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This casserole can be made with either sweet potatoes, or winter squash, depending on your diet and preference. Paleo, GAPS and Gluten-free, you’ll love being able to make this before your holiday dinner — refrigerate or freeze, then bake when you’re ready!

I was a vegetarian for 10 years. During that time, people always felt sorry for me on Thanksgiving, because I couldn’t have the turkey. I chuckled to myself, hehe: more room for sweet potatoes and stuffing!
I’ve always been one for rich foods, full of fat, flavor and — crumb topping! Now that I can and do enjoy moist, dark-meat turkey each Thanksgiving, I have to be extra strategic. I definitely skip the rolls. (I do not need plain bread and jam taking up room on a feast day!) I need Sweet Potato Casserole (and stuffing)!
For our GAPS (low-starch) diet, I also make a winter squash version. Both are gluten and grain-free; both are rich… and you want them to last forever. Thankfully this humble casserole dish holds a huge amount of goodness. I must weigh it at some point. I seriously think it weighs 15 pounds! And it feeds so many!
Make ahead
I got the idea to make this a casserole that can be prepared ahead of time — for convenience-sake! What happens anyway when you put uncooked eggs in the freezer? Will the casserole bake up as it should? Will it turn out?
I’ve taken that guess work out! — so you can focus on making the turkey, the stuffing and perhaps pies the day before and the day of the holiday. This casserole freezes, defrosts and bakes beautifully!
Make something predictably awesome ahead of time so there is less stress the day your loved ones arrive, (or more time to make pies)!
Note: I give both variations of the recipe below: make ahead and freeze or bake and serve immediately.
Make Ahead Sweet Potato or Winter Squash Casserole with Pecan-Crumb Topping (Paleo, GF, GAPS)
Equipment
- casserole dish
- oven
- food processor (or potato masher)
Ingredients
Main Recipe
- 8 cups, loosely packed sweet potato or butternut squash, cooked, cut into big chunks, (yielded from two butternut squash or 10 sweet potatoes, approximately, depending on size)
- 1 can coconut milk or 1-¾ cup high fat raw milk or grass-fed heavy cream
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup honey or pure maple syrup (I like to use honey with winter squash and maple syrup with sweet potatoes)
- ⅔ cup coconut oil or butter, melted
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
Crumb Topping
- 2-¼ cups pecans, see How to Sprout Nuts below in Recipe notes
- 3 T. coconut flour
- 3 egg yolks
- 3 T. coconut sugar or honey* (see note below)
- 3 T. coconut oil , butter or ghee, room temperature
- ¾ tsp. cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp. + a pinch sea salt
Instructions
Main Recipe
- Grease a 9" by 13" casserole dish with animal fat, butter or coconut oil. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, if you plan to bake the casserole immediately.
- Place all ingredients into a large 14-cup food processor (or puree ingredients in two batches if necessary). Puree for 30-50 seconds, scraping down the sides once, until all ingredients are smooth and well mixed.
- Pour puree into casserole dish and smooth the top. Make Crumb Topping.
Crumb Topping
- In (dry) food processor, blend walnuts to a meal.
- Add the remaining ingredients and pulse until they come together nicely, clumping somewhat.
- Sprinkle topping on casserole. Cover and freeze, if you're making the casserole ahead of time. Or bake in preheated oven if eating immediately.
- Bake in preheated 325 oven until even the middle is hot and the topping is golden brown but not too dark. Check after 45 minutes and cover loosely if it's browning too quickly. Total times will vary slightly, about 1 hour total. (Note: the center will be slightly jiggly, not fully set.)
- For make-ahead casseroles, take casserole out of the freezer the afternoon/night before you plan to serve it, allowing about 24 hours for it to defrost in the fridge. Uncover the casserole while it defrosts. Cook according to above baking instructions.
- Once baked, allow casserole to cool, and set up further, for 20 minutes, before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
In conclusion, if you haven’t made my stuffing recipe before, I highly recommend that recipe, as well (find it here). I’ve gotten tons of great feedback on the grain-free version! Happy Holidays!! Enjoy all the healthy fat!
And here’s the humble casserole dish I recommend. The new American-made Pyrex is no longer safe. Consumer Reports now recommends this European-made version, that uses the original glass recipe that Pyrex once used.
Renee Kohley says
Ahhh… you had me at “make ahead” 🙂 Looks very nutrient dense and nourishing! Thank you!
Megan Stevens says
It sure is nutrient dense! 🙂
Emily @ Recipes to Nourish says
This looks so amazing! I love casseroles like this. So beautiful Megan! Pinned and sharing.
Megan Stevens says
Thank you, Emily!
naturalfitfoodie says
Planning a dinner party can be so stressful! Having a yummy make ahead dish like this would really help. I’ll try this out for sure.
Megan Stevens says
I’m so glad!
Jessica from SimplyHealthyHome says
I love anything I can make ahead! Great looking recipe.
Megan Stevens says
Thanks, Jessica!
thefoodhunter says
I could totally eat all the potatoes and stuffing at Thanksgiving too! I love that this can be made ahead.
Megan Stevens says
🙂
linda spiker says
Yes. Anything make ahead is a winner in my book! Love the crumb topping!
Megan Stevens says
Me too! My kids say that having leftovers cold is like eating upside down pumpkin pie. They love it this way for breakfast!
Jessica from SimplyHealthyHome says
Love it. Thanks for linking up at Simply Natural Satudays! 🙂
Megan Stevens says
Thanks, Jess, very fun! Glad to be there!
Raia Torn says
Oooh, yum! This is my kind of sweet potato casserole! Usually the ones served at Thanksgiving are too sugary for me. :p
Thanks so much for sharing this at Savoring Saturdays, Megan! I hope you’ll stop by and share with us again this weekend! 🙂
Megan Stevens says
Thanks, Raia; you bet!
Emily @ Recipes to Nourish says
Thanks so much for sharing this with us at Savoring Saturdays linky party! Just wanted to let you know that I’ll be featuring your recipe tomorrow when it goes live. Hope you’ll join us again 🙂
Megan Stevens says
Wonderful, Emily; thank you!
Anjali says
We made this for Thanksgiving last week and it was a hit with the whole family! I also loved how easy it was to make – and it was so flavorful too!
Megan says
Yay, Anjali, great to hear! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Andrea says
Very happy to have found this make ahead casserole recipe. It looks and sounds fabulous. Perfect for my family.
Megan says
Great, Andrea, so glad. I hope you all love it!
Dana Sandonato says
This is so so good. I’m not at all into the idea of marshmallows on sweet potatoes so this crumb topping is such a nice change!
Megan says
Hi Dana, yay! Thanks so much for sharing. This is one of our favorite Thanksgiving casseroles, too, so it’s lovely to hear you enjoyed it. I did love marshmallows growing up on our sweet potato casseroles LOL, but I guess most kids do. Now, I MUCH prefer this sweet savory treat that’s a little dessert like, but much more satisfying!
Heather Johnson says
the filling is delicious – why do i need to sprout the nuts? i’ve never heard of this before so not sure why i need to do it
Megan says
Hi Heather, I’m so glad you enjoyed the filling recipe! Thanks for sharing that. You don’t absolutely need to sprout the nuts, and thanks for the great question. This practice helps make nuts more digestible, gentle and nutritious. Once you start doing it, it gets to be fast and easy. Here’s an article that explains more about why and also the how: https://eatbeautiful.net/how-to-sprout-nuts-and-seeds/ 🙂
Mirlene says
I love make ahead casserole recipes! This sweet potato casserole is a must to make for our holiday gatherings!
Megan says
Great, Mirlene, so sweet to hear! Thank you for sharing, and I’m glad the casserole has been a big hit at your house! 🙂