Sweet Potato Soufflé

This Sweet Potato Soufflé is delicious with fresh or canned sweet potatoes and a favorite side dish at our Thanksgiving and holiday meals.

My husband describes his family recipe like this, “The butter, eggs and brown sugar enhance the sweet potato experience.”

Overhead view of an easy homemade sweet potato souffle ready to serve out of a white dish on a blue napkin.

Easy Sweet Potato Soufflé Recipe

We like how using simple ingredients in a basic dish allows the amazing flavor of the sweet potatoes to be the star of the show.  Pecans are optional and add even more flavor and crunch to the sweet topping if you like nuts. 

My father in law regularly makes this easy Sweet Potato Soufflé for Thanksgiving and Christmas parties.  He’s a busy person, so finding a good, quick sweet potato recipe is important.

Just like our Farmhouse Mashed Potatoes and Loaded Potato Casserole, we crave these potato recipes enough that we make them a few times throughout the year.

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Our soufflé recipe is sweet and delicious, but not nearly as dessert like at this Crock Pot Candied Sweet Potato Casserole recipe that a co-worker gave me several years ago.  It is delicious and almost tastes like a dessert it’s so sweet!

Close up of a fork in the center of smooth and fluffy sweet potato souffle with bits of baked brown sugar topping spread over top and pieces of chopped pecans peeking out on a white plate.

Serve warm along side Turkey, Farmhouse Dressing or Cornbread Dressing and Scalloped Corn Casserole and enjoy!

Does It Matter If You Use Fresh Or Canned Sweet Potatoes?

We did a test comparing two versions of the same recipe. One souffle was made with canned yams and one with freshly mashed sweet potatoes. Multiple taste testers were unable to identify a taste or quality difference in the two versions.

Our conclusion is that canned or fresh sweet potatoes that you boil on your own both taste great! Use the type of potato that you prefer and have time to make.

Pile of farmhouse sweet potato souffle with brown sugar bits of topping

Can This Soufflé Be Made Ahead Of Time

We have successfully tested making the potato mixture 2 to 3 days ahead of time and covering tightly while storing in the refrigerator.

We prefer to wait to mix up the crumble topping until ready to bake for best results.

Avoid putting a cold dish in a hot oven. Either set the dish out on the counter to warm up for 30 – 45 minutes. Or set the cold dish in a cold oven and don’t begin the official baking time until the oven is done preheating.

How To Make Sweet Potato Souffle

  1. Mash cooked sweet potatoes OR open a can of yams and drain.
  2. Mix all “potato ingredients” together well and pour into a lightly greased pan.
  3. Mix all topping ingredients.  Crumble evenly over potato mixture and bake for 35 – 45 minutes in a 350°F oven until topping is golden brown and potatoes are cooked through.
Silver serving spoon in the corner of a glass baking dish with warm sweet potato souffle with a layer of sweet pecan topping.

Ingredients Needed:

  • Sweet Potatoes – Canned yams can be drained and mashed or fresh potatoes can be peeled, boiled and mashed. The taste is very comparable.
  • Sugar – Granulated sugar is mixed in with the mashed potatoes.
  • Eggs – Help make the soufle fluffy and richer.
  • Milk – Makes a smoother mixture. If cream or half and half is used less butter is needed.
  • Salt
  • Butter – Adds a rich, desirable depth of flavor. Use more butter if 2% milk is used and less butter if a richer dairy product is used.
  • Vanilla Extract – Using pure vanilla helps enhance all of the other flavors in the dish.
  • Brown Sugar – Creates a sweet golden brown topping that is a signature part of the soufflé.
  • Flour – Adds a bit more structure to the topping.
  • Pecans – An optional addition adds a wonderful nutty crunch and unique depth of flavor.
Ingredients to make an easy sweet potato soufflé are flour, pecans, milk, brown sugar, eggs, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, butter and sweet potatoes on a white counter.

Step By Step Instructions

Drain canned potatoes or boil your own. 

Peel and cube the potatoes before boiling until tender.

Cubes of sweet potatoes in a pot of boiling water on the stove.

Or boil whole, evenly shaped potatoes. The spuds pictured were too large and unevenly shaped, so it took over 30 minutes-to boil them whole. 

Once potatoes fall off a fork, the skin will slide off easily after cooling long enough to safely handle.

Large sweet potatoes on plate that were boiled whole and have lose skins

Place peeled and boiled potatoes in a mixing bowl and beat until potatoes are mashed and no lumps remain.

Overhead view of canned yams beaten in a mixing bowl with eggs, milk, butter and brown sugar poured in.

Add butter, sugar, milk, salt, eggs and vanilla.

Eggs, butter and sugar added to mashed sweet potatoes in a medium mixing bowl.

Mix well again.

Warm pureed sweet potatoes in a silver mixing bowl.

Pour into a lightly greased baking dish and crumble topping over potato mixture as evenly as possible. 

Brown Sugar & Pecan Topping

Four simple ingredients mix to together to make a heavenly topping.

Light brown sugar, all-purpose flour, chopped pecans and butter.

Ingredients to make pecan topping for sweet potato souffle are brown sugar, flour, butter and chopped pecans in small glass dishes on a white counter.

In a small mixing bowl stir together brown sugar, flour and partially melted or very soft butter.

Partially melted butter added to a bowl with all purpose flour and light brown sugar in a silver bowl.

Mix well until smooth and even.

Light brown sugar with flour and butter stirred in lining the bottom of a mixing bowl.

Pour chopped pecans in and mix well.

Chopped pecans poured on a brown sugar mixture to make an easy, crunchy topping.

I find using my fingers to flatten and sprinkle out the mixture helps make a thinner, more even layer.

Sweet pecan and brown sugar topping spread out over top of the sweet potato souffle in a white baking dish.

Bake at 350° F for 35 – 50 minutes (depending on how deep mixture is in dish) until topping is golden brown and potatoes are bubbling up underneath.

Soufflé holds well in a warming drawer when covered with foil for up to 2 hours.

White two quart baking dish with a golden brown pecan topping on top of sweet potato souffle on a blue napkin.

Tips for Making Sweet Potato Soufflé

  • Souffle bakes more quickly using warm sweet potatoes.
  • Potato mixture may be prepared up to a day ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. Allow dish to warm up on the counter for 30 to 60 minutes and add topping just before baking for best results.
  • Baked souffle reheats well and may be stored in the refrigerator for 2 – 4 days or frozen in an airtight bag or container for up to 3 months.
  • Sometimes we use our basic Corningware 2 1/2 quart casserole dish, other times we use a square 8 x 8 baking dish and both options work fine.
  • The brown sugar topping will be thicker on a smaller dish unless the recipe doubled.
  • Small, evenly shaped sweet potatoes can be boiled whole and the skins quickly peeled off.  Large potatoes are easier to peel, cut into chunks and then boil and mash.
Pile of sweet potato souffle with crumbled brown sugar topping and a fork on white plate

Other Easy & Delicious Potato Recipes:

We hope you enjoy these potato recipes as much as we do!

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Serving spoon mixing up a rich and fluffy sweet potato mixture with a sweet and crunchy topping in a delicious dish of sweet potato souffle.

Sweet Potato Soufflé

Servings 10 people
Author: Jennifer
This Sweet Potato Soufflé is delicious with fresh or canned sweet potatoes and a favorite side dish at our Thanksgiving and holiday meals.
5 from 3 votes
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients
  

Potato Mixture

  • 4 cups mashed sweet potatoes or 40 oz can of yams drained
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons butter melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping

  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 5 tablespoons butter softened
  • 1 cup pecans optional

Instructions
 

  • Mix all ingredients in potato mixture well.  Pour into a buttered 2 1/2 quart or 8 x 8" square baking dish.
  • Mix all topping ingredients.  Crumble topping evenly over potato mixture. 
  • Bake at 350°F for 35 – 45 minutes uncovered.

Notes

  • We could not tell a difference in taste between canned yams and freshly boiled and mashed sweet potatoes.
  • Dish may be prepared up 2-3 days ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. Allow dish to warm up on the counter for 30 to 60 minutes before baking to avoid cracking the dish while baking.

Nutrition

Calories: 339kcalCarbohydrates: 44gProtein: 4gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 58mgSodium: 240mgPotassium: 282mgFiber: 3gSugar: 29gVitamin A: 7900IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 60mgIron: 1mg

Nutritional Disclaimer

“Plowing Through Life” is not a dietitian or nutrition professional. Any nutritional information shared is an estimate and can vary greatly depending on specific products are used. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator of your choice.

Tried this recipe?Mention @PlowingThroughLife or tag #PlowingThroughLife!

Originally shared on September 16, 2018 with updates made on September 12, 2023.

Sweet Potato Soufflé is a favorite potato casserole at our holiday meals

6 Comments

  1. April Tenney says:

    5 stars
    Made this fof my family’s Easter dinner today. Absolutely delicious!

    1. So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for sharing!

  2. How many cans and what brand does your father in law use?

    1. Jennifer @ Plowing Through Life says:

      Hey There! He uses the Aldi brand and one big 32 ounce can. Hope you enjoy 🙂

  3. 5 stars
    The Manor at Becks Lake, bed & breakfast made this for Christmas. Our guests love it, no nuts.

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