Sweet Potato Pie
Posted Nov 04, 2022, Updated Feb 15, 2024
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The best sweet potato pie recipe! A smooth (not stringy) sweet potato filling is infused with rich fall spices and vanilla and baked in a buttery pie crust for the most delicious sweet potato pie – made completely from scratch!
When you think of a fall pie I bet your mind goes straight to pumpkin pie like mine often does. However, this sweet potato pie recipe is one that should not be overlooked, and is (dare I say) even more delicious than its pumpkin counterpart.
In this sweet potato pie, a sweet filling is infused with rich fall spices and vanilla. The filling is made in the blender so it’s smooth and creamy and not at all stringy – which is very important to me and something that was a top priority when developing this recipe. Texture is a huge part of the flavor of any dish!
The buttery, flaky, homemade pie crust perfectly compliments the delicious filling. I promise you – it will be love at first bite and you’ll be saying “pumpkin who?”
Sweet Potato Pie Recipe: Ingredients & Substitutions
- Pie Crust. I give instructions on how to make an all butter pie crust in this post (you make half of the recipe in the post), as well as in the recipe card. You can use store bought, if preferred.
- Sweet potato. I suggest cooking your own sweet potato for the filling for the freshest taste and best flavor.
- Heavy Cream. Half & half, full-fat coconut milk or coconut cream are all possible substitutions for heavy cream.
- Light Brown Sugar: Dark brown sugar or coconut sugar can be used in place of light brown sugar.
- Spices. I included my favorite combination and ratio of spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger). You can play around with this if you’d like, but I suggest making the recipe as-written first.
How to Make Sweet Potato Pie
This recipe has a few steps, but making this sweet potato pie from scratch is worth the extra effort. Begin by cooking the sweet potatoes and making the pie crust (which needs to chill) then make the pie!
Cook the Sweet Potatoes
I often cook the sweet potatoes the day before I plan on making this pie. That way they are ready to go when I need them. There are two ways to cook the sweet potatoes to use in this recipe:
- Roast the sweet potatoes: Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Wrap sweet potatoes in foil and bake for 30-40 minutes until soft (baking time varies based on the size of your sweet potatoes). Then, remove them from the oven, open the foil and let the sweet potatoes cool.
- Slow cook the sweet potatoes. Cook them in a slow cooker on high for two hours with ¼ cup water. Remove them from the slow cooker and transfer the sweet potatoes to a bowl to cool before removing the skin.
Make the Pie Crust
Whether you use a food processor or a pastry cutter, making the all-butter pie crust for this sweet potato pie recipe takes 5 minutes. It is easy and tastes so much better than the store-bought crusts.
I prefer to use a food processor. Pulse the dry ingredients, then add the butter and water and process until coarse crumbs form.
Then, form the dough into a flat, round disc, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour, and up to overnight. If chilling for longer than an hour, put the wrapped dough in a plastic bag or airtight contianer to ensure it doesn’t dry out.
I wrote a post and made a video on making the best all butter pie crust! Check it out for all the tips and tricks.
Make the Sweet Potato Pie Filling
Once the sweet potatoes are cooled to room temperature, remove the and put the flesh and the heavy cream in a high-powered blender or food processor. Discard the skins. Then, blend/process until smooth.
Once the mixture is smooth, add the vanilla, brown sugar, sea salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves ginger and eggs into the blender with the sweet potato/cream mixture. Blend 15-30 seconds until mixture is smooth.
Assemble
Once the dough is chilled and the filling is ready, preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
Then, roll the pie crust dough into a 12” circle on a lightly floured surfae (you may need to let it rest for a few minutes to soften enough to roll it).
Next, transfer the dough to 9” round pie plate and crimp the edges.
Then, pour the filling into the unbaked pie crust and cover the crust with a pastry shield.
Bake the pie for 15 minutes at 425 degrees F, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with a few crumbs (not wet). It may be a bit wobbly still, but it will firm-up as it cools.
If the outer crust isn’t browning, remove the pie crust shield in the last 10 minutes of baking.
Cool/Chill the Sweet Potato Pie
Once the pie is baked, allow it to cool on a wire rack for 4 hours – 2 at room temperature and 2 in the refrigerator (be patient, this is important). Serve or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Note. I often make this sweet potato pie recipe the day before we plan on eating it and chill it overnight.
Serve
Serve this sweet potato pie in slices with a dollop of homemade whipped cream. I prefer to serve it slightly chilled, or room temperature.
Store
Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
To freeze
This sweet potato pie freezes well in one of two ways:
- Freeze the entire pie. Simply bake and chill the pie, then wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and foil and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before cutting and serving.
- Freeze individual slices. If you have a few leftover slices you want to freeze, place them on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer to flash-freeze them. Then, once they’re frozen, wrap them in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for about 6 hours.
Sweet Potato Pie Recipe FAQS
I find this is completely up to your personal preference. I prefer to serve it slightly cool but not cold.
I addressed this issue with sweet potato pie by using the blender to make the filling. Blending the sweet potato puree with the heavy cream until smooth ensures that the filling is not stringy at all!
Sweet potato pie is done when the filling is slightly puffed and the top looks set but is still just a little jiggly. You can be certain it’s done by testing the center with a cake tester – it should come out clean or with a crumb or two and should not be wet.
Yes, sweet potatoes and yams are the same vegetable and both can be used in this sweet potato pie recipe.
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Best Sweet Potato Pie Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Pie crust:
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½ cup salted butter chilled, and cut into 1” pieces
- ¼ cup ice water
Sweet Potato Pie Filling:
- 1 pound sweet potatoes (makes about 1 ½ cups mashed)
- 1 cup heavy cream (or half and half)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
Homemade whipped cream
Instructions
Cook the Sweet Potatoes
- There are two ways to cook the sweet potatoes to use in this recipe: 1) Roast them: Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Wrap sweet potatoes in foil and bake for 30-40 minutes until soft (baking time varies based on the size of your sweet potatoes).
- Remove from oven, open foil and let the sweet potatoes cool.
- Or 2) Slow cook. Cook them in a slow cooker on high for two hours with ¼ cup water. Remove them from the slow cooker and transfer the sweet potatoes to a bowl to cool before removing the skin.
Make the Pie Crust
- Put the dry crust ingredients in the container of a food processor fitted with the “S” blade and pulse to combine.
- Add butter and ice-cold water and pulse until the dough just holds together when pinched.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and gather into a ball.
- Form the dough into a flat disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least one hour, and up to one day, before using.
Make the Sweet Potato Filling
- Once the sweet potatoes are cooled to room temperature, remove the and put the flesh and the heavy cream in a high-powered blender or food processor. Discard the skins, then blend/process until smooth.
- Add the vanilla, brown sugar, sea salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves ginger and eggs into the blender with the sweet potato/cream mixture. Blend 15-30 seconds until mixture is smooth.
Assemble & Bake
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Place the pie crust dough on floured surface and roll into a 12” circle (you may need to let it rest for a few minutes to soften enough to roll it).
- Transfer to 9” round pie plate and crimp the edges.
- Pour the filling into the unbaked pie crust and cover the crust with a pastry shield
- Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees F.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with a few crumbs (not wet). It may be a bit wobbly still, but it will firm-up as it cools.
- Allow the pie to cool on a wire rack for 2 hours at room temperature. Then transfer it to chill in the refrigerator for 2 more hours. (Be patient! This is important). Serve or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Video
Notes
- Pie Crust. I give instructions on how to make an all butter pie crust in this post (you make half of the recipe in the post), as well as in the recipe card. You can use store bought, if preferred.
- Heavy Cream. Half & half, full-fat coconut milk or coconut cream are all possible substitutions for heavy cream.
- Light Brown Sugar: Dark brown sugar or coconut sugar can be used in place of light brown sugar.
- Spices. I included my favorite combination and ratio of spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger). You can play around with this if you’d like, but I suggest making the recipe as-written first.
- Freeze the entire pie. Simply bake and chill the pie, then wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and foil and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before cutting and serving.
- Freeze individual slices. If you have a few leftover slices you want to freeze, place them on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer to flash-freeze them. Then, once they’re frozen, wrap them in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for about 6 hours.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Your sweetpotato pie was recommended by a friend. I’ll be making several for a gathering of 60! Wish me luck. Just one comment about your answer to the question ‘are sweetpotatoes and yams the same thing?’ No, they are not. Yams are not grown in the US, only sweetpotatoes. Yams are predominantly an African root vegetable. People mistakenly call them yams but they aren’t. Check with a horticulturalist or specialty crop grower in your area. https://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/flowers-and-plants/vegetables/the-difference-between-a-sweet-potato-and-a-yam
Good
Sweet potato Pie is one of my favorite and this one looks so good
Debbie
Delicious! Very easy to prepare. I am gluten free so I used the same crust recipe just subbed the flour for gf. Turned out very well!!! My part of the world doesn’t carry canned pumpkin all of the time, so this hits the autumn/pre-Thanksgiving vibe.
Thank you so much, Abigail! I’m so glad that you love this pie as much as we do!