Healthy Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole
This healthy vegan sweet potato casserole is easy to make with simple ingredients like oats and pecans and makes the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Recipe Features
- vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, can be oil-free
- a fluffy, creamy bed of sweet potato sitting under crumbly oat pecan topping
- perfect for the holidays, add it to your Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter menu
- can be made in advance
Ingredient Notes
- Sweet potatoes – you’ll need 3 medium-sized sweet potatoes – or about 3 pounds (1300 g) worth, no need to peel or cube them
- Maple syrup – naturally sweetens the recipe, can be subbed with agave or coconut sugar
- Pecans – use plain pecans with no added oil or sugar
- Rolled oats – we’ll be using whole rolled oats as well as blending up some oat flour so there is no need to any other flour in this recipe.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1. Prepare the sweet potato filling.
First we need to roast the sweet potatoes. All you need to do is slice them in half lengthwise and roast cut-side down on a baking tray. They should be ready in 30-45 minutes, depending on size.
Once they’re nice and tender, remove them from the oven and let them sit for 5-6 minutes until they’re cool enough to pull the skins off. The great thing about this method is the skin easily pops right off after roasting. No need to peel!
Next, it’s time to mash…or blend! Mashing right in the baking dish is the quickest and easiest method but for ultra-creamy filling, transfer the sweet potato to a large mixing bowl and puree with an immersion blender or electric mixer.
Step 2. Prepare the Oat Pecan Topping
To make the oat pecan topping, we’ll use a combination of oat flour, oats and pecans. No oat flour? No problem! A quick blitz of rolled oats in a food processor blender and you’ve got yourself some homemade oat flour.
Once you’ve blended up the oat flour – either add the rest of the topping ingredients and pulse to combine or finely chop the pecans and add everything to a bowl and mix.
Step 3. Bake the casserole.
Finally, sprinkle the topping over the mashed sweet potato and bake until golden brown. Yum!
Notes
- Oil-Free Option: Omit the butter/coconut oil to make the recipe oil-free. Without the oil or butter, the topping is a little softer and not as crispy but it still taste great!
- Make in Advance: Make up to 1 day in advance. Simply prepare the casserole then wait to bake it until you’re ready to eat.
Related Recipes
- Maple Dijon Brussel Sprouts
- Healthy Vegan Mashed Potatoes
- Homemade Cranberry Sauce
- Easy Vegan Stuffing
- Stuffed Acorn Squash
For an alternative sweet potato recipe, try my coconut mashed sweet potato with candied pecans.
Did you try this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Scroll down to the comment section to leave a star rating and review.
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Healthy Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Vegan
Description
This healthier version of classic sweet potato casserole is made with wholesome ingredients like maple syrup, oats and pecans. Serve this side dish with other holiday favourites for a complete feast.
Ingredients
For the Sweet Potato Filling
- 3 lb. of sweet potato (3 medium-sized sweet potatoes, 1360 g)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup or coconut sugar
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Oat Pecan Crumble
- 3/4 cup pecans
- 3/4 cup rolled oats, 1/2 cup blended into oat flour
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp melted vegan butter or coconut oil (see notes for oil-free)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Cut each sweet potato in half lengthwise and place cut-side down on a baking tray.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes until very tender.
- Let them cool for 6-7 minutes on the tray then remove the skins. The skins should peel off very easily.
- While the sweet potatoes are baking, prepare the oat pecan topping. Blend 1/2 cup of the oats into fine oat flour using a food processor. Add the rest of the topping ingredients and pulse to combine into a crumbly mixture.
- Transfer the peeled, cooked sweet potato to a baking dish and mash with a potato masher. Stir in the rest of the filling ingredients. Alternatively, for extra creamy filling, add the cooked sweet potato to a large mixing bowl and mix with an immersion blender or hand-held electric mixer, blending in the rest of the filling ingredients.
- Spread the sweet potato filling in an approximately 8×8 inch baking dish or a 1.5-2 qt. oven-safe casserole dish.
- Sprinkle the oat pecan topping evenly overtop.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
- Let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 day.
Notes
For an oil-free recipe, the vegan butter or coconut oil can be omitted. The topping will be softer without it but I’ve made it both ways and it will still taste great.
If you don’t have a food processor, use a blender or immersion blender to make the oat flour then transfer it to a bowl. Finely chop the pecans. Add the chopped pecans and the rest of the topping ingredients and stir to combine. If you don’t have any method to blend the oat flour, use 1/3 cup whole wheat flour and 1/3 cup rolled oats instead of 3/4 cup total rolled oats.
Is there a reason you can’t use oat flour instead of blending oats?
I’m not I under stand your question but you can use 1/2 cup of oat flour and 1/4 cup rolled oats.
Does anyone know if this can be prepared and/or cooked in advance, frozen and either cooked or reheated in the future? How did it turn out?
Hi Laura, You can definitely make it in advance, store in the fridge and reheat it in the oven. I haven’t tried freezing it but I think that should work ok! I would cool completely, cover the top with parchment then wrap the whole pan in foil really well. You can reheat from frozen or thaw it in the fridge then reheat.
Do you reduce the oven temp to bake the casserole? Seems like the topping would burn at 400 degrees. Thx
I did not and did not have an issue with burning, though oven temps do vary from oven to oven. If you’re concerned, keep an eye on it and cover it with foil if you notice it burning or reduce the temperature to 350 F. Thanks!
My daughter-in-law made this for a family dinner. It was delicious and healthy! I loved it!
I have a new favorite sweet potato casserole recipe now! This was so simple to make. I roast sweet potato halves often so that was easy step for me to do as well. I used the hand mixer to whip the sweet potato mixture and I used a bit of pumpkin pie spice since I didn’t have any nutmeg. The creamy sweet potato fluff with the slight crunchy oatmeal crumble topping is so tasty! I had a hard time sticking to one serving. This casserole even tastes yummy as a leftover eaten chilled right out of the fridge – Almost like a sweet potato or pumpkin pie! Thank you again for another great recipe!
This was really good…we made it for Christmas and it was easy and delicious! Thank you!!
Glad to hear it, Justin! Merry Christmas!
This was great. We made it for our first vegan Thanksgiving and everyone enjoyed it. Pretty much followed the recipe exactly except used walnuts for the topping. Thanks for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed it, Jess. Thanks for the review!