If you want to impress the crowd at your next holiday gathering, bring a dish of Air Fryer Sweet Potato Casserole. The fluffy sweet potato filling and crunchy pecan topping will be the star of the show!
This Vegan Air Fryer Sweet Potato Casserole is a decadent dairy-free, gluten-free version of everyone’s favorite sweet potato recipe.
The fluffy sweet cinnamon spiced filling is made with coconut milk for extra creaminess and flavor.
After it’s baked it gets topped with an irresistible brown sugar pecan topping.
Not dairy-free or gluten-free? No problem, use your own favorite butter, milk, and flour.
What You’ll Need
- Sweet potatoes
- Full-fat coconut milk (the canned stuff)
- Brown sugar
- Ground cinnamon
First, Cooking the Sweet Potatoes
This recipe uses diced and boiled sweet potatoes.
They come out super soft, so the texture is perfect for mashing or whipping into a casserole.
- Wash and peel your sweet potatoes, then dice them into one-inch cubes.Â
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil on the stove.
- Add the sweet potato cubes and boil for 10 minutes, or until soft.
- Drain the water from the sweet potatoes using a colander before mashing.
- Allow the sweet potatoes to cool, then scoop the flesh out of the skin before mashing.
Next, Make The Casserole
- Mash your sweet potatoes in a large bowl using a potato masher or fork.
- Add brown sugar to the bowl.
- Measure out 1/2 cup of canned coconut milk, using the cream from the top first, and add it to the bowl.
- Add ground cinnamon and melted vegan butter to the bowl.
- Use a fork to mix all of the ingredients until combined.
- Spread the vegan sweet potato mixture into an oiled oven-safe baking dish, top with topping (directions below), and put into the air fryer basket.
You can use a stand mixer or handheld mixer if you like, but I find that cooked sweet potatoes are soft enough to mash and stir by hand.
Then, Make the Pecan Streusel Topping
It may seem fancy, but making a pecan streusel is super easy. Follow these simple steps to make this yummy streusel topping:
- Add flour to a large bowl.
- Then add brown sugar.
- Add the cinnamon.
- Pour in melted vegan butter.
- Use a fork to combine all of the ingredients until the mixture becomes crumbly.
- Stir in the pecans.
Finally, Put It All Together
After you’re done mixing your pecan streusel topping, all that’s left to do is put everything together.
- Sprinkle the pecan crumble topping over the top of your sweet potatoes in an even layer.
- Use your hands to spread it out if needed.
- Bake in the oven at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until the middle is set.
Other Toppings Ideas
While I believe this easy vegan sweet potato recipe is best served with the pecan crumble topping, there are some other ways to top it if you don’t like pecans or need to serve nut-free meals.
Marshmallows: Be sure to use vegan marshmallows. Most of the more popular brands of marshmallows contain gelatin, which is made with animal proteins.
Add the marshmallows to the top of the casserole toward the last 5 minutes of baking to brown them, or broil them for 3 minutes or so, making sure to watch closely so they don’t burn.
Crumb topping without nuts: You can omit the pecans and make a simple crumb topping using the instructions for my pecan streusel topping.Â
Coconut flakes: You can make a “coconut praline” topping by adding unsweetened flaked coconut to your pecan streusel topping, or your nut-free crumb topping.
It adds a delectable crunch texture to the topping!
Load it up!: If you’re feeling wild, make a “loaded” sweet potato casserole by adding your favorite vegan caramel sauce and a sprinkle of cinnamon to any of the topping ideas above. Yum!
Air Fryer Sweet Potato Casserole
Ingredients
- 3 cups sweet potatoes cubed and cooked
- 1/2 cup coconut milk (full-fat, canned)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 t ground cinnamon
Pecan Topping
- 1 cup pecan pieces
- 1/2 cup cassava flour (or all purpose flour)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 t ground cinnamon
- 1/4 c vegan butter (or dairy butter) melted
Instructions
- In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Then boil sweet potato pieces until soft, about 10 minutes.
- Drain water and put sweet potatoes into a bowl, then mash them using a potato masher or fork.
- Add the brown sugar to the bowl.Measure out ½ cup of coconut milk from the can. Use the cream from the coconut milk can first.
- Add the cinnamon to the bowl, then use a fork to combine all of the ingredients.
- Spread the mixture into an oiled 8×8 baking dish, then set aside.
To make Pecan Topping
- Place the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.
- Pour in the melted butter, then mix to combine until crumbly.
- Sprinkle the pecan topping over the sweet potato mixture.
To Bake
- Air Fryer this casserole at 340F/ 171C for 16 minutes. Serve and Enjoy!
Notes
- You can sub in coconut sugar for brown sugar.
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- The flour used can be any type of flour. Cassava, gluten free all purpose flour or wheat all purpose flour
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- If you are not vegan, you can use dairy butter.
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- Instead of boiling potatoes, you can use my instant pot sweet potato recipe to cook your sweet potatoes or use my air fryer sweet potato recipe. (link in post above)
Nutrition
Air Fryers can vary greatly. Please take the time to learn your specific air fryer. You may need to adjust times and temperatures based upon your air fryer. All though this website attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, the information should only be considered an estimate. Varying factors such as different product types, different brands, etc. can change nutritional information. It is your responsibility as a consumer to read all labels to make sure the ingredients fit your dietary needs as well as calculate your own nutritional information as a double check.
This sweet potato casserole was so delicious! Loved the flavors and how easy it was to make right in the air fryer.
Hi Emily, so glad you liked all the flavors in this casserole, we love it too!!
This is totally delicious!
Hi Jess, so glad you loved it! Thanks for coming back and letting us know!
I love that you use coconut milk in this recipe. The flavor really complements the sweet potato nicely. So delicious!
Thank you so much Annissa, we love the addition of coconut milk too!
I always enjoy your recipes and your step-by step tutorials really make every recipe seems easier to make! My kids really enjoyed this sweet potato casserole! So creamy!
Thank you for the sweet compliment, we really try to keep it simple here, with step by step directions to help everybody! So glad you kids enjoyed it!
I’m so into sweet potatoes lately and this air fryer sweet potato casserole couldn’t be easier! Plus it is so delicious!
So glad you liked it Emily!
This recipe sounds amazing. Just one question about the coconut milk. Do I use the liquid or the solid part of the coconut milk? This recipe will be on my list to make for Christmas. Thank you.
Great question, I used the solid part first, then if that isn’t the full amount I supplement with the liquid until I reach the amount :). Enjoy! And Merry Christmas!