This paleo sweet potato casserole is a Thanksgiving show stopper! The sweet potatoes are light and fluffy, and the casserole is topped with an irresistible and slightly sweet crispy pecan crumble. It’s nourishing, comforting, and easy to make a day ahead of time.
When it comes to all the goodness of Thanksgiving, there’s nothing more comforting than this paleo sweet potato casserole. The light and luxurious texture of the sweet potatoes, and that crisp pecan crumble topping! It’s a side dish show stopper everyone will be coming back for.
My goal with this paleo sweet potato casserole recipe was to keep the ingredients hearty, nourishing, and simple. In this family, we’re totally team pecan streusel topping, which is pretty obvious given that it’s a component of my Baked Apple Crisp, Paleo Pumpkin Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel, and Gingerbread Coffee Cake. What can I say, I’m a sucker for that golden crunchy and sweet texture! I think you will be too once you try it.
This paleo sweet potato casserole pairs really well with other savory side dishes, and is so darn good with turkey. I love this dish because it’s also great as leftovers. Pro tip—if you’re burnt out on Turkey, heat it up and put a little ground beef on top. Perfection!
If you’ve already got a lot going on on Thanksgiving day (who doesn’t), this casserole rocks because you can do all the prep work 1-2 days in advance. Simply prep the entire casserole, but don’t bake it. Store it sealed in the refrigerator, and pull it out when you’re ready to bake it on Thanksgiving day.
Making the Paleo Sweet Potato Casserole Base
This paleo sweet potato casserole base is simple, grain-free, and nourishing! It’s made up of sweet potatoes, coconut milk, ghee, and eggs, and is seasoned with vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt. There’s also just a touch of maple syrup to give it a hint of sweetness.
If you’re making this vegan, you can use Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer instead of eggs. It works well in this recipe and will give the sweet potatoes a light and fluffy texture.
To make this casserole, you’ll boil the sweet potatoes until fork tender. Then, drain the potatoes and add them to a mixing bowl. Add the remaining casserole ingredients, and whip them together in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer. Once the sweet potato mixture is smooth, spread it evenly in the casserole dish.
Pecan Crumble Topping
This golden pecan crumble topping is just about as easy as it gets. It’s made with almond flour, arrowroot flour, coconut sugar, pecans, and ghee, and is seasoned with cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. It’s sweetened with a hint of maple syrup. The arrowroot flour is what gives the pecan crumble topping a nice crispy texture.
While the potatoes are boiling, add all of the dry ingredients together. Then, mix in the ghee and maple syrup with the back of a fork. Don’t over mix it! You want it to be fully incorporated, but still nice and crumbly. Then, just crumble the topping all on top of the sweet potato casserole and bake it.
To make the pecan crumble topping vegan, just use coconut oil instead of ghee.
Why I Love This Paleo Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe
- This paleo sweet potato casserole is easy to whip together and can be prepped 1-2 days ahead of time.
- The recipe contains simple, nourishing ingredients. The crumble is perfectly crisp and slightly sweet.
- On the Thanksgiving table, this dish pairs perfectly with other savory sides, and of course—it’s heavenly with turkey!
- This sweet potato casserole recipe is grain-free, dairy-free, paleo, and can easily be made vegan. It naturally fits a variety of dietary needs, so everyone is included!
Tips and Tricks for my Paleo and Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole
- Boiling is the easily and fastest way to cook sweet potatoes. When cubing the sweet potatoes, make sure they’re all about 1-inch in size so they cook up quickly.
- To test the sweet potatoes for doneness, just take a cube out and pierce it with a fork. If the fork slides in easily, they’re done!
- Use the beater attachment with your mixer when whipping the paleo sweet potato casserole ingredients together. If you don’t have a mixer, you can use a potato masher—it will take just a bit more effort.
- To make this paleo sweet potato casserole a day or two in advance, simply prepare the entire casserole as written, but don’t bake it. You can store the unbaked sweet potato casserole in the refrigerator with a snap lid. If your casserole dish doesn’t have a snap lid, place the entire casserole dish in a large ziplock bag and seal it. When you’re ready to bake your paleo sweet potato casserole, just remove the dish from the ziplock bag and fire up the oven!
- To make a vegan sweet potato casserole, simply use egg substitute in the casserole and coconut oil in the crumb topping.
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This paleo sweet potato casserole is a Thanksgiving show stopper! The sweet potatoes are light and fluffy, and the casserole is topped with an irresistible and slightly sweet crispy pecan crumble. It’s nourishing, comforting, and easy to make a day ahead of time.
Ingredients
Casserole Ingredients:
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- ⅓ cup full-fat coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons ghee or coconut oil (vegan)
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 eggs (for vegan, use 2 tablespoons egg substitute like Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer)
Pecan Topping:
- ½ cup chopped raw pecans
- ½ cup blanched almond flour
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot flour
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons ghee or coconut oil (vegan), room temperature
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit and grease a medium baking dish (2-quart or 8×8 baking dish is best).
- Place the cubed sweet potatoes in a large pot, and fill the pot with water so that the potatoes are complete covered. Place the pot over high heat. Once the water begins to boil, reduce the heat to medium and cook the potatoes for 12-15 minutes, or until fork tender.
- While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the pecan topping. In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, arrowroot flour, coconut sugar, chopped pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add the ghee and maple syrup, and fold them into the dry mixture with the back of a fork until a uniform crumble forms.
- Drain the potatoes, and add them to a stand mixer or large mixing bowl. Add the coconut milk, ghee, maple syrup, vanilla, and sea salt. Using the beater attachment, whip the ingredients together until smooth. Fold in the eggs.
- Pour the sweet potato mixture into the prepared baking dish and spread evenly. Crumble the pecan topping evenly on top of the sweet potato mixture in the dish.
- Cover the dish with aluminum foil, and bake 20 minutes. Uncover the dish, and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes until the topping is golden brown and crisp. Let the casserole sit for 5 minutes prior to serving.
What did you think about this paleo sweet potato casserole? If it made it on your Thanksgiving table, comment and let me know below!
Be strong,
hi! are you using an 8×8 baking dish in the pictures posted? that size seems so small for feeding 12 as a side.
Yep! A 2 quart baking dish is best. It’s pretty darn thick.
okay so you wouldn’t recommend using a 9×13 2.5 baking dish then?
I wouldn’t. You could, but a 2 quart baking dish is best.
How many cups of diced sweet potatoes is 2 lbs?
Not sure about that measurement—that can vary based on how they’re diced. You can weigh it with a food scale!