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!
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- 2 cups sweet potatoes, mashed (* approx. 1.5 big sweet potatoes cubed & boiled for 15 minutes)
- ¼ cup (4 tablespoons butter), softened
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¾ cup evaporated milk (half of a 12 oz. can)
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 - 9 in" unbaked pie crust
- 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 ¼" 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!
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.
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.
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
I am so gonna try this recipe!
And, you always have the most beautiful pictures of food. Thanks for sharing!!
Michelle: I’m not sure but I plan on adapting a pumpkin version today. I’ll let you know!
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.
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!
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.
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. 🙂
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!
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.
Ellery: Sorry that was a typo.. its 1/4 cup or 4 tablespoon of butter. Thanks for catching that!
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.
I can’t wait to try it.
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.
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.
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 🙂
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!
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
Brian: Yes you can bake them in ramekins using the same baking times.
This looks amazing! I love sweet potatoes, and this looks like a perfect way to enjoy them =D.
Must. Find. Pie. Now. Yum, this looks fabulous!
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
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.
Can this be cooked in ramekins without crusts? Would the oven instructions vary greatly?