Roasted sweet potato and banana casserole is a great alternative to traditional sweet potato marshmallow bakes. You still get the sweet, warm, and comforting taste of a classic sweet potato casserole, but with a fraction of the sugar and unhealthy fats. Give this healthy fall and Thanksgiving recipe a try, then be sure to leave a rating and review!
Three Must Know Cooking Skills
For recipe success, learn how to:
Culinary Tips for this Easy Sweet Potato Casserole
When roasting the sweet potatoes, we recommend lining the sheet pan with foil or parchment paper for easier clean up.
Prick the potatoes before cooking to prevent a sweet potato explosion in your oven!
Watch this video to learn how to roast bananas! Roast the bananas with the peel on. Choose bananas that are bright yellow or speckled. If you have overly ripe bananas, don’t roast them and just use them as they are.
If making this recipe for a Thanksgiving meal, save yourself some oven time on Thanksgiving day by preparing the sweet potato mixture the day before (or even a few days before!). Keep the granola topping separate. When ready to bake, bring the dish to room temperature, top with the granola mixture, then bake. If you don’t bring it to room temperature first, it will take longer to cook.
Already have some of our homemade granola on hand? You can use that as the topping instead! Add it after baking so that it doesn’t burn.
Ingredient Substitutions
- Sweet Potatoes: use any variety.
- Maple Syrup: substitute honey, agave, or brown sugar.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: substitute equal parts cinnamon or make your own pumpkin pie spice by mixing together cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves, and nutmeg.
- Milk/Milk Alternative: use any variety – cow’s, almond, cashew, hemp, oat, rice, soy, etc. Learn the differences between different milks in this article: plant-based milk vs. cow’s milk.
- Canola Oil: substitute avocado oil. Do not substitute olive oil, as this has a strong flavor. Do not substitute vegetable oil, as this is not a heart-healthy oil.
- Oats: use old-fashioned, rolled, or quick oats. Do not use steel cut oats.
- Pecan Pieces: substitute chopped or sliced walnuts, cashews, almonds, or pistachios.
We love buying our spices from The Spice House. Click on the picture below to view & try out hundreds of flavorful spices and herbs!
Recipe Variations
Don’t want to add the granola mixture? No problem! This baked sweet potato and banana casserole is delicious on its own or topped with toasted chopped pecans. By making the roasted banana and sweet potato mash without the granola, you’ll be saving lots of oven space and time too!
If you want to make a sweet potato banana orange juice casserole, replace the maple syrup with orange juice and leave out the milk. If the mixture is too thick, add more orange juice.
Equipment Recommendations
This recipe doesn’t require a ton of fancy equipment. However, you will need a food processor or an immersion blender to mix the sweet potatoes and bananas. A handheld mixer also works, but the resulting texture won’t be as smooth. You can also mash the mixture with a potato masher; this will also create a chunkier texture.
Is this a Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole?
We are always encouraging people to increase their fruit and vegetable intake. This sweet potato and banana casserole recipe can certainly help you do that! The featured ingredients in this recipe are sweet potatoes, bananas, oats, and pecans.
Sweet Potatoes
All varieties of sweet potatoes contain disease-fighting phytochemicals, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Sweet potatoes have natural sugars that are enhanced by roasting.
Bananas
Bananas contain prebiotic fiber, vitamins, and minerals – important for digestion, energy, and metabolism. Greenish bananas are firm and are higher in prebiotic fiber. Brownish bananas are soft and are higher in sugar, making them a bit sweeter. By making this sweet potato casserole recipe with bananas, you get natural sweetness from bananas, plus many other important nutrients!
Oats
Oats are a good source of fiber and complex carbohydrates. Fiber is important for digestion, satiety, stable blood sugar, good cholesterol, and healthy gut bacteria. Complex carbohydrates are important for energy and focus. (1)
Learn more about oats in this article: Different Types of Oats: Health Facts, Cooking Tips, and Recipes.
Pecans
Nuts of all varieties contain plant-based protein, fiber, and healthy fats that help you feel satisfied until your next meal. Pecans are a great source of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats.
Healthy Sweet Potato Bake Serving Suggestions
Serve this roasted sweet potato and banana casserole alongside a Thanksgiving spread. Or enjoy any time this fall for a healthy autumn dessert. Leftovers are great for breakfast too!
Want more ideas about how to create a colorful Thanksgiving menu? Check out this article!
Storage Recommendations
Store leftover sweet potato casserole covered in the fridge for up to one week. The granola mixture will lose some of its crispness the longer that it sits, but the flavor will still be great!
Want more flavorful seasonal recipes?
Check out these fall favorites!
Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffin Bars
Roasted Sweet Potato and Banana Casserole
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Banana Mixture
- 2 ½ pounds sweet potatoes
- 2 unpeeled medium ripe bananas
- 1-2 Tablespoons maple syrup
- 1-2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 2 Tablespoons – ¼ cup milk or milk alternative
- Salt to taste
Granola Topping
- 2 Tablespoons canola oil
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ½ cup old fashioned oats
- ½ cup raw pecan pieces
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F. Prick sweet potatoes several times with a fork and place on a foil lined sheet pan. Roast sweet potatoes for ~45 minutes or until soft, easily pricked with a fork, and beginning to release syrupy liquid. Overcooked is better than under! Add unpeeled bananas and roast for 10 additional minutes.
- Let sweet potatoes and bananas stand at room temperature until cool enough to handle.
- Using a food processor or hand held immersion blender, puree sweet potatoes, peeled bananas, maple syrup, and pumpkin pie spice. Stir in milk or milk alternative to ensure the mixture is not too thick or dry. Season with salt to taste. Transfer to a 1.5-2 quart casserole dish. Using a spatula, spread to fill dish and ensure a smooth top.
- In a medium bowl, combine oil, maple syrup, and pumpkin pie spice. Add oats and pecan pieces. Stir to combine. Sprinkle evenly on sweet potato mixture.
- Reduce oven to 375° F and bake for about 25 minutes or until granola topping is golden brown and sweet potato mixture is hot. Enjoy!
This Post Has 16 Comments
I made this recipe for Thanksgiving and it was a huge fail. This recipe really needs eggs for binder. The resulting texture was dry and crumbly and extremely unappealing.
Thank you for visiting our website Robin, but we are so sorry to hear that the recipe didn’t work for you! Did you follow it exactly as written? I have been making this recipe for years, and can’t say it has ever come out dry – the sweet potatoes and bananas provide so much moisture and puree smoothly. We would love to help identify what went wrong!
My wife just made this for Thanksgiving this past week. Yummy and the little ones ate it right up as well. No leftovers in this house!
So glad to hear that! Love when our recipes are a hit with the kids too 🙂
It has a very nice taste and … it complimented the thanksgiving meal and all the guests enjoyed it … I added a couple of tablespoons of whipping cream to add some extra creaminess
So great to hear! Thank you for leaving a review 🙂
Has this for Thanksgiving this year instead of the typical marshmallow covered casserole. The bananas add a nice layer of flavor and the sweetness level is just right. The kids ate it too, so I consider this recipe a win.
Glad you and the kids enjoyed it! We think it is a great sub for the standard marshmallow topped casserole 🙂
I’ve been making this for many years to the delight of everyone. Instead of a crumble topping I put whole cranberry sauce with pecans on the side. I can’t see any way this could be dry and crumbly.
That sounds delicious! We’re glad it’s a Thanksgiving staple for you!
Delicious! Great recipe for a plant based diet. I will be saving this recipe for a holiday dish!
Yes! I created this recipe for my vegan aunt 😉
Hi! I just found this recipe and I’m trying to make a dessert for a toddler with a limited diet. If I made this without the milk and put it in muffin tins, do you think it would turn out edible? ???? Thank you!
Hmm, I don’t think it would form up in the muffin tins, and you would end up just scooping the mush out 🙁 Could you make it in the pan and serve it (I realize not as fun)?
Eliminating the milk fully depends on how much water the sweet potatoes have; some are watery and some are more dry.
What are the dietary limitations? Maybe we can guide you towards another recipe!
Can you provide the nutritional information for this recipe please? I’m diabetic and need to count carbs. Since there really isn’t alot of maple syrup I believe I may be able to eat this but I need to know how many carbs it has. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Mary! We don’t normally provide nutrition facts, because there are so many variables depending on ingredients used. I understand you need the carbs for carb counting though, so I ran the recipe through myfooddata.com and got 45g of total carbohydrates. You can lower that number by reducing the maple syrup! Hope this helps!