This lighter sweet potato casserole with marshmallows is made with golden raisins, crushed pineapple, and warm spices, topped with pecans and mini marshmallows.
Best Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe
This is my lightened-up, classic sweet potato casserole sweetened naturally with pineapple and golden raisins. I’ll admit, for a long time, I never understood the whole marshmallow-topping thing. I was always more partial to my Sweet Potato Casserole with Praline Topping or a cheesy Sweet Potato Gratin. But after making this recipe, I totally get it! This sweet potato casserole with marshmallows is the perfect mix of sweet and savory, and the colors and textures are just beautiful.
Why You’ll Love This Sweet Potato Casserole
This easy sweet potato and marshmallow casserole recipe will make a wonderful addition to your Thanksgiving side dishes along with Cranberry Pear Sauce, Green Bean Casserole, and Brussels Sprouts Gratin. Here’s what makes this version so special.
- A classic, made lighter. This sweet potato casserole uses crushed pineapples, honey, and golden raisins for added sweetness instead of refined sugar.
- Dairy-free and gluten-free. There’s no milk, butter, eggs, or flour in this recipe, making it a perfect dairy-free, gluten-free side dish option for holiday dinners.
- Satisfying contrasts. The combination of fluffy mashed sweet potatoes, seasonal spices, and pillowy, gooey toasted marshmallows is satisfying and so comforting. I also couldn’t resist adding crushed pecans for extra crunch!
Ingredients You’ll Need
These are the ingredients needed to make a warm and comforting sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top. See the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- Mashed Sweet Potatoes: I use about 5 medium-sized sweet potatoes. You can boil or bake the sweet potatoes before you mash them.
- Golden raisins and unsweetened crushed pineapple are a lighter way to sweeten the casserole while creating a lovely texture in the sweet potato mash.
- Added sweetener: This can be 1 teaspoon agave, honey, maple syrup or brown sugar.
- Cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, to boost the warm, seasonal flavors. You could also use pumpkin pie spice.
- Chopped pecans and mini marshmallows for the casserole topping.
How To Make Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows
Here are the simple steps to make a sweet potato casserole that the whole holiday table will swoon over. See the recipe card at the bottom for printable directions.
- Cook the sweet potatoes. Peel and chop sweet potatoes into large chunks. Then, boil the potatoes in a pot with water until fork-tender. Afterward, drain the potatoes and return them to the pot. Alternatively, you can bake the sweet potatoes in the oven or make Air Fryer Baked Sweet Potatoes.
- Mash the potatoes with a potato masher or hand mixer until they’re fluffy and smooth. Fold in the raisins, agave (or your choice of sweetener), spices, and pineapple.
- Assemble the casserole by spraying a round baking dish (pie, casserole, or ramekins) with oil. Fill the dish with the sweet potato mixture, then top the sweet potatoes with marshmallows and pecans.
- Bake at 400ºF for 15 minutes.
Recipe Tips and Variations
- Smooth, lump-free potatoes: Mash the sweet potatoes while they’re hot so they’re light and fluffy, not lumpy and gluey.
- For extra richness: There’s no butter needed for this recipe, but if you want to add some, stir in 1 tablespoon unsalted butter into the sweet potato mash mixture.
- Substitute the marshmallows: If you want to omit the marshmallows, make a sweet potato casserole with pecans by adding more chopped nuts mixed with some brown sugar. You can also skip the nuts and marshmallows altogether and make a broiled sugar topping as I do in my Mashed Sweet Potatoes Brulée recipe.
- Make single servings: Try my Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows for a personal-sized version inspired by this recipe.
- Flavorings: Add a dash of vanilla extract, or try adding bourbon for more depth of flavor.
What to Serve With Sweet Potato Casserole
The sweetness of this casserole pairs perfectly with any of the savory serving suggestions below.
Holiday Mains
Sweet potato marshmallow casserole is a favorite holiday side dish at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.
Vegetable Side Dishes
Try one or more of these easy veggie dishes to round out the meal.
Storage and Reheating
- Refrigerate leftover sweet potato casserole for up to 3-4 days. Store the cooled casserole in an airtight container. I don’t recommend sweet potato casserole for freezing since the texture won’t be the same after it’s thawed.
- To reheat, warm the casserole in the oven or reheat individual servings in the microwave until they’re hot throughout.
More Sweet Potato Recipes
Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe
Equipment
- Pie Dish
Ingredients
- 2 lbs sweet potatoes, about 5 medium, peeled
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 1 tsp agave, or honey, brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch nutmeg
- pinch allspice
- 8 oz can unsweetened crushed pineapple, drained
- 2 tbsp chopped pecans
- 1 cup mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Cut sweet potatoes into large chunks; boil potatoes in a large pot covered with water until potatoes are soft if pierced with a fork. Drain and return to the pot.
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Mash the sweet potatoes and add in raisins, agave, spices and pineapple.
- Lightly spray a pie dish, casserole dish or even individual ramekins with oil, spoon in sweet potatoes.
- Sprinkle with pecans and marshmallows.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
Has anyone tried this without the pineapple and raisins? Will it still come out good?
I usually make a similar dish with canned sweet potatoes and don’t mash them. Would this recipe work as well if the potatoes were left in chunks rather than mashing them?
I tried this today. The only thing I will change when I make it again, which I will, is decrease the pineapple as I thought it was a bit overpowering.
what size casserole dish would this need???
I used a pie dish.
This year will be the 4th year in a row that I’ve made this casserole for thanksgiving so I decided it was time to rate it and make a comment. It’s been a hit every year. Our friend that doesn’t normally like sweet potatoes loves this casserole and normally has 3rds of it. We rarely have any leftovers.
Great!!
Could you help me make this casserole for 4 servings? Would appreciate. Happy holidays.
Easiest would be to just halve the recipe- and you would have a little leftover. 🙂
Can you freeze this without the marshmallows or should it be made oven to table?
I haven’t tried freezing.
Can this recipe be made ahead and put in the freezer?
KDAHL, did you try making this ahead and freezing? One year later, I have the same question. I would like to make it ahead for Thanksgiving. If you — or anyone else — can give advice on this, I would be thankful!
I haven’t tried. Sorry!
Make life easier by boiling the sweet potatoes in their skin until fork tender, cool and skins slide off. Mash with a fork or potato masher and carry on with the recipe.
I took this a step further and pierced them with a fork a few times, microwaved them for about 8 minutes in the morning, and popped them in the fridge. When I got home from work the skin just peeled right off and it mashed easily!
Great tip!
As a Canadian, I have never tasted the traditional sweet potato casserole, so I have nothing to compare to. I thought that the pineapple could be reduced by 2oz and that the cinnamon could be doubled. I pureed the sweet potato along with the pineapple and raisins using an immersion blender. I cooked this in a 9×9 pan, divided it into 9 servings, and calculated the points plus to still be 3. Delicious!
Any reason you went with Golden Raisins over regular? I have regular raisins and would prefer to just use what I have- but I am making it for Christmas dinner, so I don't want to skimp if golden raisins do the trick! Thanks!
It looks nicer.
Would substituting bananas for the pineapple make this too dry? I don't really care for sweet potatoes, but my grandfather loves them. Extra bonus for this being a dish that is better for him than those canned yams and sugar heavy sweet potatoes he usually goes for on Thanksgiving.
Hard to say without testing.
I'm hosting a pre-Thanksgiving family dinner tomorrow since I'll be traveling to Michigan next week to visit my in-laws… And this sweet potato casserole is on the menu! I think I'm going to prep it tonight!
What a great recipe 🙂 thank you sooooooo much I had a great time making this. I blogged this recipe . If your interested and wanna check out my blogg just let me know
OH… I forgot to mention that I substituted the agave for brown sugar, and did not add the raisins or walnuts. Perfect!
I tested this out tonight and it was great!!! I can not wait to make for Thanksgiving. I love sweet potato casseroles but hate how they are always too sweet and fattening. I had the browns sugar ready in case this was not sweet enough but there was no need! We all had seconds tonight. Thank you 🙂
Oops, nevermind. You answered that already. Thank you!
What size casserole dish?
I used a pie dish.
OMG, soooo good! I had this at a potluck at work and had to hunt down the person who made it for the recipe. The pineapple and raisins add a natural sweetness to the dish that is absolutely addictive!
big hit at thanksgiving dinner this afternoon! thank you gina! :]
Looks amazing, I can't wait to try it. I'm not a big fan of pineapple and raisins. Will it effect the outcome of the dish if I omit them?
What size dish should this be in? Thanks!
This is a pie dish.
My sister makes a sweet potato casseroe for every Thanksgiving Family Meal – I am going to send this to her since we all like to eat healthy
Yummy!!!! I love sweet potatoes!!!! This recipe looks similiar to the one my mother makes!
I boiled the sweet potatoes the night before Easter to save time the next day. I had no agave so I used 1.5 tsp brown sugar. I also run the pineapple thru a mini food processor first so it would be smoother. Although it didn't give me the good holiday fuzzies (like the sweet potato pie – yum) I liked it enough to probably make it for a regular dinner side dish. It's healthy enough. Caution…If you plan to bake this in a toaster oven be careful. Mine browned VERY quickly (it still had 9 mins left!). I guess the delicate marshmallow topping is too close to the heating element in a toaster oven. Also, I agree with the review that mentioned the strong pineapple flavor. If pineapple is not your favorite thing this recipe may not work for you.
This came up under Vegan, but marshmallows are not Vegan. That can be very misleading for someone who may just be starting out Vegan. Please consider tweaking the recipe to include that info or re-categorizing the recipe. Otherwise, this recipe sounds amazing!
I used a pie dish but an 8×8 would work.
What size casserole dish do you use for this? I think I'm going to take it to a NYE brunch. Thank you!
I love sweet potatoes but haven't liked them in casseroles even though I keep trying. This recipe was great. Glad to finally have a recipe that makes both me and the sweet potato casserole lovers happy — thank you!
AH-mazing! Every single one of my "do not like sweet potato" guests loved this. A keeper fo sho!
I made this for dinner last night on Turkey day and LOVED it!!!! thank you
I can't WAIT to make this for Thanksgiving tomorrow. My family is finally letting me cook something (instead of bringing cheese and crackers). Thanks for providing a healthy but still fun version!
I just cooked this up, to the point where you add the nuts and marshmallows and bake. I tried the mashed-mixture and I feel like the pineapple is a bit overpowering. My immersion blender didn't crush up the pineapple any more than it already was and if you try a bite with a pineapple piece in it, it's really strong. Will this maybe mellow out during the baking? I'll bake it off tomorrow to be ready for Thanksgiving dinner.
This is so YUMMY! I made it a couple nights ago. and im boiling yams as i type this. Im using yams cause thats what i had. this time im gonna use brown sugar cause i dont have agave. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this site.
I'm so happy you all liked it.
To the person who doesn't like pineapple, try the creme brulee sweet potatoes instead!
Yes, you can prepare this the night before!
Persophonie, oh how special that must be!!! You're grandad made History!
I laughed to see this recipe on Pinterest! The White House Cookbook was published by my Great-Grandfather, from Saalfield Publishing. Someone else has purchased the rights to this cookbook and is re-publishing it. Glad to see that this recipe is from it and is a hit!
Is this something I can prepare the night before and then just bake before serving?
I was blessed to see Weight Watcher Points plus value on there! thank you! Happy Thansksgiving!
I have never been a huge fan of sweet potatoes and marshmallows. Too sweet for me. But since I am a huge fan of your recipes, I decided to give it a go. I absolutely loved them!!! It wasn't syrupy sweet like a typical sweet potato marshmallow dish at all. This will defintitely be on my list to make for the holiday meals we will be going to. I did leave out the raisins, though. Still not a raisin fan. 😉
I was thinking of trying this out for Thanksgiving this year, but I am concerned about the pineapple. Can you taste it? I am a huge fan of Boston Market's mashed sweets with marshmallows, so thought this might be good instead. Would you make this and leave it out, or try the brulee recipe and add marshmallows?
OMG! This is a dish that has been on our Thanksgiving table for years. But it has been the dish loaded with a lot of sugar and butter. So happy i now have a lowfat version to try. So looking forward to it! Thanks Gina.
I made this for my mom the other day (probably the 5th recipe of yours I've tried) and we loved it. Dad had no idea there was no sugar in it! I love your recipes, they are so good and amazingly easy to make!
Looks great! I went shopping for the ingredients the other day and the "sweet potatoes" I saw in the produce section where more white in color. The "yams" I saw were more orange like your pictures. So do we need "yams" for this recipe or "sweet potatoes"? I have googled the difference and the "yams" seem to be the ones to use for sweet casseroles.
Instead of t-shirts and shot glasses I always buy a local cookbook when I go on vacation – the White House one you mentioned above was the one I bought on my first visit to D.C. two years ago 🙂
Oh and recipe looks amazing too, I think I'm going to try it out for Thanksgiving!
Oh wow. Wow this looks AMAZING. I'm English so the concept of a Sweet Potato Casserole is totally foreign to me, but I want it in my tummy pretty soon.
Thanks for letting me know this isn't vegan!
Canned pumpkin should work, I don't have a cup size for the serving, sorry.
Us vegans can just use vegan marshmallows! I know that Sweet and Sara and Dandies both make vegan marshmallows. I love sweet potato casserole and will be trying this recipe soon. Thanks!
would this recipe work if i substitute the sweet potatoe for canned pumpkin? also do u know the measurments for a serving size? (ex:1/4 cup per one serving) thanks!
This sounds fantastic! The only thing is that this is labeled under "Vegan", but the marshmallows would have to be omitted for it to be vegan (since most are made with gelatin, an animal byproduct). It would probably taste just as yummy without! 🙂
that looks good! I have that White House Cookbook, but I have a old version, Love it
This looks so good! I will have to try this sometime soon, just without the agave.
This was my first time trying a recipe from the site, but I've been looking for a while. I replaced the sweet potatoes with butternut squash (since I had bags pureed in the freezer). I also omitted the raisins. When I recalculated the info, I found I could get 1/6th of it for 2p+. Very filling and very tasty. Thanks for all the great ideas.
beautiful, however, would like to add that as this is listed in Vegan section that the marshmellows are not vegan.
I was about to write the same thing.
I am a vegetarian, so I am going to try this with fluff instead – no gelatin in fluff!
Vegan marshmallows are sourcable.
A fabulous side dish – looks so good!
I'd love an opportunity to win this cookbook! Thanks for all your tasty low-cal recipes!
This cookbook would make a lovely addition to my collection.
This looks totally amazing! I am trying it this weekend, and then adding it to my Turkey Day menu plan… Gina, thanks for always sharing such wonderful recipes. You have utterly transformed dinnertime at my house.
My inlaws make a fabulous sweet potato pecan recipe using marshmellows too. But this one seems to push the envelope. I will suggest it this year and do a side by side comparison.
Looks super delicious.!!!
Beautiful photos! I think this lightened up version probably tastes better than the original. just sayin.
This is a family favorite that has been off the table for a while but will make a reappearance this Thanksgiving! My crew will be thrilled so thank you.
The book sounds quite interesting. Never gave a thought to making my dress "incombustible"!
You can use brown sugar in place of agave and visa versa. I'm sure canned sweet potatoes would work just as well.
Any changes you make to this, you should check the points on recipe builder.
I didn't weight this, forgot to so If you want to know your serving size for sure, weight it, then divide by 10.
This looks delicious! I can hardly wait to try it. I re-joined WW on Monday and know I will have great success due to your recipes! Thank you for making it so much easier for all of us to follow a plan and feel good about ourselves!
I have never made/had a sweet potato casserole before, but love sweet potatoes. I might just have to give this a try!
Oh, this one looks very tasty. And I would love to win that book. If I don't win, I probably will buy it. I am fairly new to your blog and I have been enjoying it very much.
Could it be done with the canned sweet potatoes? I am fond of fast on Holidays because I have a lot and I mean a lot of cooking to do!
Thanks!! Sounds tasty. I think I'll omit the raisins though 🙂
Hi Gina! how do i divide up the servings into 1/10th??? and what if i don't like raisins or pineapple in it? would that change the calories or points? thanks!
I'm definitely passing this along to my mom who likes to make a sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving and then goes home with a 3/4 full dish.
Thanksgiving can't come here soon enough!
Im trying this for the coming Holidays. I make one like it but have never tried the pineapple in it. Looks wonderful!
This looks so amazing! Is there a substitute for the agave though?
This looks absolutely DELICIOUS – definitely gonna give it a shot. A great way to use up those last few sweet potatoes I've not used yet. 🙂 Thanks a bunch!
This is amazing. I used to eat sweet potato casserole like it was my job.. until I cleaned up my eating. Now I can enjoy it again!! Thanks!
This recipe looks awesome! My recipe is insanely fat drenched. I'll definitely try it! That cookbook looks awesome.
OMGosh, that looks so good and am so glad it will be good for me also. Thanks for all you do Gina.
That was the first thing that I thought! Never been a big fan of sweet potato types of dishes with marshmallows…. I grew up in the D.C. area though. And I love agave! I admire you for making the recipe first and then tweaking. That's the way it should really be done. I'm sure my very Southern husband from Georgia will love this! And his family!
this sounds delish! I am the only one in my house that likes it so I would have to eat the whole thing alone!! Only one point over my WW daily allowance!
This was my absolute favorite dish at Thanksgiving growing up! I'm so glad you made a skinny version so I can enjoy it guilt free!
This looks really great and a great substitute for the butter drenched sweet potatoes I generally make at Thanksgiving!