Friends, let me introduce you to my all-time favorite pie, the incomparable Sweet Potato Pie! Ok, I realize that’s a big statement, but it’s true. This creamy Sweet Potato Pie recipe is made with baked sweet potatoes for a deep, caramelized flavor, warm spices, and a flaky, buttery crust. It comes in at under a dollar per serving and it can be made in advance to free up your oven on Thanksgiving day for all of those delicious side dishes. Sweet Potato Pie is definitely a classic Thanksgiving dessert that will steal the show at this year’s holiday dinner!
Sweet Potato Pie vs. Pumpkin Pie
Growing up in the South, there was always this fun, light-hearted debate over which pie was better – Sweet Potato Pie or Pumpkin Pie. They both are made with a custard filling and with similar ingredients. However one major difference is that pumpkin pie is made from canned pumpkin puree, and sweet potato pie is made by cooking sweet potatoes (no cans involved). So which is better? Well I don’t want to upset any pumpkin pie lovers out there, so I’ll just say they’re both equally delicious!😉
Ingredients For Sweet Potato Pie
Here’s everything you need to make this dreamy Southern-style Sweet Potato Pie:
- Baked Sweet Potatoes: Baking your sweet potatoes in the oven will give you a deep, rich flavor. You’ll need about 2 lbs. or roughly 2-3 sweet potatoes, depending on the size.
- Salted Butter: Adds to the richness, flavor, and texture of the pie.
- Brown sugar & Granulated sugar: A combination of brown sugar and granulated white sugar sweetens the pie filling. If you’re in a pinch you can use all white sugar, however brown sugar adds a richer flavor.
- Spices: A simple mix of warm spices like ground cinnamon and nutmeg adds amazing flavor to the sweet potatoes.
- Vanilla Extract: A touch of vanilla to further enhance the flavor of the pie.
- Evaporated Milk: Gives the sweet potato pie a creamy and smooth texture.
- Eggs: Eggs help the custard pie filling bind together and set.
- Pie Crust: I like to use a store-bought 9-inch deep dish pie crust to keep things simple, or you can make our 3-Ingredient Pie Crust from scratch.
Tips For The Best Sweet Potato Pie
- Baking vs. Boiling. It may be tempting to peel, chop, and boil the sweet potatoes in the interest of time, but I recommend you bake them instead. Baked sweet potatoes have a richer, caramelized flavor that you just can’t get with boiled sweet potatoes.
- To get a head start on making this pie, you can bake your sweet potatoes a day or two in advance. Then once the sweet potatoes are completely cool, just wrap them tightly with foil or store them in an air-tight container in the fridge. They’ll be already cooked and ready to go the next day!
- If you want a velvety smooth texture to your sweet potato pie, add the baked sweet potato flesh to a food processor and pulse for a few seconds until the sweet potatoes are pureed and smooth.
- Although not required, if you prefer a crisp, lightly golden brown crust, I recommend you blind-bake (or at least par-bake) the crust prior to adding the wet custard filling.
- To keep the edges of your crust from over-browning, loosely cover the edge with an aluminum foil pie ring as it bakes.
- If you really want to get ahead of your holiday cooking, you can make the entire pie a day or two in advance. Let the pie completely cool at room temperature (for about an hour), then cover the pie with plastic wrap or place it in an air-tight container and store in the fridge. Now that’s one less dish you have to worry about on the big day!
Storing Leftovers
If you’re lucky enough to have any leftovers, this pie stores well in the fridge for 3-4 days. I like to store mine by placing plastic wrap around the entire pie, then I simply slide the pie in a storage bag and place in the refrigerator. Of course if you only have a couple slices left, you can easily just store those in an air-tight container. If you are making the pie in advance, make sure to let the pie completely cool first at room temperature (about an hour) before storing in the fridge.
You might also like our Sweet Potato Casserole recipe!
Sweet Potato Pie
Servings 8 slicesIngredients
- 1 deep dish pie crust ($1.25)
- 2 lbs. sweet potatoes* ($0.98)
- 6 Tbsp salted butter, melted & cooled ($0.80)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar ($0.26)
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar ($0.15)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract ($0.59)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon ($0.06)
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg ($0.05)
- 1 pinch salt ($0.01)
- 1/3 cup evaporated milk ($0.35)
- 2 large eggs ($0.21)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wash and dry the sweet potatoes, then prick them several times with a fork. Place the sweet potatoes on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 50-60 minutes or until tender and you can easily slide a knife or fork in the center. Set the baked sweet potatoes aside to cool.
- Lower oven temperature to 350°F. Next blind-bake the pie crust. Prick the bottom and sides of the crust a few times with a fork. Add a square piece of parchment paper inside the center of the crust and place pie weights (or dry beans) on top.
- Bake the crust in the oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the pie weights and parchment and return the crust to the oven to bake for another 10 minutes. Remove crust from the oven and let cool.
- Now make the pie filling. Scoop about 2 cups of the sweet potato flesh from the baked sweet potatoes and add to a large bowl. Using a potato masher or hand mixer, mash or blend the sweet potato flesh until smooth.
- Add the melted butter, brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a pinch of salt to the bowl. Blend the ingredients together with a hand mixer until smooth.
- Add the eggs and evaporated milk to the sweet potato mixture and blend until smooth.
- Pour the sweet potato pie filling into the crust. Add a foil ring around the edges to prevent the crust from over-browning. Bake the pie in the preheated 350°F oven for 50-55 minutes or until the pie is mostly set and the center is no longer liquid. It’s ok if the center has a slight jiggle when you shake the pan.
- Remove the pie from the oven. It will be slightly domed and puffed around the edges. Let the pie cool at room temperature for at least 1 hour. Serve at room temperature or cover and refrigerate to serve later.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
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(pictured with Homemade Whipped Cream)
How to Make Sweet Potato Pie – Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wash and dry roughly 2 lbs. of sweet potatoes, then prick them several times with a fork. Place the sweet potatoes on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 50-60 minutes or until tender and you can easily slide a knife or fork in the center. Set the baked sweet potatoes aside to cool.
Lower oven temperature to 350°F. Next, blind-bake the pie crust. Prick the bottom and sides of 1 deep dish pie crust a few times with a fork. Add a square piece of parchment paper inside the center of the crust and place pie weights (or dry beans) on top. Bake the crust in the oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the pie weights and parchment and return the crust to the oven to bake for another 10 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and let it cool.
Now make the pie filling. Scoop about 2 cups of the sweet potato flesh from the baked sweet potatoes and add to a large bowl. Using a potato masher or hand mixer, mash or blend the sweet potato flesh until smooth.
Add the 6 Tbsp of melted butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup granulated white sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and a pinch of salt to the bowl. Blend the ingredients together with a hand mixer until smooth.
Add the 2 large eggs and 1/3 cup of evaporated milk to the sweet potato mixture and blend until smooth.
Pour the sweet potato pie filling into the crust. Add a foil ring around the edges to prevent the crust from over-browning. Bake the pie in the oven for 50-55 minutes or until the pie is mostly set and the center is no longer liquid. It’s ok if the center has a slight jiggle when you shake the pan.
Remove the pie from the oven. It will be slightly domed and puffed around the edges. As the pie sets it will start to sink back down into a flat surface. Let the pie cool at room temperature for at least 1 hour.
For an extra sweet finish, add a dollop of fluffy Homemade Whipped Cream on the top of each slice. Then all that’s left to do is serve and enjoy!
First time making Sweet Potato Pie and glad I chose this recipe!
Baked the sweet potatoes the day before, only had to peel the peels off after they sat in a plastic bag in the fridge overnight (cut off eyes and dark spots). I used the old fashioned potato masher first, then the hand mixer after adding the eggs and evaporated milk. Followed the recipe and created the most delicious pie! Refreshingly sweet, not overly so. A delight. If you make this, follow the recipe as stated, no need for embellishment. Will be making this again as I really enjoyed it plus the family, who were initially wary, raved about it, so there.
This was a big hit today! My first time with sweet potato pie and it was spot on. Got the Thumbs Up from the son who loves it! Everyone ( except me, I bake a lot but not really a sweet eater) had seconds. Knew it was good when I licked the spoon after putting it the pie pan! Thank you so much!!… and DEFINITELY roast them!
So glad everyone enjoyed it!!
Every time I read this site it blows my mind how cheap TN prices are. I’ve never seen a pie crust run $1.25 in my state, ever. Even on sale they’re more expensive.
I’m not complaining about the costs — you have to pick somewhere after all — I’m just in awe at how good you have it over there.
Two pounds of sweet potatoes yields four cups not two. I ended up having to make two pies with that amount of sweet potatoes.
I just used the leftovers for dinner as our sweet potatoes were huge and only 25 cents a pound… making it again to bring to NY! Just so delish!
Great recipe! Just like my southern grandma’s. Please add the temp needed to bake the whole pie. Or I missed it.
Nancy
Hi Nancy, thanks for your comment! In step two we advise to preheat the oven to 350°F, but for extra clarity I’ve listed it again in step seven. Which I’m sure will be very helpful for other readers too. I hope you enjoy the recipe! :)
This is the same recipe I’ve been using. Roasting is def better than boiling and doesn’t really take too much more time.
This will be my go to recipe for the Holidays.
Ty, I have made pie at least 100 times. My grandkids love it. The best…how do you make your banana pudding?
Jai
Do you have
Peach cobbler recipes?
We do have a peach cobbler recipe here. :)
Looks Delicious!! Can’t wait to try this recipe!!!!
Fair enough. But which do you think freezes better… pumpkin or sweet potato pie? I have a small family and eat moderately. I will have lots of leftovers I would prefer to freeze instead of gobbling over the next week.
Good morning, the sweet potato pie look delicious. Thanks for sharing happy Thanksgiving to you and your family blessings.
We’ve never done a side by side test, but my hunch is that they freeze about the same since the base of the pie is pretty much the same. :)
What can I substitute for evaporated milk – I can’t use any dairy products.
Unfortunately, the evaporated milk is pretty critical to getting the right texture in the pie filling, so we’d need to test out substitutions before offering good advice on that one.
With the caveat that I haven’t tried it in this recipe–but based on my previous baking I’m almost certain it would work–lite coconut milk works almost exactly the same as evaporated milk in baking recipes. If you’re not quite sold on that, there are online recipes for making your own evaporated milk from pretty much any non-dairy milk!
So excited to try this recipe! It looks delicious, and I loooove a good sweet potato pie.
My daughter can’t have milk either they now have a lactose free that you can use taste just the same.
I’m going to make this with canned full fat coconut milk and see how it goes.
I substituted using coconut cream. Came out good.