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This classic Sweet Potato Casserole features a velvety smooth, spiced potato filling topped with a perfectly golden layer of gooey mini marshmallows.
Built for stress-free holiday hosting, this easy sweet potato casserole with marshmallows consistently delivers that time-tested comfort food flavor your family expects on the Thanksgiving table.
If you are looking for a simple holiday side dish with straightforward steps and clear make-ahead options, you are in the right place.
Table of Contents
- 5 Star Rating Reader Comment:
- Thoroughly Tested and Perfected
- Sweet Potatoes Vs Yams: What’s The Difference?
- Fresh, Cubed, or Canned: Choosing Your Potatoes
- Other Critical Ingredients
- How to Make Thanksgiving Sweet Potato Casserole
- Recipe Tips & Kitchen Success
- Make Ahead Tips & Holiday Oven Logistics
- What To Serve With This Casserole?
- Storage, Leftovers, & Freezing
- More Sweet Potato Recipe Ideas
- Recipe
- Reviews
5 Star Rating Reader Comment:
“This was a huge hit with my family! I didn't change anything except to double the recipe! This is so delicious! This will be at every holiday from here on out. Plus it's super easy to make!“
SANDY
Thoroughly Tested and Perfected
I have been making this exact recipe year after year, a family tradition that stretches all the way back to my childhood. Back then, I learned a major kitchen lesson the hard way.
Thinking more was better, I emptied an entire bag of marshmallows onto the dish, only for them to expand, overcook, and explode all over the oven walls, and burn into a smoky, sticky mess.
To save you from that holiday disaster, this guide includes my tried-and-true topping technique to get a flawless, golden toasted finish, without the cleanup drama or a holiday oven scheduling nightmare.
Packed with decades of hands-on tips – like why fresh roasted sweet potatoes and a simple egg binder make all the difference – this highly rated side dish has been pinned tens of thousands of times over the years because it offers clear, reliable guidance.
Sweet Potatoes Vs Yams: What’s The Difference?
It is super common to see "sweet potato" and "yam" labels swapped at the grocery store, but these two roots are actually totally different plants.
True yams have a rough, dark skin that looks almost like tree bark and starchy white flesh inside.
What we usually buy labeled as yams with marshmallows for holiday baking is actually just a variety of sweet potato with a deep reddish-orange skin and sweet orange flesh.
Whether you call it a yam marshmallow casserole or a sweet potato casserole, this recipe gives you that exact nostalgic flavor your family expects on a traditional Thanksgiving yams and marshmallows table.
For this classic recipe, you want those classic orange-fleshed sweet potatoes-whether you grab them whole to roast, buy them pre-cubed to boil, or use canned ones as a shortcut.
Fresh, Cubed, or Canned: Choosing Your Potatoes
You have four great options depending on your holiday schedule:
- The Canned Shortcut (Quickest Fix): In an absolute pinch, a thoroughly drained 40-ounce can of sweet potatoes works. Mash them carefully, as canned options hold extra moisture that can make the casserole filling runny.
- Fresh Whole Sweet Potatoes (Best Flavor): I like to roast them whole in their skins to caramelize their natural sugars and prevent a watery base.
- Pre-Cubed Packaged Sweet Potatoes (Best Time-Saver): Buying raw packaged cubed potatoes in the produce aisle and boiling them until tender gives you fresh flavor without the tedious peeling and chopping.
- The Instant Pot Method (Fastest Fresh Option): You can pressure cook the sweet potatoes using my standalone Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes guide. Just drain them thoroughly because excess liquid can make the filling runny.
Other Critical Ingredients
To ensure this traditional side dish comes out flawlessly, pay close attention to these key components:
- The Egg Binder: While many popular holiday recipes leave out the eggs, adding room-temperature eggs to this specific version acts as a crucial binder. It locks in a consistent, soufflé-like velvety texture that keeps the dish beautifully stable when sliced.
- The Sweetener Blend: Combining rich light brown sugar with standard granulated white sugar creates a complex, caramel-like sweetness that complements the natural earthiness of the sweet potatoes.
- Unsalted Butter: Using unsalted butter allows you to control the exact salt levels of your filling, ensuring the sweetness is perfectly balanced rather than cloying.
Egg-Free Substitutions
The egg in this recipe acts as a binder to give the sweet potatoes a light, velvety lift. If you have an allergy or want to make it vegan, swap the egg for one of these simple fixes:
- Cornstarch: Whisk 1 tbsp cornstarch into your liquid before mixing.
- Applesauce: Add ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce for moisture.
- Flax Egg: Mix 1 tbsp ground flaxseed with 3 tbsp water; let sit 5 minutes.
- Heavy Cream: Skip the egg completely and add 3 tbsp extra heavy cream for a denser, silkier mash.
How to Make Thanksgiving Sweet Potato Casserole
Step 1 – Preheat the oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F and spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Step 2 – Three Ways to Cook the Potatoes (Can Do Day Before):
If you are starting with whole sweet potatoes, you can:
- Option 1) Pressure cook them by following the instructions in my Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes recipe, or
- Option 2) Bake or roast them by following step 1 in my Twice Baked Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, or
- Option 3) If you are starting with cubed sweet potatoes, place your cubed raw sweet potatoes into a large pot of water and boil until they are completely fork-tender.
Step 3 – Mash The Sweet Potatoes: You can mash the potatoes by hand using a potato masher, or to make things easier, you can use a hand mixer to mash the sweet potatoes.
Step 4 – In a large bowl, mix together your cooked, mashed sweet potatoes, melted butter, white and brown sugars, beaten eggs, milk, and cinnamon.
Step 5 – Layer and bake: Spread the sweet potato mixture evenly into your prepared baking dish.
Step 6 – Add the marshmallows: Sprinkle the mini marshmallows over the top during the last few minutes of baking.
Step 7 – Bake the Casserole & Toast The Marshmallows: Bake at 350° F in a preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the marshmallows are a light golden brown.
Recipe Tips & Kitchen Success
- Bring Eggs to Room Temperature: Cold eggs can seize your melted butter, causing the sweet potato mixture to separate or texture unevenly.
- Make Potato Mashing Easy: Speed up mashing, and make it easier on your hands, and make a smoother sweet potato filling by using a hand mixer to mash the sweet potatoes.
- Prevent a Sticky Casserole Dish: Always grease your 9×13 baking dish with butter or non-stick cooking spray before adding the sweet potato filling.
- The Perfect Marshmallow Layer: Stick to a single, even layer of mini marshmallows so they toast uniformly without trapping steam underneath.
- Don’t Over bake: This casserole requires only 30 minutes of baking. Watch it closely after adding the marshmallows to avoid a burnt marshmallow mess.
Make Ahead Tips & Holiday Oven Logistics
Oven Management: The biggest headache when hosting Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner is managing limited oven space. To solve this logistical nightmare, you can easily make the sweet potato filling up to 24 hours in advance.
Make Ahead: For a Make Ahead Sweet Potato Casserole, complete the filling through step 4, spread it into your baking dish, cover tightly, and refrigerate it until you are ready to top with marshmallows and bake.
Top & Bake: On the big day, bring the dish to room temperature for 30 minutes on the counter, then top with marshmallows, and bake according to recipe instructions.
What To Serve With This Casserole?
To round out your holiday dinner table, try these side dishes to complement this sweet potato dish.
- Oven Roasted Turkey With Apple Cider Brine – A succulent turkey that is incredibly flavorful.
- Green Bean Casserole – A vegetable side dish with a creamy homemade mushroom sauce, with a crispy onion topping.
- Southern Squash Casserole – A tender yellow squash side dish with onions, in a creamy, cheesy filling, and topped with crushed buttery Ritz crackers.
- Cornbread Dressing – An easy shortcut version of a traditional Southern cornbread stuffing recipe.
- Hashbrown Casserole (AKA Funeral Potatoes) – This recipe gives the classic Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole a flavor boost with bacon, ranch seasoning mix, Worcestershire, and hot sauce.
- Mashed Potatoes – Mashed Potatoes made in an Instant Pot.
- Cornbread Biscuits – Flaky layers of homemade buttermilk biscuits together the buttery flavor and the slightly, coarse texture of cornbread.
Looking for other styles, check out my Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping.
Storage, Leftovers, & Freezing
- Refrigerating Leftovers: Wrap the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil or transfer individual portions to an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Reheating the Right Way: Cover your leftovers tightly with foil and warm them in a 350°F oven for 15 minutes to keep the marshmallows from burning.
- Freezing Your Prep Ahead: You can freeze the fully assembled sweet potato base (without the marshmallows) wrapped tightly in plastic and foil for up to 3 months.
- Thawing & Baking: Thaw the frozen potato base in the refrigerator overnight, let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes, then bake as instructed and add fresh marshmallows at the end.
More Sweet Potato Recipe Ideas
- Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping – This sweet potato casserole with marshmallows recipe is without pecans. However, if you would like to use pecans instead of marshmallows, visit my other Sweet Potato Casserole recipe that features pecans.
- Twice Baked Stuffed Sweet Potatoes - A perfect individual-serving sweet potato option for smaller holiday gatherings.
- Grandma’s Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Pie – A classic holiday dessert that tastes just like grandma used to make.
- Sweet Potato Biscuits - Flaky, tender biscuits with a beautiful hint of autumn sweetness.
- Sweet Potato Empanadas – Turn sweet potatoes into a delicious handheld Mexican dessert!
If you made this recipe and loved it, please leave a comment and rating to share your experience!
Recipe
Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows Recipe
Ingredients
- 2-1/2 pounds sweet potatoes cooked, peeled and mashed
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 cups mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl mix together the sweet potatoes, butter, white and brown sugars, eggs, milk, and cinnamon.2-1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- Pour the sweet potato filling into a 9×13 baking dish and, using a spatula, spread the mixture evenly throughout the pan so it cooks evenly.
- Sprinkle the mini marshmallows evenly over the top in a single layer. (Don't overload the marshmallows.)2 cups mini marshmallows
- Bake at 350 degrees F. for about 30 minutes or just until the marshmallows are golden brown. Do NOT overbake.
Video
Hi, I’m Michele Feuerborn, a home cook with 25+ years experience, and former AllRecipes Allstar, creating bold & easy Southern, Mexican, Tex-Mex, and Instant Pot recipes. Featured in publications like Parade and BuzzFeed. Read More…
S says
Can’t wait to make this! Looks really foolproof!
Michele says
Hi S. It really is foolproof in my opinion because we have made it every year for as long as I can remember in our family.
Lisa @ The Cooking Bride says
Thanks for this! I’m taking sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving this afternoon and I misplaced my recipe! This looks similar to what I make.
Michele says
Hi Lisa, I’m so happy you found this recipe. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Angie says
How many potatoes are 2 1/2 pounds? I bought 6 giant ones
Michele says
Hi Angie, it is probably about 3 very large potatoes.
Nicole says
How do I cook the sweet potatoe before mashing?
Michele says
You can bake them in the oven for about 1 hour to 1-1/2 hours depending on the size of the potatoes.
Lauren says
Hi Michele, do you wrap your sweet potatoes in aluminum foil when you bake them or just throw them in the oven as is?
Thanks!
Michele says
Hi Lauren, I typically don’t wrap them in aluminum foil. I will put foil on the pan and cook the sweet potatoes as they are.
Amber says
At what temperature?
Michele says
Hi Amber, if you are referring to what temperature to bake individual sweet potatoes before mashing them, I recommend baking them at 425 for about 45 minutes, but could take longer depending on the size of the individual sweet potatoes.
If you are referring to what temperature to bake the prepared sweet potato casserole, then bake it at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.
Marion says
Love love love this recipe for sweet potato casserole with marshmallows. This is a must-make recipe for Thanksgiving! The only bad thing is, there aren’t any leftovers! EVER!! Thanks for sharing!
Michele says
Thanks Marion! I’m so glad you love it! It is a Thanksgiving tradition at our house. I’d be disowned by the family if I didn’t serve it for Thanksgiving.
Dianna says
I made this earlier today for my first time just to see if it would come out good for thanksgiving and it did! It was amazing thank you so much for sharing this to everyone
Michele says
Hi Dianna, I’m so glad you liked it. This is a tried and true recipe that has been passed down from my parents. It has been on our Thanksgiving table every year since I was a kid. It is on our Thanksgiving table every year now. Be sure to share with your friends and try some of our other Thanksgiving recipes as well. I have an awesome roasted turkey recipe and a Pumpkin Praline Bread Pudding that is to die for!
Christina S. says
I made this last year for the first time and my grandma loved yet. She requested it again this year. I did the make ahead and will bake today. Thank you!
Michele says
Hi Christina, I’m so happy you tried my Sweet Potato Casserole recipe and that your Grandma loved it. I made it yesterday and will bake it today as well. Happy Thanksgiving!
Dustin says
Hi! I’m making this for the 1st time today (Thanksgiving 2018) I don’t usually like changing recipes or ‘making them my own’ as there is alot of thought, trial, and error that goes into publishing a recipe that has been perfected, HOWEVER, I have a problem with textures, so what I did was kept the canned sweet potatoes in their chunks and just cut them up into smaller chunks and stirred into the other ingredients, then topped with the marshmallows and we’ll see how it comes out. Thank you for this recipe, it sounds great, can’t wait to taste it when it’s done!
Michele says
Hi Dustin, Don’t worry, I don’t mind if you tweak the recipe to meet your preferences because I tweak recipes all the time so that it fits my family’s taste preference. I hope that turned out well for you. I typically use fresh sweet potatoes so the texture will be different than the canned. I hope you and your family liked it.
Sally Jackson says
I made this for our Thanksgiving dinner. It was so easy and tasted great.
Michele says
Hi Sally, I’m so glad you liked it. Thanks for coming back here to let us know. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Be sure to check out the other 500+ recipes on Flavor Mosaic for your other holiday and weeknight dinners!
Marion says
Can I use canned sweet potatoes and how much would I need. Are sweet yams the same? And how much
Michele says
Hi Marion, yes you can use canned sweet potatoes. You would need enough of the canned potatoes to equal 2-1/2 lbs of sweet potatoes, which would be 40 ounces of canned sweet potatoes. A typical can of sweet potatoes is 29 ounces. So get two 29-ounce cans, and you may only use part of the 2nd can.
Patti says
Recipe sounds interesting, can you provide the measurements for the pecan topping?
Michele says
1/4 cup softened butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Use a fork to mix together and then add in 1/2 cup chopped pecans and stir together. Add to the top of the casserole before baking. Top with marshmallows. Bake per recipe instructions.
Tonya says
quick question, I am going to roast the potatoes today, do I bake already peeled?
Michele says
Hi Tonya, I usually bake them with the peel on.
Karen says
What temp do you bake the sweet potatoes before peeling and what temp? Thanks!
Michele says
Hi Karen, bake at 425 degrees F for about 45 minutes (the time depends on how big the sweet potatoes are.) Larger potatoes might take up to an hour.
Rachel says
Love the sweet potato casserole but it doesn’t look like you have the measurements for the streusel?
Michele says
Hi Rachel,
I included the streusel as a variation. However, it was not meant to be the main recipe. In the future I’ll have to publish a post for a sweet potato casserole with streusel. However, while it is probably too late now, but the measurements would be: 1/4 cup softened butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Use a fork to mix together and then add in 1/2 cup chopped pecans and stir together. Add to the top of the casserole before baking. Top with marshmallows. Bake per recipe instructions.
Pepa says
It’s so good!!! Everybody loved it!!! I like to do half of the sugar so I did 1/8 cup of brown sugar and 1/8 cup of sugar instead of 1/4 cup each. I used unsweetened apple sauce instead of eggs. Love this recipe!!! Thank you!!
Michele says
Hi Pepa,
I’m so glad you liked it. That is a great way to make the casserole a little healthier. Great idea. Please be sure to share the blog post with friends. Also be sure to check out our other recipes. We have over 600 recipes to choose from.
Michele
Kelley J Madsen says
Fir some reason I remember my mom using Evaporated milk instead. Would it be about the same amount?
Michele says
Hi Kelley,
I have not tested it with Evaporated milk but I would imagine that you could 1/2 cup and it would be ok. That will probably make it even a little richer. Let me know how it turns out.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Michele