This Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole is the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any time of the year. It’s made with whole food plant-based ingredients and sweetened perfectly with pure maple syrup or date paste.
Growing up in the South, sweet potato casserole was never just a holiday side dish. We ate it regularly after church at Grandma’s house for Sunday lunch.
Back then, my mom and grandmother made it with loads of butter and brown sugar, and they often topped it with sugary marshmallows. No wonder we kids always loved it. It was more like dessert served with the meal!
Nowadays, my family still enjoys delicious sweet potato casserole, but our newer version has a MUCH healthier nutritional profile and is dairy-free, low-fat, and sweetened with pure maple syrup. It can even easily be made gluten-free.
You’re going to love this vegan sweet potato casserole because it’s…
- Perfectly sweet
- Wholesome
- Full of flavor
- Crowd-pleasing
- Low-fat & gluten-free
- Perfect make-ahead casserole
- A fabulous Thanksgiving or Christmas side dish
- Simply delicious!
Ways to cook sweet potatoes
Most people shy away from making dishes with sweet potatoes because they are so doggone difficult to peel and slice. More than once I have nearly lost a digit chopping them myself.
I remember my mom and grandmother wrestling sweet potatoes all over the cutting board, and it was a bit scary. But, the good news is, all that isn’t even necessary.
There are actually much easier ways to prepare and cook sweet potatoes that don’t require losing a fingertip or worse.
Oven-baked sweet potatoes
Peeling and slicing a cooked sweet potato is MUCH easier than a raw one, so why not just bake them first?
Simply bake them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes or more, depending on the size of the potatoes.
Baked sweet potatoes, when done right, actually ooze out some of their naturally sweet caramelized sugar, and it’s pretty sticky. This old girl does not like trying to scrape that off the pan, so I highly suggest you do like me and line the baking sheet with parchment paper. When the potatoes are finished, simply throw away the parchment paper, give the pan a swipe with a rag, and put it back in the cabinet. That’s my kind of clean-up!
Crockpot sweet potatoes
Another terrific way to cook sweet potatoes is in a crockpot or slow cooker.
Place the sweet potatoes in your crockpot and add about 1/2 cup water to the bottom. Set to the low setting and cook for approximately 8 hours. If you’re in more of a hurry, set them to high and let them cook for about 3-4 hours depending on the size of the potatoes.
Boiling sweet potatoes
You could cook the sweet potatoes like my mom and grandmother used to do by peeling and dicing the raw sweet potatoes, but watch those fingers!
Add enough water to a pot to completely cover the peeled and diced potatoes. Boil for approximately 20 minutes until tender.
How to make healthy vegan sweet potato casserole
After cooking the sweet potatoes using your preferred method listed above and allowing them to cool, peel and place them in a large bowl.
The recipe card at the bottom of the page has the full list of ingredients with measurements and instructions.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Next, mash the cooked potatoes with a potato masher. You can do this with a fork, but it will take quite a while, so I highly recommend using a potato masher. Some people even use a hand mixer, but I just prefer not to have to pull mine out and then clean it afterward.
Once the potatoes are mashed well, add the other batter ingredients and spices listed in the recipe card below. Mix thoroughly and pour into a casserole dish lined with parchment paper to keep it from sticking to the sides and bottom. See me do it in the video in the recipe card below.
Now, set the casserole dish with batter to the side and begin making the very easy oat pecan topping.
Begin by blending rolled oats in a blender or food processor until coarsely chopped.
Next, place all topping ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and stir together well. The flour should be damp, not dry, but also not really wet either. If it’s too dry, add a little more non-dairy milk, but remember it’s supposed to be crumbly.
Spread the topping out onto the casserole dish with batter. Place in preheated oven and allow to cook for approximately 30 minutes. Oven temperatures vary, so keep an eye on it. You want it to have a golden brown top.
Once it’s finished, remove this easy vegan casserole from the oven and allow it to cool. Serve warm.
Tips for making this vegan casserole
- Choose the easiest way to peel and dice the sweet potatoes. To me, that means either baking them or cooking them in a crockpot.
- This is a terrific make-ahead sweet potato casserole. Simply assemble it, cover it well with a lid, plastic wrap, or foil, and keep it in the refrigerator until ready to bake.
- It can also be baked ahead of time and just reheated in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes.
- I used a 2-quart casserole dish
- Date paste can be used to replace the maple syrup in the batter. To replace the maple syrup in the topping, use date syrup.
- For those avoiding nuts, the pecans in this recipe are completely optional.
- For those that are gluten-free, any flour will work fine in the topping.
- Oats are pretty important in the crumbly topping, but if you’re avoiding oats, perhaps try buckwheat groats as a substitution. I haven’t tried it, but they seem like a reasonable option to give a try.
Other delicious holiday dishes
- Broccoli Rice Casserole
- Mock Chicken Casserole | Soy Curls
- Vegan Loaded Potato Skins
- Vegan Meatloaf
- Lentil Shepherd Pie
- Healthy Vegan Casseroles
- Stuffed Sweet Potatoes | Chocolate Banana
For those of you new to the whole food plant-based lifestyle, we’ve created a FREE 7-Day Plant-Based Menu Planner to help you get started!
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Sweet Potato Casserole
This Healthy Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole is the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any time of the year. It's made with whole food plant-based ingredients and sweetened perfectly with pure maple syrup.
Ingredients
Batter Ingredients:
- 5 sweet potatoes (large to medium size)
- 1 cup non-dairy milk such as almond or soy
- ¼ cup maple syrup (or date paste)
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Topping:
- 1-1/4 cup old fashion rolled oats, coarsely ground in blender
- 3 tablespoons whole wheat flour or other flour (use oat or other gluten-free flour if desired)
- 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
- 1 cup chopped raw pecans (optional)
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
1. Cook the sweet potatoes by either baking, boiling or cooking in the crockpot. Detailed instructions for each method listed in the article above.
2. Once cooked and cooled, peel the sweet potatoes and place in a large bowl.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4. Next, mash the cooked potatoes with a potato masher or hand mixer.
5. Once the potatoes are mashed well, add the other batter ingredients and spices listed in the recipe card below. Mix thoroughly and pour into a casserole dish lined with parchment paper to keep it from sticking to the sides and bottom. See the video
6. Set the casserole dish with batter to the side and begin making the very easy oat pecan crumbly topping.
7. TOPPING: Begin by blending rolled oats in a blender or food processor until coarsely chopped.
8. Next, place all topping ingredients in a medium-size bowl and stir together well. The flour should be damp, not dry, but also not real wet either. If it's too dry, add a little more non-dairy milk, but remember it's supposed to be crumbly.
9. Spread the topping out onto the casserole dish with batter. Place in preheated oven and allow to cook for approximately 30 minutes. Oven temperatures vary, so keep an eye on it. You want it to have a golden brown top.
10. Once it’s finished, remove from the oven and allow it to cool. Serve warm.
Notes
Detailed instructions, in-process photos, and my personal helpful tips can be found in the article above.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 servings Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 259Total Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 4gProtein: 4g
To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
Cynthia
Sunday 11th of December 2022
Your photos make the sweet potatoes look reddish orange, which is more the color of yams. Are you really using sweet potatoes or yams in your recipe? Thank you.
Terri Edwards
Tuesday 13th of December 2022
Cynthia, I used regular sweet potatoes, but yams would work in this recipe as well.
Alexandria Peters
Friday 15th of November 2019
Can I use aquafaba to hold the sweet potato mix together? Or in the topping to give it a crispy crunch texture?
Terri Edwards
Friday 15th of November 2019
I haven't used aquafaba before but would love to hear how this recipe turns out if you decide to give it a try. Aquafaba is something I haven't experimented with yet, and that needs to change.