Sweet potato casserole time! This is probably one of my all-time favorite Thanksgiving sides. This casserole is sweet, silky smooth, and has a tiny crunch from the toasted marshmallows and pecans. Traditional sweet potato casseroles often have butter and milk in them making them not vegan friendly. Today, I’ll show you how to make the best Classic Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole topped with candied pecans and toasted marshmallows.
The Ingredients
This scrumptious recipe only uses a few common ingredients. They are:
Sweet Potatoes
Oat Milk
Brown Sugar
Cinnamon
Vanilla Extract
Pecans
Pre-Baking Sweet Potatoes
To get a super silky smooth and sweet casserole filling, I recommend baking the sweet potatoes instead of preparing them a different way. Baking helps soften the sweet potatoes while caramelizing the insides, bringing out the natural sweetness.
You can prep your sweet potatoes by first washing them and poking the exteriors with a fork. I find that baking them at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about an hour results in perfectly soft and caramelized potatoes. After they’re done baking, you can let them cool slightly and remove the skins.
Making the Toppings
To top this casserole, I’m using both candied pecans and vegan marshmallows. Both of these are traditional casserole toppings, but why pick one when we can use both?!
The candied pecans are super simple to make. Before putting them on the casserole, you can mix chopped pecans with melted vegan butter, brown sugar, and a little cinnamon. When the casserole bakes, the heat will caramelize and candy the exterior of the pecans.
The vegan marshmallows I’m using in this recipe are from Trader Joe’s. You could also order Dandies Marshmallows online if you don’t have a Trader Joe’s near you.
Since I couldn’t find mini marshmallows, I chose to cut the full-sized vegan marshmallows into quarters. This helps the marshmallow layer from being too thick on the top. To prevent your knife from sticking to the marshmallows, you can run it under water or dip it in water between cuts.
You can then top off your casserole with whatever pattern you’d like! I chose to top mine with 2/3rds candied pecans and 1/3 marshmallows.
Classic Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole!
After baking in the oven, the marshmallows get super toasty and a little crunchy. And the pecans are perfectly candied! This classic vegan sweet potato casserole is a definite crowd-pleaser. It has just the right amount of sweetness and the perfect combination of textures. This recipe should make about 8 good sized servings or about 10 smaller side portions.
~Happy Cooking!~
If you’re looking for some more vegan Thanksgiving sides, check out these recipes!
Sweet & Savory Maple Balsamic Brussel Sprouts
Maple Tahini Glazed Rainbow Carrots
The Best Classic Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole
The best classic vegan & gluten-free sweet potato casserole with candied pecans and marshmallows on top. Perfect for the holidays, Thanksgiving, or Christmas.
Ingredients
Casserole
- 5-6 large sweet potatoes, baked with skins removed
- 3 tbsp melted vegan butter
- 3/4 cup oat milk
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
Candied Pecans
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp melted vegan butter
- 2 cups pecans, roughly chopped
Marshmallows
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- Grease a 9x13” baking dish.
- In a food processor add the baked sweet potatoes, melted vegan butter, oat milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Blend until the mixture is smooth and combined.
- Transfer the blended sweet potato mixture to the greased baking dish, smoothing out the top with a spatula.
To make the candied pecans:
- In a medium-sized bowl, add the melted vegan butter and the roughly chopped pecans. Stir the vegan butter and the pecans together until the pecans are evenly coated.
- Add the brown sugar and cinnamon. Mix the ingredients together until sugar and cinnamon coat all of the pecans.
Marshmallows
- If using full-sized vegan marshmallows, cut them into quarters. To prevent your knife from sticking to the marshmallows, run it under water or dip it in water between cuts.
Assembly
- Place the coated pecans and marshmallows onto the sweet potato mixture. I placed mine on the left and the right, leaving room for marshmallows in the center, but feel free to do any pattern on top that you’d like!
- Bake for 35 minutes at 375 degrees F.
- Increase the temperature to 425 and bake for another 3-5 minutes to brown the vegan marshmallows. Be sure to keep an eye on the casserole for the last 5 minutes because the marshmallows may brown very quickly!
Notes
*To bake the sweet potatoes, wash them and poke the exterior a few times with a fork. Place the potatoes on a parchment-lined baking tray. Bake in an oven preheated to 375 degrees F. for 1 hour.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 475Total Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 8mgSodium: 106mgCarbohydrates: 146gFiber: 7gProtein: 5g
Nutritional info is an estimate
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