree in a food processor or blender!)
- Transfer. Pour the mashed sweet potato mixture into an 8×8 or 2 quart baking dish and smooth the surface. (You can make the sweet potato casserole up to this point the day before Thanksgiving, if desired. Simply cover the baking dish and refrigerate)
Next, Make The Pecan Topping & Bake
- Preheat. When ready to bake the sweet potatoes, preheat the oven temperature to 375 degrees F.
- Combine. In a medium bowl, combine pecans, butter/oil, syrup, cinnamon, and salt.
- Sprinkle pecan crumble mixture on top of the sweet potatoes.
- Cover the dish with foil and bake 20 minutes at 375 degrees.
- Remove foil and bake another 20-25 minutes. If pecans begin to brown too quickly, simply cover with foil again.
- Serve & Store. Enjoy warm from the oven. Store leftovers covered with plastic wrap or foil in the fridge 2-3 days. (You *can* transfer it to an airtight container, but I find the layers preserve better in the casserole dish.)
A Tip For Holiday Meals
If you’ve got multiple things in the oven (like for Thanksgiving Dinner!), allow yourself some extra time. If your oven is set to a lower temperature or full of other dishes, you’ll need to bake this closer to an hour. Be sure to watch your pecans, so they don’t burn. (I only remove the foil when there’s about 20 minutes to go.)
FAQ + Tips And Tricks For The Best Paleo or Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole
Make-Ahead Tips. For best results, I recommend making the sweet potato filling and pecan topping and storing them separately until right before baking. You can keep them both in the fridge 1 day in advance, then assemble right before baking the next day.
Vegan Notes. For vegan, be sure to use dairy-free milk, vegan butter or coconut oil in place of butter, and either cornstarch or powdered egg substitute. If using powdered egg substitute, follow the directions on the package. Most call for about 1 Tbsp of water per 1 Tbsp of powder.
Double The Recipe. If you’re feeding a crowd, feel free to double the recipe to fit a 9×13 casserole dish! The bake time & instructions will stay the same.
CAN I MAKE THIS WITH MARSHMALLOW TOPPING INSTEAD? If you prefer your sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, you can use vegan marshmallows or try this paleo marshmallow fluff or this vegan marshmallow fluff topping!
Did You Make This Recipe?
Tell me all about it! Leave a star rating below when you try our Healthy Paleo Sweet Potato Casserole recipe. I can’t wait to hear how it goes!
Paleo (or Vegan!) Sweet Potato Casserole
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Mash Ingredients:
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes about 3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1/3 cup non-dairy milk I use unsweetened almond milk, cashew milk, or coconut milk
- 3 Tablespoons butter ghee, vegan butter, or coconut oil (melted)
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs 2 Tbsp egg substitute (such as Ener-G egg replacer or The Neat Egg), or 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
Pecan Topping Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups pecans roughly chopped
- 2 Tablespoons butter ghee, vegan butter, or coconut oil (melted)
- 3 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch kosher salt or sea salt
Instructions
Make The Sweet Potato Mash:
- Cook Sweet Potatoes. Place sweet potato cubes in a large pot and cover by at least 2-3 inches of water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil 8-10 min or until fork tender (potatoes will pierce easily with a fork). Drain sweet potatoes.
- Combine. Transfer cooked sweet potatoes to a large mixing bowl. Add milk, butter/oil, syrup, salt, vanilla, and egg/egg sub.
- Mash with a potato masher, fork, or hand mixer until no lumps remain. If needed, add 2-3 Tbsp additional milk if your mixture seems too thick. (For perfectly smooth mash, you can work in batches and puree in a food processor or blender!)
- Transfer. Pour the mashed sweet potatoes mixture into an 8×8 or 2 quart baking dish and smooth the surface. (You can make the sweet potato casserole up to this point the day before Thanksgiving, if desired. Simple cover the baking dish and refrigerate)
Make The Topping & Bake:
- Preheat. When ready to bake the sweet potatoes, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Combine. In a medium bowl, combine pecans, butter/oil, syrup, cinnamon, and salt.
- Sprinkle pecan streusel topping over the sweet potato mash.
- Cover the dish with foil and bake 20 minutes at 375 degrees.
- Remove foil and bake another 20-25 minutes. If pecans begin to brown too quickly, simply cover with foil again.
- Serve & Store. Enjoy warm from the oven. Store leftover sweet potato casserole covered in the fridge 2-3 days. (You *can* transfer it to an airtight container, but I find the layers preserve better in the casserole dish.)
- **If you’ve got multiple things in the oven (like on Thanksgiving), allow yourself some extra time. If your oven is set to a lower temperature or full of other dishes, you’ll need to bake this closer to an hour. Be sure to watch your pecans (I only remove the foil when there’s about 20 minutes to go).
Notes
- Vegan Notes. For vegan, be sure to use dairy-free milk, vegan butter or coconut oil, and either cornstarch or powdered egg substitute. If using powdered egg substitute, follow the directions on the package. Most call for about 1 Tbsp of water per 1 Tbsp of powder.
- Double The Recipe. If you’re feeding a crowd, feel free to double the recipe to fit a 9×13 casserole dish! The bake time & instructions will stay the same.
- Make-Ahead Tips. For best results, I recommend making the sweet potato filling and pecan topping and storing them separately until right before baking. You can keep them both in the fridge 1 day in advance, then assemble right before baking.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition facts are an estimate only and will vary based on brands and amounts used.
Originally shared November 2016. Updated Nov 2021, then updated and republished again October 2024.
I made this for Thanksgiving, and it was so delicious! My friend who doesn’t typically like sweet potatoes could not stop eating it and asked for the recipe. This is definitely a keeper! Thank you for sharing!
Oh, hooray!!! That’s so wonderfu! I’m so glad it was a win for you and your friend!
I spontaneously made this recipe because I happened to have sweet potatoes and vegan marshmallows. I made the base as directed using oat milk, coconut oil, and cornstarch. For the topping I added an extra drizzle of maple syrup, a sprinkle of coconut sugar, my vegan marshmallows, and some pumpkin seeds. It honestly blew me away! I will try this with the pecan streusel asap. Thank you for sharing!!
Delicious! I’m so glad you loved it!
perfect! I used coconut oil and almond milk to avoid dairy. I’m thrilled.
Delicious1 So glad it was a win for you!
Hi, I just found your recipe. And I am planning to make it tomorrow. I have a question, why is the baking time so long considering the sweet potato puree is already cooked? 🙂
Hi, Helen! It’s to help evaporate some of the liquid and to let the filling firm up and cook through. 🙂
Been making this recipe for years! Never disappoints and everyone loves it
So glad it’s a win for you!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a kind review!
Thank you for a wonderful recipe! I’ve made this for many Thanksgiving dinners and my family loves it! I’ve used 4 cans of Farmer’s Market Organic Sweet Potato Puree for a double batch and it works great! Last year I made it with EnerG egg replacer and it was okay, but everyone definitely prefers it with real eggs. Thanks again for a wonderful recipe! Happy Thanksgiving!
THANK YOU for sharing! So good to know about the canned sweet potato puree!
Wanted to send you an update…this Thanksgiving I couldn’t find the cans of organic sweet potato puree so I bought organic fresh sweet potatoes. I baked them with the skins on at 400F around 45 minutes-1 hour then removed the skins easily once cool and followed your recipe from there. Everyone raved about the sweet potatoes this year! I guess I’ll be making this from fresh instead of canned from now on! Thanks again for a wonderful recipe!
Hooray! Thanks so much for sharing!
I printed this out years ago and have used it so many times that I just printed a fresh copy. I get compliments every time I make this sweet potato casserole. The only change I made was that instead of dicing and boiling the potatoes, I bake them the night before and easily peel off the skin the next day before making the casserole. It adds some natural sweetness.
That’s a GREAT way to get ahead! Love that tip!
This sounds great, Becca Boo! Do you do anything to them before baking them (cut, poke holes, wrap in foil, etc.)? Also, how long do you bake them for and at what temp? Thank you so much!!
Hi there!
I’m very interested in making this recipe for Thanksgiving after reading all of the fabulous reviews. We are dairy, egg, and *somewhat* nut free due to food allergies. Do you have any recommendations on an alternative to pecans for the topping? We are able to have almonds or hazelnuts, but that’s pretty much it for nuts.
One other question – I’m debating making it with the marshmallows if there aren’t many good alternatives to the nuts. Is it the same instructions/cooking time with the marshmallows – just add them in place of the streusel topping?
Thank you!
Hi Lib! I haven’t made this with any other nuts, but I think hazelnuts would be delicious. MANY readers have added marshmallows and loved it! I’ve never used marshmallows, but many recipes that do tend to add the marshmallows right before baking. I’d probably add them after removing the foil for the second part of the bake time.
Awesome thank you so much!
Hello – I’m very interested in this recipe for Thanksgiving! I’m wondering, could I sub out the regular sweet potatoes for canned sweet potatoes instead (saving on cooking time and chopping)? If so, how many cans would you recommend and what do you think total cooking time would be?
Thank you!
Hi, Becca! I haven’t made this with canned sweet potatoes before, so I can’t advise you from experience.
Here’s my best guess: the ultimate bake time should be the same since either way you’re starting with cooked sweet potatoes. I *believe* you’d need around 5 cups of mashed sweet potato mash, and 1 (15-ounce) can will give you about 1 cup of mash. So approximately 5 (15-ounce) cans? Again, I haven’t tried this, so you might have to do some googling!
Another thing to keep in mind is that the flavor and texture will be different using canned sweet potatoes. They’ll have a wetter texture than fresh and the flavor will also be a little different.
Okay, thank you!
In a rush without pecans, made the bottom filling and topped with a flour slurry to serve during Sukkot. So pleasantly flavored. It taste sweet yet is not a sugar bomb that weighs down the stomach. Will be making again next week for Canadian Thanksgiving, and will definitely make the effort to include the pecan topping. I know it will be even more delicious. Thinking this may become my new holiday sweet potato dish.
Oh, wow! I’m so glad it was a win for you! Happy Thanksgiving and Chag Sameach!