Southern Sweet Potato Pie

Learn how to make southern Sweet Potato Pie from scratch with this easy homemade recipe. Combine a few pantry staples to make this classic dessert for the holidays or parties.

Sweet potato pies are a classic dessert and always a hit at Thanksgiving or Christmas. The warm spices of cinnamon and nutmeg combined with sweet brown sugar make the classic sweet potato taste you crave all year long.

It’s a fun and delicious alternative to pumpkin pie. Add in a buttery crust with a dollop of whipped cream on top, this pie is a fall and holiday dessert that will be a staple on your dessert tables. 

Making sweet potato pie is simple! The pie is made with cream, sugar, sweet potatoes and a few simple spices. Sweet potatoes are already pretty sweet, so you need less than 1 cup of sugar for this recipe. You can cut back on the sugar even more, if desired.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• It’s comforting and packed with fall flavors like cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.
• The filling is made from scratch. You can use a store bought or homemade pie crust.
• This recipe uses fresh sweet potatoes.
• It’s a classic southern dessert recipe.
• The recipe only requires 15 minutes of prep before baking!

How to Make Southern Sweet Potato Pie

You will need a prepare pie crust. You can use a store bought curst or make your own homemade pie crust.

1. Gather the ingredients for the pie filling – sweet potatoes, butter, sugar, brown sugar, heavy cream, eggs, all purpose flour, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger and salt.
2. Cook the sweet potatoes – Place cubed sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan and add water to cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes, uncovered, until tender.
3. Mash the potatoes – Drain the potatoes and return them to the pan. Mash the potatoes until smooth and allow them to cool to room temperature.
4. Mix together filling ingredients – In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together until smooth. You can use a stand mixer or a handheld electric mixer on medium speed. Add the eggs and mix well. Add mashed sweet potatoes, milk, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Mix until incorporated.
5. Prepare Pie – Add a single pie crust to the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate. Pour the filling mixture into the pie crust.
6. Bake – Bake the pie for 15 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and continue baking for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. Cool completely before serving and store in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

PIE CRUST RECIPE: To make a homemade pie crust, combine 1 1/4 cups flour, 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix to blend. Add 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of cold butter (cut into small pieces) and mix on low speed until the butter pieces are no larger than small peas. Add 3 tablespoons of cold water and mix until the dough comes together. Shape the dough in a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Expert Tips

• Sweet Potatoes – You should have about 2 cups of mashed sweet potatoes from 1 1/4 pounds of potatoes. You can used baked sweet potatoes, if desired. You can also substitute the fresh sweet potatoes with canned, but make sure you are using canned sweet potatoes without any added ingredients.
• Do NOT over bake. The pie should have the same creamy texture of many custard based pies. If you over bake it will become dense and lose the satin texture. To make sure your pie reaches the perfect doneness, take your pie out of the oven and give it a wiggle – the center of the pie should jiggle slightly in the center. If you have a cooking thermometer, the internal temperature should be about 175 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer, stick a knife into the edge of the filling. The knife should come out moist, but still clean.
• Let the pie cool and rest for at least 4 hours, however 24 hours or overnight is best.
• Serve the pie with whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream, if desired.

FAQs

Enjoy southern sweet potato pie in October or November for Thanksgiving or any time of the year. This classic dessert comest together easily and is packed with plenty of fall flavors. Try this delicious pie and let us know what you think!

Other Thanksgiving Pie Recipes

• Blueberry Pie
• Pumpkin Pie
• Key Lime Pie
• Apple Pie

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