Sweet potatoes with marshmallow are one of my family’s favorite Thanksgiving dinner side dishes along with many others.
My grandmother made candied yams or she just baked them plain. My dad ate this dish when he was growing up although I’ve since changed the recipe to our liking. We like marshmallows on our sweet potatoes. I like to use fresh sweet potatoes, but you can make them with canned yams as long as you drain them first. (I avoid canned foods whenever possible.)
My nephew, Bryce, made sweet potatoes with marshmallows for the first time ever yesterday.
With my mom’s oversight.
Sorta.
That’s him in the plaid shirt.
Notice that my mom is scooping out the sweet potato.
With the exception of the “don’t turn the mixture on high or the potatoes will splatter everywhere” incident, he did a darn good job.
Oh, and the “fluff isn’t spreading Auntie Sherry…can I just eat it and you can use the marshmallows” or the “let’s just glob it all on and it will melt” indiscretion.
Now that he’s experienced at making sweet potatoes with marshmallow, I expect that he’ll be the one who makes them every Thanksgiving, one less dish for me to make. This is just one example of how family recipes are handed down to the next generation.

Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallow Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 sweet potatoes
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 1 bag 10.5 ounces of miniature marshmallows
Instructions
- Wash sweet potatoes and prick each two or three times with a fork. Bake at 350°F until tender and cooked through. When cool enough to handle, scoop the insides out of each potato.
- In a large mixing bowl, add butter, brown sugar, and potatoes. Beat potato mixture with an electric mixer on low-speed for two or three minutes or until potatoes are smooth and free of lumps. You can also use a hand-held potato masher, but this may take longer.
- Pour potatoes in a medium size casserole dish. Spread evenly then top with marshmallows. Bake at 350°F until the marshmallows are brown.
No, we usually serve it as a side dish. Just another way of cooking sweet potatoes.
Give it a try.