The first time I ate dinner at Ruth’s Chris, my life changed forever. Yes, they have great steaks that are oozing with piping hot butter and if you order the filet with a blue cheese crust, oh my goodness, you may never want to eat steak anywhere else again. And yes, they have delicious chicken dishes and seafood… but let’s be honest… I don’t eat there for any of those things.
While they are delicious, I don’t care about the steak or the appetizers. I only care about one thing. Sweet Potato Casserole. As long as I get my Sweet Potato Casserole all is right in the world and I’ll have a great meal.
When the holidays rolled around, and it came time to choose the sides, I decided to skip our traditional Loaded Peach Sweet Potatoes With Marshmallows to try my hand at making the Ruth’s Chris Sweet Potato Casserole. It was phenomenal, everyone loved it, the kids thought it tasted like dessert, and I’ve made it over and over every year since.
Here’s a secret about this Sweet Potato Casserole recipe: It tastes just as good cold the next day as it does hot out of the oven. So don’t feel guilty if you catch yourself sneaking into the kitchen, peeling back the foil covering, and sneaking a bite or two with your spoon.
How To Make The Ruth’s Chris Sweet Potato Casserole
While the oven is preheating to 350 degrees, spray a 13×9″ baking dish (or the equivalent) with non-stick spray. Bake the sweet potatoes until soft — I prick them a few times and pop them in the microwave on the “potato” setting and run it twice.
Combine the soft sweet potatoes (or yams), sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs, and butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat thoroughly with a mixer until the mixture is smooth and fluffy. If you have a Vitamix, you can add all of the ingredients to it instead of a bowl, and blend the mixture on level 2 or 3 until smooth.
Add the sweet potato mixture evenly to your baking dish and bake it in the oven for 30 minutes.
While the sweet potato mixture is baking, it’s time to make the crumbly pecan topping for the crust. Combine the brown sugar, flour, chopped pecans, and butter in a medium bowl and mix until just combined. The mixture will be crumbly. You can also mix the crust/topping in your Vitamix using the Pulse setting.
After 30 minutes, remove the Sweet Potato Casserole from the oven, sprinkle the surface evenly with the crust/topping mixture, and return it to the oven for 10 more minutes. Allow the casserole to sit for 20 minutes when it is done cooking to firm up a bit.
The Ruth’s Chris Sweet Potato Casserole is the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving Dinner, Christmas Dinner, Easter Dinner. It’s also the perfect addition to any meal that needs to knock the socks off your guests and have them begging for your recipes.
If you like your Sweet Potato Casserole really sweet, follow the instructions below exactly. My husband Brian like it a little less sugary, so I add an extra large sweet potato when I make it to cut the sugar just a bit. This also increases the yield, which serves more people. It also means I usually need one 13×9″ baking dish and one 8×8″ baking dish.
Ruth's Chris Sweet Potato Casserole
Make the delicious sweet potato casserole with a crumbly pecan crust from Ruth's Chris at home!
Prep Time
Cook Time
Total Time
Ingredients
- 3 sweet potatoes, mashed (3 cups)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1/3 stick butter, softened
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 13x9" baking dish with nonstick spray. Prick the sweet potatoes several times and bake in the microwave until soft.
- Combine the sweet potatoes, sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs, and butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat thoroughly with a mixer until the mixture is smooth and fluffy.
- Pour the sweet potato mixture evenly into the baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.
- Combine the brown sugar, flour, chopped pecans, and butter in a medium bowl and mix until just combined. The mixture will be crumbly.
- Remove the Sweet Potato Casserole from the oven, sprinkle the surface evenly with the crust/topping mixture, and return it to the oven for 10 more minutes. The brown sugar and pecan crust should be slightly browned and crunchy.
- Allow the casserole to sit for 20 minutes when done cooking to firm up.
Notes:
If you use a Vitamix to blend your sweet potato mixture, you can leave the skins on the potatoes.
This side dish can be made ahead and reheated. It is also delicious cold.
If you want to cut the sugar a bit or increase the yield to serve a large group, add an extra large sweet potato.
