This Southern bourbon sweet potato casserole is proof that carbs and bourbon were meant to be together. Creamy mashed sweet potatoes, brown sugar, and a good splash of Kentucky courage bake into the kind of make-ahead holiday side dish that makes marshmallows look amateur. Buttery pecans on top, a smug sense of superiority inside - it's Thanksgiving comfort food with main-character energy.
Table of Contents
- 🎥 Watch and cook: bourbon sweet potato casserole made easy
- 🍠 Why this easy sweet potato casserole steals the holiday spotlight
- 🧾 What you'll need to make this sweet potato recipe
- 📖 Recipe
- 🔪 How to make this Thanksgiving side dish
- Temperature variations
- 👩🍳 Let's answer those sweet potato casserole questions
- 📚 More southern comfort food recipes you'll love
- 💬 Comments
🎥 Watch and cook: bourbon sweet potato casserole made easy
Press play and watch this Southern bourbon sweet potato casserole earn its place on your Thanksgiving table. Creamy sweet potatoes, real bourbon, and a buttery pecan crunch so good it makes marshmallows so last decade. Fast, easy, and just dangerous enough to become your new holiday tradition.
🍠 Why this easy sweet potato casserole steals the holiday spotlight
Most sweet potato casseroles are sweet enough to qualify as dessert, but this one walks the line like a Southern lady in heels after Sunday brunch - graceful, confident, and just a little dangerous. The bourbon cuts through the sugar and butter with a warm, grown-up edge, while the pecan streusel topping adds that irresistible praline crunch. It's the kind of side dish that makes the turkey nervous about its place on the table.
If you're starting from fresh, here's how to cook sweet potatoes for the richest flavor. And if you're a marshmallow loyalist, don't worry - you can still visit my candied yams with marshmallows recipe for that gooey nostalgia fix. But once you try this one? You may never go back.
🧾 What you'll need to make this sweet potato recipe
Before you grab your mixing bowl, take a quick pantry roll call. This bourbon sweet potato casserole recipe leans on simple, Southern staples - sweet potatoes, brown sugar, butter, heavy cream, and a generous pour of good bourbon. Top it with buttery pecans, and you've got a holiday side dish that tastes like comfort and mischief baked together.
- Sweet potatoes (yams) - the base of all good Thanksgiving decisions. Bake them for that rich, caramelized flavor, or use canned if you're running on caffeine and prayers.
- Heavy cream - for that creamy texture that makes every bite taste expensive.
- Bourbon - the soul of this casserole. Use the good stuff - cheap bourbon tastes like regret and college frat parties.
- Butter - lots of it. This is Southern comfort food, not a salad.
- Brown sugar - adds that molasses sweetness that melts perfectly into bourbon and butter.
- Allspice, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon - your cozy fall spice squad. They make the whole kitchen smell like you're starring in your own Hallmark holiday movie.
- Pecans - toasted, buttery, and just crunchy enough to start a polite family feud over the last scoop.
Grab the free Kitchen Cheat Sheet for this recipe - it's stuffed with extra FAQs, make-ahead tips, storage tricks, and the kind of bourbon-fueled wisdom that doesn't always make it into the printable recipe card. Consider it your secret weapon for smooth holiday cooking.
📖 Recipe
Southern Bourbon Sweet Potato Crunch Casserole
Print Pin Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 4 pounds sweet potatoes/yams, or 3 29-ounce cans, drained
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup bourbon
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- Salt and pepper to taste
Topping
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- ¼ cup butter
Instructions
- Slice sweet potatoes in half, brush with butter, and bake at 350F until tender - or drain canned yams.
- Remove the peels and add the cooked sweet potatoes to the bowl of your mixer and blend until smooth.
- Add the remaining ingredients, except topping, and whip until well blended and fluffy.
- Taste and adjust seasonings.
- Spoon into a greased casserole dish.
- Sprinkle with the pecan topping.
- Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.
Topping
- Melt butter in a heavy saucepan.
- Add the chopped pecans and brown sugar.
- Cook, stirring often, until the pecans are well coated.
- Spoon the topping over the yam mixture.
Notes
-
- If you prefer not to use bourbon you can use extra cream, cream soda, or even ginger ale in place of it.
- I don't recommend chopping the pecans with a food processor. Chop them by hand. They need to be coarsely chopped for the best texture.
- You can prepare this sweet, buttery sweet potato side dish about 3 days ahead of time, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate. Bake before serving.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
🔪 How to make this Thanksgiving side dish
If you can stir, you can make this. The hardest part of this bourbon sweet potato casserole is pretending to share it. Just mix, whip, and bake until your house smells like a Bath & Body Works holiday candle with better intentions.
- Once the sweet potatoes are baked and cool enough to handle, scoop out all that soft, golden goodness and toss the peels.
- If you're using canned yams, drain them like your reputation depends on it - extra liquid ruins the magic.
- Add the sweet potatoes to your mixer and whip on high speed until they're light, fluffy, and basically flirting with the beaters.
- Pour in the vanilla and sprinkle in those warm fall spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. Mix until your kitchen smells like a holiday candle.
- Add the brown sugar and whip again until smooth and sweet.
- Pour in the melted butter, heavy cream, and that glorious bourbon. Let it all mingle until the texture's silky and the flavor's pure Southern comfort.
- Spoon the mixture into a greased baking dish, spreading it evenly. Set it aside and admire your work.
- Roughly chop the pecans - big pieces mean more crunch per bite.
- Melt butter in a skillet, stir in the brown sugar, then add the pecans. Cook just until glossy and fragrant - blink and you'll burn them, so pay attention.
- Spread those candied pecans over the casserole and bake until bubbly, golden, and good enough to make marshmallow casseroles jealous.
- Enjoy!
🤫 Marye's secret for zhuzhing it up -
Sprinkle a little flaked sea salt or smoked sea salt over the top before serving - not too much. It balances out the sweetness and brings out the flavor of the pecans.
zhuzh: verb. To make something more interesting or attractive
Temperature variations
Sometimes your oven's already packed with turkey, pies, and a cousin's "experimental" green bean situation. No worries - here's how to adjust the bake time and temperature for this bourbon sweet potato casserole.
These times are an estimate, so keep an eye on things. Your casserole's ready when an instant-read thermometer hits 165°F in the center and the topping looks golden and slightly smug.
| Temperature | Time | Time From Frozen |
| 300F | 1 hour | Don't recommend |
| 325F | 50 minutes | 1 ½ hours |
| 350F | 40 minutes | 1 hour and 10 minutes |
| 375F | 30 minutes | 1 hour |
| 400F | 20 minutes watch the topping that it doesn't scorch. Cover with foil if needed. | 40 minutes - watch the topping that it doesn't scorch. Cover with foil if needed. |
👩🍳 Let's answer those sweet potato casserole questions
Every family's got opinions about sweet potatoes - bourbon or no bourbon, marshmallows or pecans, canned or fresh. Here's where I clear things up once and for all so your casserole turns out perfect, no drama required.Have other questions? Download the free kitchen cheat sheet or ask me in the comments!
Yes, just prepare as directed but leave the topping off and don't bake it. Cover with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. The night before you plan to serve it put it in the fridge to thaw. Add the pecans, bake, and serve as directed.
Cover with aluminum foil and reheat in a 325F oven for about 15 minutes.
Technically yes, but bless your heart. It'll work, but bourbon gives a smoother, richer flavor. Jack's great for drinking-bourbon's better for baking.
Heavy cream lightens the sweet potatoes and gives them creaminess. You can substitute whole milk or evaporated milk if you wish to cut down on some of the fat. The texture will not be the same.
📚 More southern comfort food recipes you'll love
If you can't get enough of that cozy, caramelized sweet potato flavor, I've got you covered. Start with my sweet potato dinner rolls - soft, golden, and lightly sweet, they're the kind of bread that disappears before the gravy hits the table. When you want something crispy and easy, sweet potato fries are the move; bake or air fry them till they're perfectly browned, then dip them in ranch or aioli if you're feeling fancy.
For holiday spreads, the pineapple sweet potato casserole adds a bright, tangy twist that somehow works like magic next to ham or turkey. And when you're keeping things simple, roasted sweet potatoes are the weeknight hero - caramelized edges, buttery centers, and not a single complaint from the table. However you serve them, sweet potatoes bring that perfect mix of comfort, color, and Southern charm to every meal.
Click over to this post for more prep ahead sides for Thanksgiving... or use this handy Thanksgiving make-ahead timeline.
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.
If you love this recipe please comment below and give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Bourbon sweet potato casserole
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Laurie says
This sounds delicious, but my goodness, why wear sleeves that get into the ingredients and all over your sleeves? Just a critic to let you know that the recipe and ingredients sound wonderful. I'd like to make this recipe. I also LOVE that mixer. Does it compare with a Kitchen Aid for durability and mixing stiff ingredients which put a load on a mixer? What's the name of the brand. I think I would replace my Kitchen Aid (knock off) Kenmore mixer for one like your's.
Marye says
I have a kitchen aid - this is a Bosch and I do love it. It kneads up to 6 pounds of bread dough and my last one lasted for 20 years before it needed to be replaced.
Amanda says
Can you use pumpkin pie spice instead of all of the seasonings?
Marye says
sure.