Finally, a Thanksgiving sweet potato side dish that does not involve marshmallows. This healthier version of a typical sweet potato casserole has no eggs, less sugar, and no mushy potatoes. Thick, salty, butter-roasted sweet potato rounds are layered with a just-sweet-enough brown sugar, oat, and pecan crumble; the sweet potatoes are crispy yet tender and the crumble is crisp and crunchy. It’s the perfect mix of flavors and textures. Best of all, this Thanksgiving side dish actually goes well with the rest of the savory meal.
How to Make Sweet Potato Casserole Without Eggs and Milk
Because this “casserole” involves sliced and layered potatoes rather than mashed, you don’t need eggs or milk to make it. Those two ingredients would act as binders and thinners to get the right consistency in the mashed sweet potatoes. We aren’t mashing the sweet potatoes, we are roasting them in lots of butter and keeping them in thick slices so they are tender and soft but still have some bite to them. After the sweet potatoes have been roasted in a single layer, you flip them over and roast them for a bit longer, then layer the pecan oat crumble between the roasted potatoes. Then you put the dish back in the oven to warm everything through together, and it’s done.
Bake Notes
- 6 pounds of sweet potatoes should be about 7-9 potatoes, depending on the size of yours.
- Herbs would be great in this too; I’d suggest adding 2 tbsp of chopped herbs like sage, rosemary, and thyme when roasting your potatoes.
- To reheat the leftovers, toss them in the oven at 400 F for 10 minutes.
- These potatoes aren’t too sweet, so the leftovers are so good and versatile. Put them on your Thanksgiving leftover sandwich, throw them in a salad with turkey and spinach, you could even add them to yogurt or oatmeal for breakfast.
- Looking for other unique dishes to serve at Thanksgiving? This crumble would complement my butternut squash and apple tarts wonderfully. My Crumbl-style cornbread cookies are another fun twist on a classic side dish. Or, serve my cranberry white chocolate fudge blondies for a festive sweet treat.
Sweet Potato Pecan Oat Crumble
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 10–14 servings 1x
Description
This healthier sweet potato “casserole” without eggs or milk has butter-roasted sweet potatoes layered with a pecan oat crumble; it’s perfectly sweet and salty.
Ingredients
For the Potatoes
- 6 pounds sweet potatoes (about 7 large or 9 small potatoes)
- 4 tbsp butter, melted
- Kosher salt
For the Crumble
- 1 cup oats
- 1 cup pecans
- 1 stick unsalted butter (or use salted and reduce added salt by half)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Make the crumble. Chop the pecans into small pieces. Cube the butter.
- Add the chopped pecans, oats, brown sugar, maple syrup, and salt to a bowl. Toss to mix. Add the cubed butter and use your fingers to work the butter into the mixture. It should clump together and resemble granola.
- Pour the mixture into a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven, and toss. Return to oven for 7-10 minutes (watch it so it doesn’t burn).
- Remove the crumble from the oven and allow it to cool. Once cooled, toss to break it up into small pieces.
- Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line two sheet trays with parchment paper.
- Wash, peel, and dry the potatoes. Slice them into 3/4-inch rounds.
- Divide the potatoes onto the baking sheets.
- Pour the melted butter over the potatoes and season them well with salt. Use your hands to toss everything together. Arrange the potatoes in a single layer on the trays.
- Roast for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, flip each round of potato over, and return to the oven for 20 minutes.
- Remove potatoes from oven but keep the oven on. Arrange potato slices into a single layer in the bottom of an oven-proof casserole dish. Sprinkle 1/3 of the crumble evenly on top. Repeat with two more layers of potatoes and crumble.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 15