Sweet Potato Pie
intro
A velvety, warmly spiced Southern American classic with creamy roasted sweet potato filling in a flaky buttery crust, a beloved holiday table staple.
Ingredients
Steps
Roast the sweet potatoes
Preheat your oven to 200°C (400°F). Scrub sweet potatoes clean, prick their skins 4-5 times with a fork, and place directly on the middle oven rack. Roast for 45-50 minutes until flesh is fully fork-tender, then remove and let cool for 15 minutes until safe to handle.
Prep the pie crust
While sweet potatoes roast and cool, unroll the 9-inch pie crust and press it firmly into a 23cm (9-inch) glass pie dish, crimping the edges decoratively with your fingertips. Prick the crust bottom 8-10 times with a fork, then chill in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to prevent shrinkage during baking.
Make the filling base
Peel the cooled roasted sweet potatoes, discard skins, and scoop 400 grams of soft flesh into a large mixing bowl. Add the melted unsalted butter, then mash with a potato masher for 2 minutes until completely smooth with no stringy lumps remaining.
Combine filling ingredients
Add granulated sugar, packed light brown sugar, beaten eggs, evaporated milk, ground cinnamon, grated nutmeg, vanilla extract, and salt to the mashed sweet potato. Whisk on low speed with an electric hand mixer for 1 minute until fully uniform, taking care not to overmix, which can cause surface cracking as the pie bakes.
Bake the assembled pie
Pour the smooth filling into the chilled pie crust, spreading it evenly with a silicone spatula. Bake at 175°C (350°F) on the middle oven rack for 50-55 minutes, until the edges are fully set and the central 5cm (2-inch) area jiggles slightly like soft Jell-O when the dish is gently nudged.
Cool and set the pie
Remove the baked pie from the oven and transfer it to a wire cooling rack. Let it cool completely at room temperature for 2 hours, then chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 1 hour before slicing to allow the custard filling to set firmly.
Tips
2.If the pie crust edges turn deep golden brown 20 minutes before the bake time ends, wrap them in a 5cm (2-inch) wide strip of aluminum foil to shield them from burning.
3.Resist slicing the pie warm; cutting into it before it fully cools and chills will cause the soft custard filling to run and lose its clean, firm shape.
OMG this sweet potato pie was the star of our Sunday family dinner! I added a tiny extra dash of cinnamon and nutmeg like my grandma used to, and the texture was so creamy, no weird stringy bits at all. My picky 7 year old asked for a second slice before he even finished his first! 10/10 will be making this for Thanksgiving for sure.
Took this to my office potluck last week and folks were coming up to me asking for the recipe for 3 days straight! I was worried the cook time was too long for a weeknight prep, but I roasted the sweet potatoes the night before and assembly was a total breeze. Only note: I used a store-bought deep dish crust because I’m terrible at making pastry from scratch, and it still turned out chef’s kiss.
I made a couple swaps to make this dairy free — used coconut cream instead of evaporated milk and vegan butter — and it still turned out SO good! The spice balance is perfect, not too cloyingly sweet like the store-bought pies I’ve tried before. Will absolutely be adding this to my holiday rotation.
Uh oh, I think I messed this up? My filling cracked really bad on top after baking, and it was a little jiggly in the very center when I pulled it out at the 1 hour 50 mark. Did I do something wrong? Flavor was still great though, my roommate ate half the pie in one sitting lol.
Game changer for my Sunday meal prep! I made two of these over the weekend, sliced them up, and kept individual slices in the fridge for quick sweet treats all week. They hold up so much better than I thought they would, even after 5 days chilled. So much better than grabbing a candy bar from the vending machine at work.
I’ve been making my mom’s sweet potato pie for 20 years and decided to give this recipe a test run before our church Thanksgiving dinner. Let me tell you, this one might dethrone mom’s (don’t tell her I said that!!!) The balance of brown sugar and vanilla is perfect, not overpowering, and the crust came out flaky every single time. Even my aunt who swears she doesn’t like sweet potato pie had a slice.
Help! I followed the recipe exactly but my filling came out really lumpy? I mashed the sweet potatoes with a hand mixer like it said, but there are still little chunks all through it. Did I not cook the sweet potatoes long enough? It tastes fine but the texture is throwing me off.
This pie is SO good I could eat the filling straight out of the bowl with a spoon! I topped mine with a dollop of homemade bourbon whipped cream and a sprinkle of candied pecans, and my guests at Friendsgiving went absolutely wild for it. 10/10, no notes, this is my new go-to sweet potato pie recipe forever.
Made this with a gluten free almond flour crust for my sister who has celiac, and it was incredible! I was worried the filling would be too dense, but it was light and perfectly spiced, and you couldn’t even tell the crust was gluten free. She said it’s the best sweet potato pie she’s had since going gluten free 8 years ago.
Made this for my dorm floor potluck and people were shocked I didn’t buy it from a bakery! I don’t have a hand mixer so I just mashed the sweet potatoes really well with a fork, and it still turned out great. Super straightforward recipe even for someone who barely knows how to turn on an oven tbh.
My daughter begged me to make sweet potato pie for her birthday instead of cake this year, and this recipe did not disappoint! I was nervous because I’ve only ever made apple pie before, but the instructions were so clear and easy to follow. She said it was better than the pie we get at our favorite local diner, which is the highest compliment possible in our house.
I’ve tried so many sweet potato pie recipes over the years, and this one is easily top tier. It tastes just like the ones my mother used to make when I was a kid growing up down south. I brought a slice to my next door neighbor and he brought me a jar of his homemade wildflower honey as a thank you, that’s how good it is. Will be making this for every holiday and potluck from now on, no more searching for the perfect recipe!