Savory Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole

If you are looking for an aromatic, herby, savory sweet potato casserole, you may want to try this recipe. It is an egg-free whipped sweet potato base topped with caramelized onions and flaky grated crumbles seasoned with thyme, sage, and rosemary. You’ll thank us later. 

If you are looking for more side dishes, try our reader-favorite vegan scalloped potatoes recipe or our vegan mashed potatoes with celeriac. This recipe is also part of the 35+ easy vegan Thanksgiving recipes and our 40+ vegan Christmas dinner recipes.

What can you expect from this recipe?

You might have already tried sweet potato casserole with vegan marshmallows (which are not easy to come by) and a crunchy pecan topping. However, I am here to convince you to give this savory version a chance. It may become the best vegan sweet potato casserole you have ever tried. You’ll see.

1. It tastes more like an actual side dish and not a dessert compared to its cousin with cinnamon and nutmeg.
2. Thyme, sage, and rosemary are infused in the sweet potato base and the crumbles, making it aromatic and well-balanced.
3. No eggs or heavy cream; only a hand mixer with a whisk attachment is needed to make it light and fluffy.
4. Soft whipped sweet potatoes go perfectly with this crispy grated topping and crunchy caramelized onions.

Ingredients

So what do you need to make this vegan sweet potato casserole recipe?

• Orange sweet potatoes
• Vegan butter
• Vegan sour cream -> we used a soy-based sour cream brand called Dr. Oetker’s. Alternatively, you can try our homemade vegan sour cream recipe or use our vegan cashew alfredo sauce recipe instead.
• Vegan parmesan cheese -> we used Violife*.
• Thyme
• Sage
• Rosemary
• Garlic powder
• Salt and black pepper

🛒 You can find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Instructions

Making the whipped sweet potato base

1. Boil water in a kettle or a stockpot. Add the peeled and diced sweet potatoes to boiling water and cook them for approx. ten minutes or until fork-tender.
2. Drain it and add sour cream, garlic powder, ground thyme, ground rosemary, and ground sage, grated parmesan cheese.
3. Use a hand mixer to make it creamy. You can certainly use the classic potato masher or ricer, but it is harder to get 100% creamy without chunks. Although, if you want pieces, go with that. It is also how we make vegan mashed potatoes.

Making grated crumbles

You can use many different toppings to make this side dish savory, like coarse breadcrumbs, croutons, or diced stale bread. Still, we recommend trying this grated crumbles recipe seasoned with thyme, sage, and rosemary. We first used this method to make this caramel apple crumble recipe, and it was just perfectly even and light.

1. Add all dry ingredients to the food processor (buckwheat flour, rice flour, tapioca starch, and seasoning). Pulse once to combine.
2. Add the cold dairy-free butter in cubes and pulse/mix until the dough comes together.
3. Form a brick from the dough and wrap it tightly in saran wrap. Place it in the freezer (quick freeze compartment) for 15-30 minutes. If you have a long, thin shape, the dough freezes faster than a ball.

Caramelizing onion for topping

To make a sweet potato casserole savory, we chose to add some caramelized onions. It is an excellent addition to many comfort food recipes and is perfect for this casserole. They are easy to make, albeit you need 20-30 minutes to caramelize the onion on low heat, so be sure to make it ahead.

1. Peel and slice the onions.
2. Preheat your skillet over low heat and add butter. We used our UnoCasa cast-iron skillet*.
3. When you see melted butter, add the sliced onions.
4. Cook them until they reach a nice caramel-brown color. Use a spatula to stir occasionally. It usually takes 20-30 minutes to get there. We recommend starting with the onions as you cannot rush them, but you can multitask in the meantime.

Baking the sweet potato casserole

Let’s assemble this vegan sweet potato casserole when you have everything ready.

1. Preheat the oven to 390 Fahrenheit (ca. 199 °C).
2. Take an oven-safe casserole dish and spread the whipped sweet potato base evenly.
3. Spread the caramelized onions on top evenly as well.
4. Use a large hole cheese grater and grate the dough to make crumbles on top.
5. Bake the casserole for 15-20 minutes until the crumble gets crispy.

Other savory topping ideas

You can add various savory toppings. The easiest would be coarse breadcrumbs, croutons, or diced stale bread, but we recommend trying our grated crumbles seasoned with thyme, sage, and rosemary. It is effortless to make, and the extra herbs help to make this dish an aromatic side dish.

We also added caramelized onions, but you can add other savory ingredients.

• Crispy fried onions – please be mindful that it is one of the 11 foods to avoid on a vegan and gluten-free diet, so make sure you buy certified products or make them at home.
• Chopped nuts like walnut or pecan
• Chopped scallions or chives
• Grated parmesan – we used Violife Vegan Parmesan*.
• Vegan bacon bits
• Vegan taco meat – you can also season TVP with other spices to make it less Tex-Mex and more suited to your taste.
• Vegan spinach pesto or sun-dried tomato pesto – I can totally see a swirl of pesto on top. It would add to the flavor profile significantly.

FAQs and substitutions

Can you make it ahead of time?

Yes, you can store the whipped sweet potato base in an airtight container in the fridge for approx. 1-2 days without a problem. You can also keep the dough for the crumbles in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. If you put it in the freezer overnight, wait for it to thaw a bit; otherwise, it will be hard to grate.

How long will it last in the fridge?

You can store the baked sweet potato casserole in the fridge for 2-3 days. The crumble can get soggier with every passing day. We recommend storing the different parts separately and assembling them for baking on the day, as the casserole only needs 15 minutes in the oven to be ready.

What to serve with it?

This savory casserole can be a perfect side dish for many vegan main course meals. Classic thinking usually dictates that people serve it with some meat, but the below vegan dishes would be just heavenly with this casserole.

Allergen info

This Savory Sweet Potato Casserole recipe is meat-free, dairy-free, and egg-free.

• Vegan – You need vegan products for butter, sour cream, and parmesan cheese. All other suggested ingredients are supposed to be vegan.
• Nut-free – Companies often use coconut or almond to make vegan butter, sour cream, and parmesan cheese. So choose soy-based products. All ingredients are supposed to be nut-free, but check packaging info for cross-contamination.
• WFPB-friendly (whole foods plant-based) – It is not a compliant recipe as butter and sour cream are often oil-based products. You also need to caramelize onions without oil.
• Gluten-free – All suggested ingredients are supposed to be gluten-free, but always check the packaging for cross-contamination info, especially for flours.
• Soy-free – Companies often use soy to make vegan butter and sour cream. So choose soy-free products. We used Violife Vegan Parmesan*, which has no soy. All other ingredients are supposed to be soy-free.

More vegan sweet potato recipes

Browse through our sweet potato recipes or choose from the below list.

More vegan side dish recipes

You can find even more side dishes here.

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