Sweet Potato Pie Recipe

by Alice Currah on November 22, 2009. Updated December 7, 2009

filledpies

A few years ago I started a tradition of making sweet potato pies instead of pumpkin for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.  I can’t remember my reasoning behind the decision except for a deep desire to go against the “traditional” favorite.  After all, my brother is the one usually assigned to bring a pie and its a well known fact this means “Costco”.  And for the record… I think Costco pies are not bad – just over played.

This sweet potato pie taste very similar to pumpkin except the texture is slightly denser and the flavor richer.  Because  sweet potatoes are already naturally sweetened, this recipe uses less than a cup of brown sugar.  As a result the pie filling is not overly sweet – instead I find the sweetness just perfect. This pie is a family favorite – from ours to yours – Enjoy!

NakedSweetPotato

SWEET POTATO PIE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups sweet potatoes, mashed (* approx. 1.5 big sweet potatoes cubed & boiled for 15 minutes)
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons butter), softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup evaporated milk (half of a 12 oz. can)
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 9 in” unbaked pie crust -the recipe I use can be found here.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Mix sweet potatoes, butter, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a bowl until well combined. Add eggs, evaporated milk, and heavy cream. Mix everything until completely smooth and all the ingredients have come together-approx. 5 minutes using a Kitchenaid.

Pour mixture into an unbaked pie shell all the way to the top leaving about 1/4″ space from the top edge of the crust. Bake for 15 minutes and then reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 30 minutes or until done. Enjoy!

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{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }

1
Mel @ bouchonfor2.com November 22, 2009 at 3:08 am

I much prefer the flavour of sweet potatoes to pumpkin so this is the perfect Fall pie alternative for me :)

p.s. I’m home from Europe. Seattle trip to visit you is due shortly.

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2
Brian November 22, 2009 at 4:08 am

Can this be cooked in ramekins without crusts? Would the oven instructions vary greatly?

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3
Jenny November 22, 2009 at 8:31 am

Must. Find. Pie. Now. Yum, this looks fabulous!

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4
Susan November 22, 2009 at 11:20 am

I love the deeper color of a (your) Sweet Potato Pie. If you like a softer filling for the finished pie, you can separate the eggs and mix the yolks in first, then whip the whites to soft peaks and fold them into the mixed filling at the end prior to baking. Total baking time would be reduced to about 35-40 minutes

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5
Nutmeg Nanny November 22, 2009 at 11:31 am

All these pies are so beautiful! Having a family from the South I’m used to sweet potato pie and man oh man is it delicious. I have no doubt your recipe is not a winner…yum!

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6
Nutmeg Nanny November 22, 2009 at 11:36 am

Hmmm so I re-read my last comment and it didn’t quit sound right. I mean “I have no doubt your recipe is a winner”…no double negative this time :)

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7
Lauren November 22, 2009 at 12:15 pm

This looks amazing! I love sweet potatoes, and this looks like a perfect way to enjoy them =D.

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8
alice November 22, 2009 at 1:46 pm

Brian: Yes you can bake them in ramekins using the same baking times.

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9
Memoria November 22, 2009 at 1:49 pm

So many recipes out there for this pie!! I think I will try this one instead of the one I said I would try yesterday, and the other one I said I would try the day before yesterday hahahaha. Lovely, lovely photos.

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10
Joy November 22, 2009 at 1:59 pm

My tita just bought some sweet potato pie last night for us to try, and I was thinking to myself: must.find.recipe. I got my answer. :-) Thanks, girlie! This looks amazing.

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11
arnold | inuyaki November 22, 2009 at 2:10 pm

Sweet Potato Pie > Pumpkin Pie. The recipe I’ve been using is very similar to this one. I like to blend it the batter give it some air and make it fluffy, but now that I think of it, I haven’t made sweet potato pie using a mixer even though we have a KitchenAid sitting right there on the counter. :)

I also made a purple sweet potato a couple years ago, just to see how it would turn out. Check it: http://flic.kr/p/2mijwP

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12
easy recipes November 23, 2009 at 6:36 am

I can’t wait to try it.

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13
Beth @ 990 Square November 23, 2009 at 1:23 pm

I love sweet potato pie! Thank you for sharing your recipe–I always like to try new ones. That color of your pies is gorgeous.

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14
Ellery November 23, 2009 at 2:31 pm

Hi, Alice. Great blog, great photos, too. I have a question about this recipe – 1/4 tablespoons butter? I can’t see how that can be correct. What should it be? By the way, I’m new to your blog today – found it while googling “cranberry sauce recipe.” And I do intend to try your cranberry sauce recipe with rum, so thanks for that. For the past 10 years or so, I’ve been making cranberry sauce with cognac but want a change this year and your recipe sounds just great! Can’t wait to taste the results.

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15
alice November 23, 2009 at 2:47 pm

Ellery: Sorry that was a typo.. its 1/4 cup or 4 tablespoon of butter. Thanks for catching that!

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16
Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction November 23, 2009 at 3:13 pm

I have heard of making sweet potato pies, but have never tried. This sounds amazing. I always make candied sweet potatoes (or possibly yams, I’m not sure)… and I love the flavor! Will have to give this one a try!

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17
von November 27, 2009 at 3:16 pm

This recipe was wonderful! I am glad I chose to use this for my first venture in making sweet potato pie. Hands down better than pumpkin pie, I would however make several smaller, not as thick pies so it cooks faster. but the taste, THE TASTE is amazing. I used all spice instead of nutmeg (which is in all spice) and left out ginger. Next time I will include the ginger, I think that might be a secret ingredient. :)

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18
Sweetness December 11, 2009 at 1:24 pm

Thanks for sharing the recipe my mother makes sweet potatoe pie all the time for the Thanks giving holiday.. Which I may add, is a tradition in most southern house holds opposed to pumpkin pie. I love both – as usual it always depends on who makes them. I’m going to use your recipe to surprise my husband and mother in-law considering my roots are Grenadian and Arubian.

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19
SMM December 21, 2009 at 11:23 pm

My Mom use to make “pumpkin” pie using carrots. All about making the dollar go further and using a readily available commodity. Now she is a rich woman hiding her money from the tax collector.

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20
Barbara October 7, 2010 at 12:00 am

This sounds perfect! With pumpkin in short supply on the grocery shelf (and we had a bumper crop of sweet potatoes from our garden) I plan to try this recipe for our winter pies! It sounds great – thanks!

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21
Michelle November 12, 2010 at 6:36 pm

I’ve always wondered if there was a great difference between pumpkin and sweet potato pies. Yours look wonderful – I especially love the tiny versions.

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22
alice November 13, 2010 at 1:32 pm

Michelle: I’m not sure but I plan on adapting a pumpkin version today. I’ll let you know!

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23
Toni @ Carrigan's Joy November 17, 2010 at 6:00 am

I am so gonna try this recipe!

And, you always have the most beautiful pictures of food. Thanks for sharing!!

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24
Louanne November 17, 2010 at 4:45 pm

ohhhh, it’s not Thanksgiving without a sweet potato pie. (my southern heritage is showing). Sweet potato pies also freeze well. My mother always made lots of them when we had a bumper crop of sweet potatoes and then froze them. We would have sweet potato pie all winter long. yummmm

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25
Linda Jackson November 24, 2010 at 11:49 am

I searched many websites looking for sweet potato pie made with brown sugar instead of white sugar. I found your site and stopped my search. I read the comments and they are all so complimentary of your receipes. I will look here first for anything else I want to try making. Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving.

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26
Jan J. November 20, 2011 at 12:37 am

Thanks – this sounds and looks so yummy! I love sweet potatoes but not in the very sweet marshmallow-covered casseroles. I usually like them simply mashed with butter and salt, but that said I am going to try this since I have never had them in a pie.

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27
LaTonia Tweedy November 25, 2011 at 11:21 pm

This was my first time making a pie….ever! The recipe was very easy follow and the pie turned out just delicious! I did make a few modifications, I added 3 additional spoons of heavy whipping cream, 3 spoons of buttermilk, and a little vanilla.

It was a big Thanksgiving hit, my family ate every bit!!!!!

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28
Kim Wyatt January 1, 2012 at 5:16 pm

Wow, this is a delicious pie. I put some chopped pecans in the bottom before putting the filling in & added some candied chopped pecans on top.

I will be making this a lot! Thank you!

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29
Shelley January 19, 2012 at 11:32 pm

I just tried this recipe but substituted 1 cup soymilk for the dairy and used 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup agave syrup, baked in a gluten free crust from whole foods..It’s the MOST delicious pie i’ve ever made…even my husband agrees and that’s saying a lot@ Thanks for the recipe and inspiration!

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