This Easy Sweet Potato makes the perfect side dish for your Thanksgiving dinner. Sweet and creamy potatoes are topped with Marshmallows, baked and toasted to a delicious golden brown! Made with canned sweet potatoes, this dish only takes 10 minutes to prepare!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- QUICK AND EASY – Using canned Sweet Potatoes, there is no need to peel, cut or boil your potatoes. That is the most time consuming part of the whole process! Doesn’t your Thanksgiving Dinner Prep need a shortcut? This is it! And there are only 6 ingredients!
- DELICIOUS – The combination of Sweet Potatoes, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and marshmallows is simply to die for! All it’s flavors and textures just make it a classic holiday comfort food dish at it’s best!
Easy Sweet Potato Casserole Ingredients
For step-by-step instructions, check out the printable recipe card below. But here is what you’ll need to get started.
- SWEET POTATOES – Any brand will do. You’ll want to drain them, but don’t rinse them.
- BROWN SUGAR – Adds just the right amount of sweetness to the dish.
- MELTED BUTTER – Unsalted butter.
- APPLE JUICE – This gives the dish just a slight tang that balances well with the sweet potatoes.
- CINNAMON – Full of authentic, wholesome fall flavors and aromas!
- MINI MARSHMALLOWS – We like using the mini marshmallows because they cook (melt and brown) at the rate we like for this dish. If all you have is larger or jumbo marshmallows, consider cutting them in half.
How To Make Sweet Potato Casserole with Canned Sweet Potatoes
- Preheat oven to 350 and grease 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Mash canned sweet potatoes in a large bowl.
- In a small bowl add butter, sugar, apple juice and cinnamon and stir to mix well. Pour mixture into the large bowl of mashed Sweet Potatoes and mix well.
- Spread Sweet Potato Mixture into prepared pan. Pat mixture flat with the back of a spoon to form an even layer. Top with marshmallows.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until marshmallows are puffy and sweet potatoes are heated through.
Can I make this Casserole with Fresh Sweet Potatoes?
Yes! Using canned sweet potatoes cuts down on the time it takes to cook this dish. Instead of opening up a can, you could peel, cube and boil your potatoes for 15 minutes. Use a large pot and add some salt to the water. Then mash them like the instructions tell you to. You will need about three pounds of sweet potatoes.
What Is The Difference Between A Sweet Potato and Yam?
No. They are not the same thing. Although some people do use the term interchangeably. We want to be using Sweet Potatoes for this dish, not yams. Sweet Potatoes are better because they are soft and wetter. Yam are harder and starchier. If you do decide to use Fresh Sweet Potatoes, you can know you have the right ones if they are tapered at the end. Yams look more like cylinders and have a rougher, whiter bark like skin. Sweet Potatoes look like this:
Can You Make Sweet Potato Casserole Ahead of Time?
Yes!
You can prepare the casserole ahead of time and keep in in the fridge for a couple days. Just don’t sprinkle on your Marshmallows until you are ready to cook.
If you go this route, you will need to cook the potatoes uncovered for an additional 20 minutes beforehand to warm the potatoes up before adding your marshmallow topping. This allows all of the potatoes to heat through.
Notes, Tips and FAQs
- DO YOU NEED TO SOFTEN THE SWEET POTATOES AT ALL? – Your sweet potatoes should be soft enough out the can to mash. But, if you want to take the time, you can certainly put them in a microwave safe bowl to soften them. Heat at one minutes intervals, testing with a fork until they are soft enough for you.
- OTHER TOPPINGS – You can add for a pecan topping by adding some crushed pecans. Crushed walnuts would work too. You add them to the marshmallow topping for a sweet and savory combo!
- OTHER ADDITIONS – Add a couple teaspoons of nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice for an add dose of fall flavor!
Items To Help with This Recipe
I hope you enjoy this Easy Sweet Potato Casserole recipe this Thanksgiving! Thanks for reading and Happy Holidays!
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Easy Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows
Ingredients
- 2 large cans 40 oz each, sweet potatoes, drained
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 3 tablespoons apple juice
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 package 10 oz, mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 and grease 9x13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Mash sweet potatoes in a large bowl.
- In a small bowl add butter, sugar, cinnamon and mix well.
- Add apple juice to butter and sugar.
- Pour mixture into the large bowl of Sweet Potatoes and mix well.
- Spread mixtures into prepared pan. Pat mixture flat with the back of a spoon. Top with marshmallows.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until marshmallows are puffy and sweet potatoes are heated through.
Nutrition
Comments & Reviews
Sarah T says
How many fresh sweet potatoes do I use?
Kathy says
About 5-6 medium sweet potatoes.
Pamela says
I have everything but the apple juice. Any suggestions to sub or omit ? Thanks
Kathy says
You could use apple sauce as well.
Theresa Saab McCuen says
You could use 1/3 cup of crushed pineapple with some of that juice! my mother-in-law always used crushed canned pineapple.
Debbie says
Easy to make. I did forget to put the apple juice in but it was still delicious. I made it one day, put in fridge w/o marshmallows on. Next day I let it sit on the counter for an hour before I put the marshmallows on top and baked it for 30 minutes.
Caley says
What if you accidentally grabbed canned Yams- sweet potatoes in syrup. Can you still use them in the recipe? I’ve made this before and it is wonderful!