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This Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole with candied pecans makes the absolute perfect side dish at your Thanksgiving dinner or at your December holiday party. Do you want to know the best part? It’s lighter than your typical sweet potato casserole and free of refined sugar! Plus it’s easy to make-ahead of time and the perfect side to bring along to a potluck style dinner. Made in partnership with my friends at Ello Products.
Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole
Sweet Potato Casserole is an absolute favorite for many on Thanksgiving! If you haven’t had it before it is a layer of creamy cinnamon laced sweet potatoes topped with either a crumble, marshmallows or in our case, candied pecans. This Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole has all the flavor of the original but lightened up using unrefined sugar. I also love how simple this casserole is to prepare ahead of time and bring with you on-the-go to a potluck friendsgiving.
Sweet Potato Casserole Ingredients
- Sweet Potatoes
- Maple syrup or Honey
- Butter (or Ghee or Coconut oil)
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Vanilla
- Sea Salt
- Golden Raisins (optional)
- Pecans
Why we Love Ello Bakeware for Making this Dish
To make this extra portable I love baking this in Ello DuraGlass Bakeware Containers. For this recipe we’re using the 8×8 baking dish. These durable glass baking dishes are perfect for both cooking at home and bringing food along to cook on the go. What makes this line of bakeware special is that they come with a protective silicone sleeve that doubles as a trivet so a dish can go from the freezer or refrigerator, to the oven and then right to the table.
That makes these Ello DuraGlass Bakeware with matching lids perfect for holiday baking, especially for make-ahead and on-the-go dishes. Each container is perfectly portable and pretty cute too so it works as both bakeware and a serving dish.
I love using glass both for baking and for storage because it’s free of harmful chemicals, can be heated in the oven, and is (top-rack) dishwasher safe. Plus the crystal clear Tritan lid and colorful silicone sleeve let’s me easily see what is in the containers so I can keep my refrigerator more organized. This is especially helpful during the busy holiday season when there is a lot of food being cooked and prepared ahead of time.
A Perfect Make Ahead Dish
Casseroles are a perfect make-ahead dish. This Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole can be prepared ahead two ways:
- You can assemble, but not bake this dish. This is a good option if you are traveling with this dish, but want to eat it freshly baked. Prepare your casserole up until step 7, which is the actual baking time. Let the dish cool completely and then cover with your lid and store until ready to bake.
- You can fully bake this dish and reheat. This entire dish can be prepared fully, cooled completely and then stored in the refrigerator, for up to 1 day, until ready to serve. Reheat the dish in a warm oven until heated through, and the pecans are crispy again.
Looking for other Thanksgiving inspiration? Check out these recipes:
- Kale and Sweet Potato Stuffed Turkey Breast
- Grain-Free Apple Cranberry Crisp
- How to Roast a Thanksgiving Turkey (with Herbs and Citrus)
- Easy Gluten-Free Gravy
- Easy Gluten-Free Stuffing for Thanksgiving
- Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
Love sweet potatoes? Check out these recipes:
- Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Honey Mustard
- How to Make Sweet Potato Toast
- Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
- Sweet Potato Latkes
SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE WITH CANDIED PECANS
Ingredients
- 3 large 3 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
- 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
- 3 tablespoon grass-fed butter or ghee or coconut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt
- 1/2 cup golden raisins optional
For Quick Candied Pecans
- 1 cup whole raw pecans
- 3 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ºF and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large pot place cubed sweet potatoes and cover with water. Cover and let boil for 15 minutes or until fork-tender.
- Meanwhile, make quick candied pecans: Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add 1 cup pecans. Toast until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Carefully add maple syrup and mix to coat all pecans. Once the maple syrup is boiling, remove from heat, and spread on the baking sheet to cool.
- Drain potatoes and return back to the pot. To the sweet potatoes add maple syrup, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg vanilla and salt mash together until mostly smooth. If adding raisins, add in now. Alternatively you could pulse this in a food processor or high-speed blender if you want an ultra smooth filling.
- Scoop the mashed sweet potato into your Baking dish and smooth over the top.
- Garnish the sweet potato casserole with the pecans.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes and serve warm.
Notes
- Want to make this dish ahead of time to bring? You have two options!
- Make Ahead Instructions:
- You can make this dish up until the point of baking. Let it cool completely before covering with the Ello Storage Lid and store for up to 1 day until ready to bake. Or you can fully bake this dish, cool completely, cover and store for up to 1 day and reheat when ready to serve.
Nutrition
This post is sponsored by Ello Products. All thoughts and opinions are always 100% my own! I love the integrity of their products and think you’ll love them too. Thank you for continuing to support LCK and the brands I work with!
Can I use date sugar instead of honey or maple syrup? My husband can’t have either.
A date syrup should work!
This was by far the most wonderful sweet potato pie I’ve ever made. What made it so wonderful? Clean ingredients = no guilt!
I am so happy!
This was a huge hit at our Thanksgiving table! Just the right amount of sweet. I ended up roasting marshmallows on top so not as healthy. But I love how easy the recipe was to follow and great to make ahead and put in the oven right before dinner.
Can’t wait to make this for thanksgiving! Do you think I’d be able to add marshmallows to the top?
Yes!
Delicious!!!
What is the taste difference of using either honey or maple syrup in the sweet potatoes? Does one yield a sweeter flavor? Or does one compliment the potatoes more? Thanks!
I made these this year for Thanksgiving and it was delicious! I used the maple syrup (to keep it vegan for a family member) and made a slightly different topping, but the sweet potatoes were so good. I”m happy to have this to replace my old sweet potato casserole recipe, that was just full of (processed) sugar – all of that isn’t needed. Thank you Lexi for this recipe!
Wow this looks delicious and beautiful. I’m a sucker for anything pecan and the fact that this is healthy is right up my alley!