This Southern Sweet Potato Pie is the perfect fall and Thanksgiving dessert to make and share with family and friends. Easy to make with simple ingredients, it's the perfect make-ahead sweet treat!
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The full recipe with ingredients/instructions is available on the recipe card at the bottom of the post. Important tips/tricks are also included in the blog post.
I love the flavors of fall, lots of warming spices come into play and my thoughts always turn to delicious sweet pies. A traditional Southern sweet potato pie is one of my favorite fall desserts.
The sweet potato filling in this easy sweet potato pie is silky smooth. When it's topped with some whipped cream I'm in heaven! You can make your own pastry crust, but if pushed for time a store bought pastry crust will work just fine.
It's one of my preferred Holiday pies and lucky for me, my kids love it too. So I always end up making this pie most often around the Holidays. This has become my best sweet potato pie recipe and is enjoyed by everyone I serve it up to.
This is a great pie to serve up for Thanksgiving or Christmas along with my Simple Pumpkin Cake! However, it also makes a great weekend treat any weekend during fall, with my family and friends.
Ingredients
- Pie crust (store-bought or homemade)
- Sweet potatoes - I prefer to use baked sweet potatoes in the skin and then peel them for this recipe, as they provide a creamier texture and richer flavor. Some have boiled sweet potatoes and had great results, but I find baking enhances the overall quality of the dish.
- Butter - adds richness and flavor to the pie. I use unsalted butter.
- Light brown sugar - this adds an incredible depth of flavor to this pie.
- Large Eggs, Evaporated Milk, and Vanilla Extract
- Spices - Ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger, and salt
How To Make Southern Sweet Potato Pie
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mash cooked sweet potatoes in a bowl.
TOP TIP: I like to either bake my sweet potatoes in the air fryer or microwave them for 8-10 minutes. I never boil them.
Add remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth and combined.
Pour in prepared pie crust. You can see my crust broke a little, lol. It was still mighty good though.
Bake for 40-45 minutes until pie is set in the middle.
Can you make Sweet Potato Pie ahead of time?
Yes! This is the perfect make-ahead dessert. You can make sweet potato pie ahead of time to save oven space on holidays. In fact, you want to let the pie sit for at least an hour before serving it. Once the pie has cooled to room temperature, cover it loosely with plastic wrap or foil, and it will keep well for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
Can you freeze Sweet Potato Pie?
If you are super organized and planning ahead, then you can freeze the pie. It's best to freeze the pie before you bake it or it can become soggy once thawed.
Place the filling in the crust and then wrap securely in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag. Defrost the pie in the fridge overnight before baking. The pie will keep well frozen for up to 3 months.
Tips for Choosing the Best Sweet Potatoes
For the perfect sweet potato pie, select firm, bruise-free sweet potatoes with smooth skin and deep orange flesh. Medium-sized potatoes work best for a rich, creamy filling.
Recipe Notes and Tips
- Take the butter out of the fridge 30 minutes before you plan to bake. This allows the butter to soften, making it easier to incorporate into the other ingredients.
- Sweet potato pie is best when it has cooled, so wait to serve it.
- The best sweet potato pie is made at least a day ahead and chilled. Remove from the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving.
- Don't boil the sweet potatoes or they will take on too much liquid and the filling will be soggy.
More Easy Dessert Recipes
- Pecan Pie
- Purple Sweet Potato Pie
- Chess Pie
- Pumpkin Pie
- Old-Fashioned Pinto Bean Pie
- Watergate Salad
- Sweet Potato Pudding
- Homemade Chocolate Pudding
- Air Fryer Chocolate Molten Lava Cakes
If you're looking for more delicious sweet potato recipes, try my candied sweet potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes recipes.
Watch this video tutorial and see how I make this sweet potato pie from start to finish.
FAQs:
The flavors in both of these traditional Thanksgiving pies are similar, but sweet potato pie is less dense and more light and airy. It's sweeter and more creamy and I find it much richer in flavor.
The pie is cooked when the pie filling has set and is no longer liquid. You can check but inserting a toothpick into the filling, if cooked it will come out clean.
Whether or not you have strings in your sweet potatoes will depend on the growing conditions of your sweet potatoes. If the soil is too fertile, you'll get stringy sweet potatoes. Try to purchase short plump sweet potatoes to avoid stringiness. If you need to get rid of strings, pulse the sweet potatoes in a food processor after baking them.
If you have tried to make this delicious Southern Sweet Potato Pie, or any other recipe on my blog, then please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Southern Sweet Potato Pie
Ingredients
- 9- inch pie crust store-bought or homemade
- 1.5 lbs sweet potato about 2 medium sweet potatoes
- ¼ cup butter softened
- ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- ½ cup evaporated milk
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Bake or microwave the sweet potatoes:
- Air fryer - 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 35-40 minutes.
- Oven - 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 45-50 minutes.
- Microwave - prick potatoes all over, microwave for 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway.
Make the pie
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Peel the sweet potatoes and mash them in a bowl. Add remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth and combined. Pour in prepared pie pan.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until pie is set in the middle. Remove and allow to cool for at least 1 hour.
Video
Notes
- Prepare pie crust according to your recipe or package directions.
- Sweet Potato Pie is best when it has cooled, so wait to serve it.
- The best sweet potato pie is made at least a day ahead and chilled. Remove from the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving.
- Don't boil the sweet potatoes or they will take on too much liquid and the filling will be soggy.
Nutrition
This post was originally published on 8/17/2020. It has been updated with additional helpful tips.
summer says
It turned out amazing! 100% recommend.
Tanya says
Thanks Summer! So happy you liked the recipe 🙂
summer says
@Tanya, Your welcome! I was wondering have you ever made a sweet potato pie with hennessy? My boyfriend wants me to make him one for his birthday and i don’t know how to do it with how much to add of it.
Tanya says
Hi Summer, I haven't. However, you woudn't want to add too much. I'd suggest replacing the vanilla extract with Hennessy and using about 2 Tablespoons.
Ethel Jones says
Best recipes ever
Tanya says
Thank you so much Ethel 🙂
Melvina says
I am allergic to ginger, can I make this without? And if so, what should/could I add to help advance the flavor?
Thank you.
Tanya says
Hi Melvina, you could leave the ginger out and it would still be good. I don’t have a direct substitute suggestion, I would just leave it out or add a tiny bit more of one of the other spices, like the cinnamon or nutmeg.
Elizabeth says
Perfection!!!
Tanya says
Thank you so much!
Robin says
Omg ! I’ve tried an online recipes and this is by far the best one !
The secret ingredient is def the ginger ! I doubled the portion and cut back on the sugar when doing so. I only had dark brown sugar and it worked . I did a few more dashes of the spices , to taste. Other than that i tried to follow your recipe to the T.
It’s perfect .
Thanks for sharing
Tanya says
Thanks so much, Robin!
Karren says
Can I freeze the pie filling and then defrost and pour into pie shell when ready to bake?
Thanks
Tanya says
Hi Karren, Yes, that would work fine.
Terry D says
Instructions state:
#3 oven 425 but # 5 says preheat 375.
Do you preheat to 375 then turn up to bake at 425?
Tanya says
Hi Terry D., the #3 is referring to baking the sweet potato before removing the skin and mashing them to add to the pie. Then you will want to preheat your oven to 375 degrees F to bake the pie.
Jody says
First time I ever made or ate sweet potato pie. This was really good and I’m so glad I tried it.
Tanya says
Thanks so much, Jody! So happy the pie worked out for you.
Jessica says
I’m first time making sweet potato pie. It’s one of my son’s favorite. I wanted to surprise him for thanksgiving today. I made two so I could taste test one. Wow! Absolutely love it. Definitely going to be on the repeat list. Thank you.
dave says
Thank you for a great recipe perfect for thanksgiving
G says
This pie is amazing! My son(16) wanted to make it homemade this year since it's his favorite so we did a test run of a few recipes and this was #1 with fantastic reviews from the whole family. Official pie for the holidays! Thanks so much!
Tanya says
Thanks so much G! That makes me so happy 🙂 Happy Holidays!
Harry says
This is my absolute favorite sweet potato pie recipe! I make this all the time and it never lasts very long. Thank you for the recipe
Tanya says
Thanks so much, Harry! I'm so happy you like the pie recipe 🙂
Ashlee says
About how many cups of sweet potato puree does it work out to be? Thank you!
Tanya says
Hi Ashlee, I usually get about 1 1/2 - 2 cups of sweet potato
Denise says
Your sweet potato pie sounds delicious never have made sweet potato pie but I’m going to try to
Jeremiah says
Crust clarification. I’m going to use a frozen pie crust for this. Should the crust be simply thawed or does it need to be baked prior to adding pie filling? I can’t recall what my mom used to do.
Tanya says
Hi Jeremiah, I usually follow the directions on the crust that indicate you pour the filling into the pie crust and then bake. No need to thaw or bake before adding the filling.
Jeremiah says
@Tanya, Thanks! I didn’t want to overcook the crust. I’ll let you know how it turns out!
Jeremiah says
@Tanya, thanks again for this recipe. The pie came out so good! I did make a few changes; I used Monkfruit sweetener in place of brown sugar (which is the closest to regular sugar I’ve tried thus far) and I added shredded coconut.
It was definitely a huge hit this year and I’ve already been requested to make it for Christmas!
Tanya says
Thanks so much Jeremiah! I love the changes you made, sounds delish!