Boston Market Sweet Potato Casserole + Video
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Boston Market Sweet Potato Casserole is one side dish that absolutely steals the show. Check out my video in this post just to see how outstanding it looks! Lusciously creamy with a decadent streusel topping, it’s seasoned with spices that just scream “holiday.” But rest assured – you can make this delicious, marshmallow-topped Boston Market sweet potatoes recipe any day, any time, anywhere!
Boston Market Sweet Potato Casserole
This copycat Boston Market sweet potato recipe combines a rich sweet potato mixture with brown sugar streusel topping and mini marshmallows. It’s popular for a good reason!
It’s always popular, along with my Sausage Cranberry Apple Stuffing, for a Thanksgiving meal that’s sure to please all of your guests. And don’t forget the Cranberry Sauce!
Slow cooked, air fried, layered into a cheesecake… It’s no secret that I love sweet potatoes! I hope that one of my recipes can make their way onto your table this holiday season!
Difference Between Sweet Potatoes and Yams
Even though you will see labels for yams and sweet potatoes, what you find at the grocery store is typically two different varieties of sweet potato.
One will have lighter skin and pale yellow flesh, while the other will have darker skin with deep orange flesh.
Either will work just fine in this southern sweet potato casserole.
Making Sweet Potato Casserole With Marshmallows
- Cook the potatoes.
Start by boiling the sweet potatoes until you can easily pierce them with a fork. Then place them into a colander in the sink to drain the water out. - Add back to the cooking pot.
The heat from the pot will help absorb any excess water. Then add and mix in the sugar, butter, cream, and spices until everything is creamy and smooth. - Transfer to baking dish and bake!
Then, smooth the sweet potato mixture into a greased baking dish and top with marshmallow and streusel.
Bake until the top is golden and crispy. It’s that simple!
Ingredient Notes & Substitutes
- Sweet Potatoes – The small and medium sized spuds tend to be the sweetest, so keep an eye out for ones around that size with little to no blemishes.
Larger potatoes are usually starchier – and that’s not what we want! - Light Brown Sugar – Brown sugar melds with the flavors of sweet potatoes much better than white granulated sugar.
Its deep, molasses-like sweetness is so incredible in this buttery, creamy casserole! Dark brown sugar works as well. - Heavy Cream – For that characteristic creaminess! Half and half or whole milk could work, too, but won’t add quite the same texture.
- Ground Cinnamon & Nutmeg – I can almost smell and taste these seasonings just by thinking about them!!
As far as substitutes go, your best options are allspice and cloves. Both are well suited for these colder months – they’ll warm you right up! - Mini Marshmallows – And I do mean mini, please!
Smaller marshmallows will toast and fluff up just fine, while larger ones will give you more of a droopy, sticky mess. - Old Fashioned Rolled Oats – Our streusel is built on these tasty grains. It’s like an oatmeal cookie!
Don’t use instant oats – they’re over-processed, thin, and will make the casserole mushy. - Nuts or not, Boston Market Sweet Potato Casserole hits the spot!
Substitute chopped pecans for rolled oats, or use a mix of both! - Double the recipe to feed a crowd!
You can easily double the sweet potato casserole recipe if needed.
Bake it in two separate 9×13-inch casseroles dishes, or a 4 quart casserole dish, so it doesn’t bubble over.
Tips For A Perfect Copycat Boston Market Sweet Potatoes Recipe!
- Make It Dairy Free – The heavy cream can be substituted with coconut cream (the thick, creamy portion found at the top of full-fat coconut milk) or a plant-based milk.
Swap out the butter with plain ol’ margarine or another plant based butter substitute! - Can You Use Canned Sweet Potatoes? You absolutely can! Just drain them, rinse the syrup off, and mash them up.
You’ll need 8 cups of mashed sweet potatoes for this Boston Market sweet potatoes recipe. - Cook The Potatoes All The Way Through – Undercooked potatoes will totally sabotage your casserole!
Be sure to bake them until they’re fork tender – trust me, everyone would rather wait a couple of extra minutes for a super creamy casserole than get a lumpy, starchy mess earlier. - Try Frozen Potatoes! You can find sweet potatoes pre-skinned and cubed among the frozen veggies at the grocery store.
If you can snag them, do it! Those will be the ripest and sweetest potatoes around. Let them thaw in the fridge and then come to room temperature before using.
Prep Ahead Instructions
Because we’re not using eggs, this recipe is completely safe to prepare up to 3 days ahead of time! Talk about convenient!
Boil and mash your sweet potatoes the day before baking.
Season and store in the dish, either with a lid or tightly wrapped in plastic or foil, and refrigerate until a couple of hours before baking.
Set the dish out to come to room temperature before adding the streusel and marshmallows. Then, bake as usual!
This will really cut down on time and work for you on the day of!
If you’re making multiple portions and doubling up this sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, then I recommend doing so in two separate casserole dishes or using a larger 4-quart dish so that it doesn’t bubble over.
Recipe Video
To see this sweet potato side dish made from start to finish, watch the video! Look for it in the recipe card, at the bottom of this post.
Storing and Reheating Sweet Potato Casserole With Marshmallows
I can’t imagine you’ll have any leftovers! But if you do, then you’ll want to keep this covered and chilled for up to 5 days.
You can reheat your Boston Market sweet potato casserole in the oven at 350°F or give individual portions a few 30-second trips in the microwave.
Boston Market Sweet Potato Casserole FAQ
The original recipe does, but this one does not! I replaced the pecans in the streusel topping with rolled oats.
You can certainly add them back into the mix if you’d like, or try a combination of the two!
The yam is like the tough cousin of the sweet potato. It is in fact a kind of sweet potato, but a dry and starchy kind. It has a light skin and yellow flesh.
The sweet potato that we know and love is sweeter, has a softer flesh, and a reddish tinge.
But you know what? Either will do!
The original Boston Market sweet potato casserole has 448 calories per serving.
While my copycat comes very close to what you’d get at the restaurant, calories always vary depending on the specific ingredients that you choose. So consider the calorie count of your own ingredients when preparing this recipe!
Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.
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Boston Market Sweet Potato Casserole + Video
Equipment
Ingredients
Sweet Potatoes
- 4 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1” pieces
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1/2 stick
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Topping
- 2 cups mini marshmallows
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats, not instant oats
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8”x10” casserole dish (8×8 or 9×9 works too).
- Fill a large pot with sweet potato pieces and enough water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until fork tender, about 10 minutes.
- Drain water from potatoes and return potatoes to the pot. Using a potato masher or electric mixer, mash until mostly smooth. Add remaining ingredients (except topping ingredients and mix until combined.
- Spoon sweet potatoes into the casserole dish and use the back of a wooden spoon or mixing spatula to smooth out. Sprinkle marshmallows over top of mashed sweet potatoes.
- Add butter to a medium sized microwave safe bowl. Microwave on full power to melt the butter. Add remaining topping ingredients to the bowl, and use a fork to combine. Sprinkle over the top of casserole.
- Place the casserole in the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the streusel is crisp and marshmallows are golden brown.
- Serve while warm, and enjoy!
Video
Donna’s Notes
Prepare the mashed sweet potatoes the day before and place them in your baking dish. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Bring it to room temperature the day of, add the marshmallows and streusel topping, and bake per recipe instructions.
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.
Originally published November 2013, updated and republished November 2022.
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Hi, There. Made this last year, and it was FABULOUS! Thanks!!
Can you use canned yams? I sent my husband to the store because I forgot a few things. I said sweet potatoes and he brought back canned yams. 🙂 I will not have time to go to the store before I have to start cooking. If so, how many cups do you think I should use?
Thanks so much!!!
I am so happy you loved it! I have not used canned, but we have readers that have. I can not find a conversion for you. 1 pound equals 2 cups mashed so perhaps start by mashing them until you have the desired amount. If you are making the full recipe it would be 8 cups mashed. I even asked other readers on our FB page. https://www.facebook.com/SlowRoasted/photos/a.233687953348152.72003.192855430764738/1027292567321016/?type=3&theater
I would rinse them first. Enjoy and please let us know how it goes so we can share with our readers. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
This looks amazing. I want to make ahead of time – is it best to make the whole thing and then reheat (and if so at what temp and for how long if its been in the fridge?) or is it better to save the last bit of baking for the day of? Thanks for any advice you can offer! Emily
Making it fresh is best of course, but I am of the less stress is best mind set. I would prepare the sweet potatoes the day before and place them in your baking dish and prep the topping (but do not put it on top). Bring to room temperature the day of, add topping and bake.
Enjoy and let us know how it goes. Happy Thanksgiving!
Would it be ok to just use regular salted butter?
Yes, you can use salted butter. Reduce the salt down by 1/4 teaspoon per 1/2 pound of butter.
Enjoy and let us know how it goes. Happy Thanksgiving Christina!
This was a great addition to my Thanksgiving dinner. Many many compliments. Thank you for such a great recipe yet again!!!!!!
How long do they take to boil until they are fork tender?
I made this last year for Thanksgiving and then Christmas, It was a big hit and my family asked me to make it this year again for the Holidays. Thanks!!! It's very yummy and is definitely now a regular side dish at our family Holiday gatherings 🙂
If i want to make this a day ahead of time, can I just cover and refrigerate? Or does it need to be frozen?
You can refrigerate it, Amanda!
Enjoy and let me know how it goes. Happy Thanksgiving.
Easy and delicious !
Love how the jackets came off easily after baking vs boiling. Also the potatoes were not water logged using the baking method.
This recipe will be a yearly tradition. Thank you !
If you aren't against the micrtowave, do what I do. Stab the potatoes with a fork and nuke them on high til the are fork tender in the middle. Turn them over every 3 or 4 minutes til done. Cut in half and scoop out thgthge insides. Much easier on arthritic fingers than peeling and chopping!
Thank you for your work in putting this together and posting it for the rest of us! My three girls have been traumatized ever since Boston Market closed both of its locations in my county—with the nearest now over an hour away. ;-( I made this for them over the weekend, and they were squealing with delight! 😉 I used light cream instead of heavy, and it seemed to be OK. Thank you again!
Thank you Donna and Chad for always posting such delicious recipes!
This is a luscious recipe, I use Splenda granular due to diabetes 2, no marshamallows, it turns out for anyone else with diabetes 2, the Splenda granular blend makes a better streusel. However, I have found that even non-sugar sweeteners still raise my blood sugar, though not as high or for as long as regular sugar. For many years, I have fixed my sweet potatoes with brown sugar (I now use the Splenda brown sugar blend), cinnamon, allspice and a dash of cloves, lots of butter, just a bit of milk and bourbon replaces the majority of the milk, lots of chpped pecans and baked in the oven without the marshmallows and this was before I was diagnosed with diabetes 2. The alcohol cooks out of the dish leaving a delicious flavor.
Hello,
I am looking forward to making this for Thanksgiving! 🙂 I was just wondering if you double the recipe what size dish/container would you use? Also, do you know if you could you use a disposable pan when making this?
I doubled it a few years ago and used a 9×13 pan. If I had to do it again I would use my lasagna pan which is a little bigger than the 9×13. You can absolutely use a disposable pan, but it will be heavy and awkward. I would place the disposable pan on a baking sheet to add durability when transferring to the oven and when carrying.
Enjoy and let us know how it goes!
is this dessert or side dish that goes with meat?
It is a side dish. Enjoy!
I have made this several times over the years and it is ALWAYS a hit!! My question is can it be hated through in a crockpot? My husband's work is having a Thanksgiving potluck with no stove in their break room and I don't want to hit the microwave!!
You could warm it in a slow cooker. Be prepared to add liquid as it may dry out as it cooks. Enjoy and let us know how it goes.
Can I️ make this using quick oats instead of rolled oats?
Absolutely!
Just wondering if anyone has incorporated chopped pecans into their streusel? Would that be ok or would it change the consistency too much?
I substituted pecans for the rolled oats and it came out wonderful!
I just made. Cooked last night. Can I reheat. Or should I just have everyone heat up in microwave
Can't wait to try this with gluten-free flour! In case anyone is interested I can comment on how it worked.
Anyone able to tell me how long it takes to make? Trying to time it right for lunch
Do you have to use oats? If I don't want adjustments should I make?
I have made this the past 2 thanksgiving and it has been a hit every time!
We never have leftovers of it- I substitute Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk instead of the heavy cream-
I'm making this again for a Christmas potluck at work and hopefully they love it as much as my family does!
This recipe is my new go-to for any fall food occasion! I’m super-klutzy, so I microwaved the sweet potatoes, let them cool, and then removed the skins. Less likely to peel my knuckles that way! Everyone loves this dish—there are never leftovers!
I want to make ahead of time and freeze do I freeze before baking or after ? Love your
site.
I am going to double this recipe. Do I still cook at the same temp and time?
Is there any adjustments to this recipe if doubling as as far as ingredients or time? Thank you!