For a classic holiday dessert, make this easy sweet potato pie recipe! The thick, rich sweet potato custard is irresistibly delicious!
A southern classic, sweet potato pie is a beautiful dessert on your Thanksgiving table, or even at a summer BBQ.
This recipe takes the simplicity and deliciousness of Southern sweet potato pie and makes it approachable for bakers of all levels. Serve it with dollops of whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon for a dessert that feels like a warm hug.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Incredibly easy to make. Thanks to your food processor, the crust and the custard filling are both a snap to make!
- Perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The comforting aroma and flavors of this pie evoke a sense of togetherness during the holiday season. Whether you're celebrating with family, friends, or coworkers, this pie will bring a touch of Southern charm to your holiday gatherings!
- Can be made up to 5 days ahead of time. You'll appreciate an opportunity to save time during the holidays!
Sweet Potato Pie vs Custard Pie
You might already be familiar with a classic custard pie, but many people do not know that sweet potato pie is also a variety of custard pie!
Custard desserts include eggs, sugar, and heavy cream. In the case of desserts like sweet potato custard pie and pumpkin pie, the filling is baked in a crust.
But, custard can also be cooked on the stove top, then chilled and frozen. Frozen custard is a rich, thick, creamier version of ice cream!
Ingredients
See ingredient substitutions in the next section. ⬇️
- pie crust - I bake the sweet potato pie filling in a homemade sour cream pie crust.
- sweet potatoes - You'll need 6 cups of sweet potato puree, which is roughly 2 pounds of potatoes.
- salted butter
- dark brown sugar - The extra molasses in dark brown sugar adds a ton of flavor to the filling.
- large eggs
- heavy cream
- spices - You'll need ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger, and salt.
- baking powder - If your baking powder is more than a few months old, it's a good idea to test it to be sure it's still active.
- vanilla extract
Substitutions and Recipe Variations
- Pie Crust: Feel free to use a store-bought crust if you want to. Just be sure to blind bake it before using it in this recipe.
- Sweet Potatoes: Any variety of sweet potatoes or yams will work in this recipe. Feel free to use canned sweet potatoes if you'd like. You'll need 24 ounces (3 cups) of canned sweet potatoes.
- Eggs: Egg yolks are an important ingredient in making custard, so it's not a good idea to substitute them. If you want to do some recipe testing on your own, feel free! For tips and suggestions, read my article on Egg Substitutions for Baking.
- Heavy Cream: This is another crucial ingredient for making the sweet potato custard filling. The high fat content is necessary to create a thick and creamy filling. In a pinch, you can substitute half-and-half, but avoid using anything with less fat than that.
- Baking Powder: Baking powder is essential for this recipe. Do not substitute with baking soda.
- Dark brown sugar: Light brown sugar is an acceptable substitute, but the molasses flavor won't be as pronounced. To reduce the calories in this sweet potato recipe, you can use any cup-for-cup granulated sugar substitute.
You could also make your own dark brown sugar by adding two tablespoons of molasses to 1 cup of granulated sugar and mixing it well.
Helpful Kitchen Tools for Making Pie
- Pie Weights - These pie weights are great for blind baking a crust. You can also use dried beans.
- Pie Crust Shields- We love these for protecting your pie crust from getting burnt
- Parchment Paper for Blind Baking Pie Crusts - You can cut a square of parchment paper and use it for blind baking pie crust, but these are more convenient!
- Rolling Pin - This is our favorite rolling pin because you can adjust the thickness!
How to Make Sweet Potato Pie
Summary only. The complete recipe instructions are in the card at the bottom of this post ⬇️
- Important! Before making the filling for your pie, you'll need to blind bake your pie crust. Either follow the instructions in my sour cream pie crust recipe, or follow the package instructions for a store bought crust.
📖Quick Tip
It isn't necessary to use an egg wash on your pie crust. However, It does create a moisture barrier that helps to prevent a soggy crust.
- Bake the sweet potatoes. I roast them in the oven, but microwaving is quicker.
- Remove the skins and puree the potatoes.
- Make the sweet potato custard.
- Pour the filling into the crust, then bake the pie.
Liz's Tips for the Best Pie
- To prevent crust from burning, cover the edges of the crust with either foil or a pie crust shield.
- To make pie crust without a food processor, use a pastry cutter for each step in place of the food processor. Switch to using your hands after the second addition of sour cream mixture to bring the dough together.
- If your pastry dough seems dry, add a tablespoon more water at a time if the crust is cracking or isn’t sticking together well. Knead the water in thoroughly before adding more.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve sweet potato pie on its own, but it is delicious with:
- Vanilla Ice Cream
- Fresh Whipped Cream
- a sprinkle of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
Storing and Freezing
Like any other dessert that includes dairy products, sweet potato pie must be kept in the fridge.
Wrap the pie in plastic wrap, and press the wrap against the custard to prevent a film from forming on it. Store it in the fridge and enjoy the leftovers within 4 days.
I haven't ever frozen a sweet potato pie, as most desserts with dairy products in them don't freeze well.
Sweet Potato Pie Recipe FAQs
Although they both use similar spices, sweet potato pie has a distinct flavor that has a sweeter taste and lighter filling, while pumpkin pie typically has a milder, more pumpkin forward flavor and the filling tends to be more dense.
An overly dense sweet potato pie can result from overmixing the custard filling or not properly incorporating the ingredients.
Sweet potato pie may fall apart if it is not allowed to cool and set up after baking. It's important to let it cool for at least an hour at room temperature and then chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
You can adjust the custard consistency by using slightly less liquid or increasing the amount of thickening agents (like flour). Alternatively, bake it a bit longer to help set the filling. Note: the filling will still be a bit wobbly when it's done baking, but this will set during the chill time.
Other Thanksgiving Desserts
- Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Easy Caramel Apple Cheesecake
- Cranberry Pie Recipe
- Easy Custard Pie
Easy Sweet Potato Pie
Ingredients
For the pie crust:
- ¼ cup sour cream cold
- 1 large egg yolk cold
- 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons granulated white sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- 6 tablespoons salted butter chilled, cut into small cubes
For the filling:
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes about 4 medium potatoes *see Notes
- 4 tablespoons salted butter melted
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
Cook the sweet potatoes:
- For Baking (recommended): Preheat oven to 400℉ and prepare a foil lined sheet pan. Bake for 1 ½ hour until fork tender. *Roasting the sweet potatoes adds a layer of caramel flavor, as the dry heat concentrates the sugars in the sweet potato.
- For boiling: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Boil potatoes 45 minutes to an hour until fork tender. Cool them in a strainer to make sure any excess liquid drains away.
For the Pie Crust:
- While the potatoes bake/boil and cool, make your pie crust.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream and egg yolk until combined, set aside.
- In the work bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, and salt a few times to combine.
- Add the butter and pulse until butter is in pea size pieces, about 10 pulses, do not over mix.
- Add half the sour cream and egg mixture and pulse about 5 times until combined, add the remaining sour cream mixture and pulse/process until it comes together completely.
- Gather the dough together into a smooth ball, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- While the pie crust chills, make the sweet potato filling.
Make the sweet potato custard filling:
- Once the potatoes have cooled slightly, about 20 minutes, remove the skins and add the sweet potato pulp to a food processor or blender.
- Puree the sweet potatoes with the remaining filling ingredients (butter, sugar, eggs, heavy cream, salt, baking powder, vanilla, spices). Blend until just combined and smooth.
Assemble the pie:
- Par-bake the sour cream pie crust. Preheat the oven to 425℉. Prick the pie shell all over with a fork. Cut a square piece of parchment just slightly larger than the pie plate and place on top of the crust.
- Fill the parchment paper shell/crust with pie weights or dried beans, then bake for 15 minutes. Remove pie weights and continue baking the crust for another 5 minutes.Remove crust from the oven and let it cool.
- When the pie crust is cool, reduce the oven heat to 375℉. Place the prebaked crust on a baking sheet and pour in the filling. Place in the oven and bake for 40-55 minutes, or until the center is set, but slightly wobbly.
- If the crust is getting too dark, you can cover it with foil or a pie shield. Cool for at least 1 hour. This pie is best when chilled for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator, then sliced.
Helpful Notes and Tips From Liz
- 4 medium-sized sweet potatoes should yield about 3 cups of cooked potato. It’s best to cook an extra one or two, just in case.
- If you choose to boil the sweet potatoes, you should cool them in a strainer to make sure any excess liquid drains away. Roasting the sweet potatoes adds another layer of caramel flavor as the dry heat concentrates the sugars in the sweet potato.
- To prevent crust from burning, cover the edges of the crust with either foil or a pie crust shield.
- To make pie crust without a food processor, use a pastry cutter for each step in place of the food processor. Switch to using your hands after the second addition of sour cream mixture to bring the dough together.
- If your pastry dough seems dry, add a tablespoon more water at a time if the crust is cracking or isn’t sticking together well. Knead the water in thoroughly before adding more.
- If you don't like ginger, good substitutes are ground cardamom, allspice, or ground cloves.
- What if I don't have dark brown sugar? You can substitute light brown sugar or white sugar for the brown sugar, but the pie won't have the same depth of flavor. You could also make your own brown sugar by adding a tablespoon of molasses to 1 cup of granulated sugar and mixing it well.
- In place of heavy cream, you can substitute evaporated milk or half & half for the heavy cream, but don't use low fat milk, as it will make the custard filling watery.
- Can I use canned sweet potatoes? Yes! You’ll need about 24 ounces.
- Can I use a store bought pie crust? Absolutely! Bake according to package directions, and follow recipe as written.
J Fanning
Try boiling the water with 10 whole cloves. If you always use 10 you’ll know how many to remove. It gives a whole other depth of flavor. Try using a walnut or pecan crust, cuts carbs in half.