I recently watched Trisha Yearwood make this Sweet Potato Souffle recipe on her show as I was working on another recipe. It looked so good that I could not help but turn the oven on to bake the sweet potatoes that I bought for a soup recipe that I wanted to try this week. Oh well, I guess I will make the soup some other time…
It ended up being so good that I had to share. This Southern-style sweet potato souffle (or some also call “sweet potato casserole”) is the perfect side dish for your holiday table. Made with heavy pecan topping it is truly delicious. It is surely one of my favorite Thanksgiving side dishes.
The best part is that with a little bit of advance prep, it can be put together in just about 10 minutes to bake right before serving. Intrigued? Let’s break it down.
Sweet Potato Souffle Ingredients:
This recipe has two sets of ingredients. The first set is the pecan topping and the second one is the sweet potato casserole part aka the souffle.
Pecan Topping:
To make the pecan topping, you will need:
- Pecans
- Brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
- All-purpose flour
- Unsalted butter (or coconut oil) at room temperature
Sweet Potatoes:
To make the fluffy sweet potato souffle you will need:
- Unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- Sweet potatoes
- Large eggs
- Sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Whole milk
- A pinch of salt.
How To Cook Sweet Potatoes for this recipe
I followed in Trisha’s footsteps to roast the sweet potatoes. To roast sweet potatoes:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cover a sheet pan with aluminum foil and set aside.
- Poke sweet potatoes with a fork in several places and place on the sheet pan.
- Roast for about an hour and 15 minutes or until a knife inserted into a sweet potato comes in and out easily. I usually turn them halfway through to make sure they are roasted evenly.
- Let them cool 10-15 minutes and remove the flesh using a spoon. Place it in a large mixing bowl.
How to Make Sweet Potato Souffle?
Once the sweet potatoes are cooked, the process of making this sweet potato souffle recipe is quite easy and quick with three steps:
- Prepare the sweet potatoes filling /mixture (aka the bottom layer): Mix together the sweet potato flesh with eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, milk and a pinch of salt. You can use a stand mixer or a hand mixer to do this. Transfer the mixture into an 8X11 or 9X13 oven proof casserole dish (or large soufflé dish) that is greased with butter.
- Make The Pecan Topping: Mix together roughly chopped pecans, all purpose flour, butter, and brown sugar. It should look like streusel topping.
- Assemble & Bake: Distribute the sweet potato souffle topping evenly over the sweet potato mixture. Bake in a preheated 350 F degree oven for 40 minutes.
Pecans coated with brown sugar and butter give the sweet potatoes a surprising “streusel” like crunch. With every bite, you will want to eat more. Guaranteed.
Make ahead & Storage Instruction
To Make Ahead
You can prepare every component of this baked sweet potato soufflé recipe a day in advance and bake it right before serving. To do so:
- Roast the sweet potatoes, let it cool for 20 minutes, and prepare the sweet potato casserole layer (the bottom layer). Place it in an airtight container and keep it in the fridge.
- Make the pecan topping and place it in a seperate airtight container and keep it in the fridge.
- Assemble right before serving: Spread the sweet potato mixture in an oven-proof casserole dish. Top it off with the pecan crumble topping.
- Bake in a 350 F degree oven for 40 minutes or until bubbling.
Storage: What to do with the leftovers?
I doubt that you’ll have any leftovers but if you do, place them in an airtight container and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days.
FAQ:
For questions like this, I usually go to big recipe sites like Food Network and All Recipes. When you look at their sweet potato souffle and sweet potato casserole recipes, you’ll see that they are pretty much the same thing. From what I understand, most people use the terms sweet potato souffle and sweet potato casserole interchangeably.
However, I have seen some other recipe sites differentiate their sweet potato casserole recipe by adding all-purpose flour into the sweet potato mixture to make it fluffier.
To be honest, I do not see the need to add in any flour and I think this Southern-style sweet potato souffle recipe is perfectly fluffy without it.
I usually serve this as a side dish to serve with Turkey for Thanksgiving. However, it is perfectly sweet enough to serve as a dessert.
You sure can. I think it tastes very good when it is chilled or when it is served at room temperature.
Recipes Tips & Tricks:
- Ingredient substitutions: You can substitute coconut sugar for brown sugar for the topping. However, I do not recommend doing so for the sweet potato layer.
- Let baked sweet potatoes cool down before making the mixture: It is imperative that you let the sweet potato flesh cool down before mixing it with eggs. If it is too hot, the residual heat might turn your eggs into scrambled eggs.
- Use different nuts: I think we can all agree, a true Southern style sweet potato souffle is made with pecans, you can also use walnuts in this recipe.
In the midst of prepping for Thanksgiving day, if you need an easy-to-make but delicious side dish /dessert with amazing flavors you have got to try this Trisha Yearwood Sweet Potato Casserole recipe.
I promise it will not disappoint.
Other Sweet Potato Recipes you might also like
- Easy Mashed Sweet Potatoes
- Vegan Sweet Potato Carrot Ginger Soup
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts
- Sweet Potato Biscuits
Other Thanksgiving side dishes you might like
- Delicata Squash Recipe
- Apple Salad Recipe
- Roasted Carrots – with the volume turned up!
- Wild Rice Salad Recipe
- Vegan Butternut Squash Soup
- Stuffed Acorn Squash
Sweet Potato Souffle Recipe
Ingredients
For the Souffle:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (4 oz. or 1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon (to grease the casserole dish)
- 5 medium sweet potatoes you need 5-6 cups flesh
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar (Or cane sugar)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup whole milk (or almond milk)
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
For the toppings:
- 1 cup pecans coarsely chopped
- 1 cup brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (2oz. or 1/2 stick)
Instructions
To Bake The Sweet Potatoes:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Using a fork, poke the sweet potatoes and place them on a foil (or parchment) covered sheet pan. Bake for an hour and 15 minutes, or until a knife inserted in a potato comes in and out easily. (The original recipe states to bake it for an hour, but it took me 15 more minutes. Keep an eye on it after an hour.)
- Take it out of the oven and let it cool for 20 minutes. Do not turn the oven off.
To Make the Sweet Potato Souffle (aka the bottom layer)
- Using the 1 tablespoon of butter, generously grease an oven-proof casserole dish (I used an 8X11 pyrex but 9X13 would also work). Set aside.
- Peel the sweet potatoes and place the flesh into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (you can also use a hand mixer).
- Add the rest of the butter, eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, milk, and kosher salt in the bowl. Mix until they are all combined.
- Place the mixture into the buttered baking dish.
To Make the pecan topping:
- Mix together pecans, brown sugar, flour, and 1/4 cup butter in a small bowl. Use a fork to incorporate all the ingredients.
To assemble & bake:
- Spoon the pecan topping over the sweet potato mixture evenly making sure to cover the top fully.
- Bake it in the oven for 40 minutes. Let it cool down for 10 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
- Roast the sweet potatoes, let it cool for 20 minutes, and prepare the sweet potato casserole layer (the bottom layer). Place it in an airtight container and keep it in the fridge.
- Make the pecan topping and place it in a separate airtight container and keep it in the fridge.
- Assemble right before serving: Spread the sweet potato mixture in an oven-proof casserole dish. Top it off with the pecan crumble topping.
- Bake in a 350 F degree oven for 40 minutes or until bubbling.
Nutrition
Adapted from this recipe.
Joan R
This recipe was truly amazing. I am a big fan of Trisha Yearwood and thats what drew me to and I am glad it did because it was wonderful.
I made a few changes though. I used 2% milk and brown sugar (for the topping). I only had salted butter and it worked fine. I also added half a cup of coconut shreds into the topping. My family loved it. I will make it for Christmas as well.
Thanks for a great recipe.
Aysegul Sanford
This makes me so happy to hear Joan. The coconut addition on top is genius. Thanks for sharing your experience. Cheers!
Angela
Made this for Thanksgiving. It was delicious! Thanks for the recipe. I cut the sugar in half in the soufflé and in the topping and it was perfect. I also used erythritol as a sugar replacement instead of sugar (granulated and brown) and used gluten-free flour, so this was sugar-free and gluten-free! Noone could tell a difference. I want to try it with Okinawan sweet potatoes (purple) next. Have you ever made it Okinawan sweet potatoes?
Aysegul Sanford
Hi Angela,
Thanks for sharing your experience. I have never used erythritol in my cooking but I will try next time I make this sweet potato casserole recipe.
I have never used Okinawan sweet potatoes before. I don’t even know where to find them.
I just did a quick Google search and it revealed that they are very good for you. I’ll be on the look out for them next time I visit our local farmers market and share it here if I get my hands on them.
Cheers,
Ice
Ruth
Can this be made a week or so ahead % frozen ?
Aysegul Sanford
Hi Ruth,
Honestly, I have never tried freezing this. However, a quick Google search revealed that you can freeze cooked sweet potato casserole after it comes to room temperature.
It is hard for me to say that it will work 100% without trying but I would highly recommend:
1. Bringing it to room temperature before freezing
2. Making sure that it is fully covered with stretch film (to prevent freezer burn)
3. Thaw overnight in the fridge a day before you are planning to serve.
I hope this helps. I’d love to know how it turned out if you freeze it.
Wishing you and your family a happy holiday season.
Aysegul
Megan
This recipe is absolutely amazing!! I made it for Thanksgiving, it was such a hit with our family it was requested at Christmas & now for Easter! Definitely my go to recipe. Thank you so much for sharing this!!
Aysegul Sanford
Oh this is wonderful to hear Megan. I am making it for Easter as well.
So happy to hear that you and your family liked it.
Velma Reed
OMG….yummy! I added a half cup of sweet coconut shreds and a little bit more melted butter to the topping mixture. Thank you for this awesome recipe! It was a hit.
Aysegul Sanford
I am thrilled to hear that you liked it Velma. I love the addition of coconut shreds on top. I have to try it next time I make it. Thanks for coming by!
GINA RUBEN
Looks fantastic. If I wanted to make it as a side dish could I leave out a little of the sugar and a little of the butter so it’s not quite as rich? I would think so.
Aysegul Sanford
You can totally adjust it to your liking. 🙂
Patty
I just made this for Easter…It is so so yummy and very sweet..The topping is delicious..My family loved it..Thanks for a great recipe…
Aysegul Sanford
Music to my ears. Thanks for letting me know Patty. Cheers!
Anita Weatherell
Is this soufflé for your main meal or is it a dessert?
Aysegul Sanford
I would serve it as a side dish or dessert.
Jennifer Farley
I can’t get over how yummy this is!
Aysegul Sanford
I know, right? Me too 🙂
Liz
This is a winner! I’ll be making it again for Thanksgiving this year!!
Aysegul Sanford
So happy you liked it. YAY!
Ashley @ Wishes & Dishes
I always have the food network on too! Love this recipe!
Aysegul Sanford
Ha ha.. I know, right? It is the best channel.
Joell
Hello there, when u make this the day before, do u bake it that day or just put it together and bake the next day?
Aysegul Sanford
Hello Joell,
I would prep everything (roast the potatoes, whisk the egg mixture, and prep the topping) a day before and assemble right before baking. OR you can assemble it and bake it a day before and reheat it on the day off. I personally do the first option as I find it to be much more fresh, but i think second option would also work.
I hope this helps.
Darly Spacy
Yesterday I was looking for a nice sweet potato souffle for my Thanksgiving dinner. And I found this recipe. I cooked it immediately. I really love the taste and I want to thank you 🙂
Aysegul Sanford
So happy that you did. Thanks for letting me know Darly.
Marianne B.
This was very good. My two sons loved it.
I put a little less sugar though and used walnuts instead of pecans. It disappeared in 30 minutes. Ha ha.. I guess it was a winner. I’ll be making it again. Thank you.
Aysegul Sanford
YAY! So happy to hear that Marianne. Happy holidays.
Samantha Blair
I used cane sugar instead of granulated sugar and maple syrup instead of brown sugar. It was so good. My family loved it. I’ll be making this again.
PS: Love your recipes. I made your almond flour chocolate cake last week and that was soo good as well.
Aysegul Sanford
Ahh I should try doing that. Thanks for the tips Samantha.
I am so happy to hear that you like my recipes. Cheers!
Carol R.
I made this yesterday and it was incredible. It was easy to make and it tasted so good. Thank for sharing.
Aysegul Sanford
So happy to hear that Carol. Thanks so much for letting me know.
Kristen
The souffle calls for one cup of butter + 1tbs, but you never say what to do with it. I assume it just goes in with the rest of the ingredients as listed. We’ll see.
Aysegul Sanford
Hi Kristen,
I am sorry that it was not clear. You use the 1/2 cup butter to make the topping by mixing it with pecans, brown sugar, and flour (8). The additional butter is to butter the casserole dish.
I have updated the recipe to make it clear.
Please let me know if you have any other questions that I maybe able to answer.
Bill
hi there,
It still is not clear. it says
For the Souffle:
1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature
For the toppings:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
I am going to proceed without the butter in the souffle and hope it works and 1/4 cup in the toppings… fingers crossed..
Aysegul Sanford
Hi Bill,
Sorry for the confusion.
I intentionally separated the souffle and the topping ingredients to make it clear. You DO need the butter in the souffle.
Aimee / Wallflower Girl
Sweet potato is such an underused ingredient here in the UK – except for in our house, we love them! So I’m a big fan of this recipe!
Dina
it looks yummy!
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