Gluten Free Sweet Potato Souffle

Smooth and creamy with a gooey AND crunchy marshmallow topping, this gluten free sweet potato souffle is sure to please everyone.

When I was young, I never tried sweet potatoes because I couldn’t think of a sweet potato as something other than a type of potato.  How in the world could you put cinnamon and sugar anywhere NEAR a potato, or worse–marshmallows!!  Yuck!  Growing up, we used to celebrate Thanksgiving with our neighbors and someone would always make a sweet potato casserole.  I’d skip over it ever year.   Thought it looked so gross!

My first husband’s stepmom was as southern as southern could get and we often had Thanksgiving at their house. She made a sweet potato casserole that she called “sweet potato souffle” and I decided to give it a try. I was BLOWN AWAY!  It was so incredibly good–smooth and creamy with a brown sugar topping and mini marshmallows that were crunchy and gooey all at the same time.  Why, oh why had I skipped over sweet potatoes all my life?!?!

When Thanksgiving comes around every year, it’s pretty much unspoken gospel that I will be making at least this casserole.   I’ve tried making other sweet potatoes for our dinner, to be adventurous and try new things. But I always come back to this one because it’s so darn good and the family doth protests otherwise 😁

How to Make Gluten Free Sweet Potato Souffle

Sweet potato souffle isn’t the type of “souffle” you think, so there’s nothing to be scared of. The potatoes are whipped with a few other ingredients, including eggs, to make them souffle-like.

There are three easy components to this sweet potato souffle–the sweet potatoes themselves, the sugary streusel topping, and the toasted marshmallows. Here’s what goes into the bottom (sweet potato) layer:

• Sweet potatoes
• Eggs
• Butter
• Sugar
• Milk–can substitute dairy-free milk. Last year I made this with canned coconut milk for my daughter, who is vegan (I left out the eggs and used vegan marshmallows). She loved it!
• Vanilla
• Salt

The streusel topping is sweet, but it’s not crunchy like a normal streusel. It’s more like a layer of brown sugary goodness that gets melty and almost syrupy! Gluten free flour, brown sugar, and butter are the three ingredients that make up the easy streusel.

And last, but certainly not least, the toasted marshmallows on top bring it all together into one smooth and creamy, crunchy and gooey dish that can be eaten as a side or even as a dessert! Big marshmallows, mini marshmallows, or even homemade marshmallows (a future post) will all work beautifully.

Working with Sweet Potatoes

I used to peel, chop, and boil my sweet potatoes before mashing them. It was a pain in the you-know-what! All that peeling. And the chopping? Forgedaboutit! Too much work.

I finally got smart and began baking my sweet potatoes whole. Game changer!!!!! I will never do it any other way. Put them on a baking sheet, prick them with a fork a few times, throw them (not literally) in the oven. When they’re done about an hour later (give or take a few minutes, depending on their size), scoop out the flesh and mash. Easy peasy!!

If you happen to have leftover mashed sweet potatoes (I like to bake several potatoes at once), just cool them and put them in a ziptop bag and into the freezer. Then when you want to make something like these sweet potato pancakes, you’ll have the sweet potatoes ready to go!

A Word on Sugar

For all you sugar phobics out there, there is an unapologetically large amount of sugar in this casserole. It’ll be okay. As my sister would say, “breathe.” Remember, this is a very southern recipe by a very southern older woman who could have cared less about how much sugar was in it. You won’t be eating the whole souffle by yourself, and you’re not going to eat it every single day of your life. On Thanksgiving Day, let your hair down. Live a little. Go back to your daily diet after turkey day.

But if you’re still not convinced that it’ll be okay, you can dial down the sugar. My suggestion would be to reduce the sugar in the sweet potato filling and NOT the streusel as the texture of the streusel would be “off” a little bit.

Can I Make it Ahead of Time?

YES!! Layer the sweet potatoes and streusel in a casserole dish and cover tightly with plastic wrap or foil. Refrigerate it for up to two days. On baking day, add the marshmallows and bake as directed.

You can also freeze the casserole, before adding the marshmallows, for up to six weeks. Remove from the freezer the day before you want to serve it and place it in the refrigerator, still well wrapped. On baking day, remove the plastic wrap and add the marshmallows, baking as directed.

Other Recipes Using Sweet Potatoes

• Gluten Free Sweet Potato Biscuits
• The Best Gluten Free Sweet Potato Pie

I guarantee you’ll be in heaven once you try this gluten free sweet potato souffle! It’s so easy and so delicious🍠🍠🍠