Crock Pot Sweet Potato Casserole
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Crock Pot Sweet Potato casserole is one of the easiest ways to slow cook side dishes this Thanksgiving!
Delicious sweet potatoes coated in brown sugar and topped with pecans and marshmallows are the perfect slow cooker sweet side dish for all the holiday and Christmas menus.
You will love the no-fuss, no-mess way to whip up this Traditional Thanksgiving side dish and keep your oven clear for other goodies. What’s not to love about sweet potatoes and brown sugar, amiright??
Why you will love Slow Cooking Sweet Potato Casserole!
One thing I struggle with every holiday season is planning what food finishes cooking and at what time. It can be complicated to make sure that the oven has one temperature and that there are an appropriate amount of classic side dish options, cold fridge salads, and of course, dessert recipes.
I have had a Thanksgiving where my sides finished well before my turkey, and it was a personal disaster (although no one else minded).
Ever since that happened, I have befriended slow cooking. I have quite a few slow cookers and line them up, and the great thing is, if something finishes early (like green beans or Brussels sprouts), I can keep all the delicious recipes warm!
To help save the holiday season menu this year, I am starting my planning early, and right on the top of the list are these sweet potatoes. You won’t believe how incredibly easy, creamy, and sweet these potatoes taste, and when you make them in a slow cooker, almost zero planning.
I mean, of course, you have to peel the potatoes, and that always takes time, but other than that, this is a side dish that you can count on to be there right when you need it without needing the oven like traditional oven baked sweet potato casserole.
And this Sweet Potato Casserole recipe (With marshmallow topping!) in the slow cooker is not only a MUST for the season, but it’s also perfect for the holiday table because it serves many guests.
Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe
This candied sweet potato casserole easily serves 10-15, which is much more difficult to do in an oven baked situation. Trust me; it’s a decent size batch!
Slow cooker sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving, coated in brown sugar, and topped with pecans and marshmallows, is the perfect sweet side dish.
Ingredients
- sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2″ pieces (not canned)
- brown sugar
- unsalted butter, melted
- pumpkin pie spice
- vanilla extract
- water
- kosher salt
- mini marshmallows
- whole or pieces of pecans for serving
What kind of brown sugar?
Often I get asked what kind of sugar to use – brown or light brown.
The truth is, it doesn’t matter. If you have one or the other in your pantry, it’s delicious either way in this crock pot recipe! We prefer light.
Slow Cooker Preparation
- First, peel and dice up your potatoes in chunks,1-2 inches is fine, but the main thing is to try to keep them even so they cook at the same level. Perfection is not required.
- Grease a 6qt slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray or use a slow cooker insert for quick cleaning.
How to make Crock Pot Sweet Potato Casserole
Place peeled and diced sweet potatoes in the slow cooker.
In a separate bowl, add sugar, melted butter, spice, vanilla, water, and salt and mix well.
Pour brown sugar butter mixture over potatoes and stir to coat. The coating will not be overly saturated but is typically more than enough once fully cooked.
Cover the slow cooker and heat on high for 3-1/2 to 4 hours or until potatoes are fork tender.
Reduce heat to low once potatoes are soft, and proceed with toppings onto the sweet potato mixture. (See below for suggestions)
Chunky Potatoes or Creamy Potatoes – the choice is yours!
When your potatoes are ready to go and super tender, you can use a potato masher and mash them down or LEAVE AS IS.
I like the no-fuss idea of serving the way they are, and what’s not to love about classic sweet potato casserole, so I think everyone will love these either way.
I just wanted to let you know that it’s OK to mash them down if you prefer before you add your toppings.
Sweet Potato Casserole Toppings
Sprinkle sweet potatoes with mini marshmallows and cover until melted, about 3-5 minutes.
If you put the marshmallows on the sweet potatoes too soon, they will melt into the potatoes and not have a nice top layer.
Because this recipe is in a crock pot, you won’t get that same golden brown color on your marshmallows, so if aesthetically that is something you want, you can use a kitchen torch (carefully) or put your casserole into a dish and pop under a broiler for a minute or two.
Serve slow cooker sweet potato casserole topped with pecan topping (or any crunchy toppings) or if you want to get fancy, try my candied pecans recipe or candied walnuts!
Slow Cookers I Recommend
If you do not have a slow cooker or need additional slow cookers for the upcoming cooking season, here are the ones I own:
- Crockpot 8 quart– I have one of these 8 quart slow cookers. It has warm, low, and high buttons. It just runs till you turn it off and is pretty basic.
- Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker– I have this slow cooker that allows me to set the time from 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 hours of cooking time and what level. This one is great if you have a dish that only needs a few hours of cooking time and do not want it to overcook.
Slow Cooker Holiday Side Dishes
Brown sugar cinnamon carrots are a bold and seasonal favorite that pairs perfectly with ham and turkey.
There are so many ways to enjoy green beans during the season, and our two favorites are crockpot green bean casserole and this divine recipe for green bean casserole from scratch.
Crock Pot Sweet Potato Casserole
Ingredients
- 3-1/2 lbs sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2″ pieces
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups mini marshmallows
- whole pecans for serving
Instructions
- Grease a 6qt slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray to help prevent sweet potatoes from overly sticking.
- Place peeled and cut sweet potatoes into the slow cooker.
- In a separate bowl, add brown sugar, melted butter, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, water and salt and mix well until all combined.
- Pour mixture over potatoes and stir/rotate sweet potatoes to coat all sides.
- Cover slow cooker and heat on high 3-1/2 to 4 hours or until sweet potatoes are tender and soft. Reduce crock pot heat to low.
- BEFORE SERVING: Sprinkle mini marshmallows with top of potatoes with marshmallows and cover slow cooker again until marshmallows are just melted, about 3-5 minutes.
- Serve Sweet Potato Casserole topped with whole, chopped, or sugar covered pecans.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Did You Make This Recipe?
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Is there a substitution for the pumpkin spice if I can’t find it? Also can I use a liner in the crock pot to make clean up easier?
You can def use a liner. You should be able to find pumpkin pie spice fairly easily, its really common. Its usually one of those half size bottles in the seasoning aisle w a red top. Pumpkin pie spice is a collection of fall favorites like cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and nutmeg. Its like a premix of it.
Thanks Trisha. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving
Could you make the sweet potatoes the day before and then melt the marshmallows and put the pecans on top the day of your dinner?
I dont see why not, but it would still need time to warm up.
Trying it for the first time today!
My mixture wasn’t watery like yours was. Followed the measurements exactly. What’s different??
I am not 100% sure because its hard to know what other people did exactly. You are welcome to email me a picture and I can try to troubleshoot with you. It may just be the potatoes you had as far as how dry or large they were? Most of the moisture comes from the melted butter, sugar, and marshmallows.
I didn’t have pumpkin spice seasoning so I substituted for cloves, all spice, nutmeg, and cinnamon!
Slow cooked for 3 hours in the crockpot!!! Added the mixture to a “glass dish”, added the marshmallows and covered with Tim foil.
When the dinner was almost served, I popped it in the oven! It was perfect for our small gathering for covid! Her kids, hubby and me!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
I love how you put everything together with the spices on your own, thats such a nice way to make sure you include a little extra dash of cinnamon! Sounds delicious 🙂
How many potatoes in total you need I’m confused ?
3 1/2 pounds 🙂
I will try the side dishes this thanksgiving thank you so much needed something different
I love this recipe, I make it even not in thanksgiving for a good side dish during the week. I hope it works for your Thanksgiving!
Can I do this same recipe for a longer cook time? Like for the maximum slow cooker time then leave it until I get home from work?
Hi Jasmine,
This recipe is on high for 4 hours, and after that, it would risk burning if it stayed on high for hours afterward.
While I haven’t done it with this recipe, if you have a regular workday of 8 hours, you could put it on low all day. On the low setting, sweet potatoes generally take about 5 hours to become tender. This time can vary depending on the size and quantity of the sweet potatoes, as well as the specific slow cooker model.
I would suggest using a crockpot liner to keep the potatoes off the side of the crockpot and adding a tiny bit of extra moisture.
I hesitate on this advice when it comes to Thanksgiving because I don’t want to ruin anyone’s day and I haven’t tested this particular recipe that way.
I will say if you are pressed for time, the stovetop sweet potatoes recipe I have cooks in under an hour and is really easy on the stove – https://www.saltysidedish.com/stove-top-sweet-potatoes-with-brown-sugar-butter/
To convert that even quicker, get a bag of steamed sweet potatoes, cook in the microwave, and then follow the instructions with the butter and brown sugar. You can have them ready in under 30 minutes that way.
Can you use frozen chopped sweet potatoes?
You could use frozen sweet potatoes but they wont need nearly the same amount of time as actual hard potatoes. I am going to assume they are already cooked?
Best sweet potato casserole ever! Super Yummy… Thanks for sharing. Perfect amount of sweetness and spices. We cut yams into half moon slices about 1/2” thick (cause we’re lazy lol). Took 3 1/2 hours on high and 30 mins on warm for the most perfect texture. I will definitely be making this again soon:)