This Southern Sweet Potato Pie recipe is similar to pumpkin pie, only better. Unlike pumpkin pie, which is usually served in fall, you can enjoy this silky-smooth southern sweet potato pie recipe any time of the year! And if you're looking for an even easier recipe, check out my No-Bake Pumpkin Pie.
I really like sweet potato pie, but my son, Scotty, loves it! As a matter of fact, last year for his birthday, he wanted me to make this sweet potato pie recipe instead of a birthday cake. He also asks for it every Thanksgiving and I'm only happy to oblige!
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🧐 Why This Recipe Works
- Sweet potato pie is really easy to make, especially if you use a pre-made crust.
- The freshly grated nutmeg, along with cinnamon and ginger give this southern sweet potato pie a delicious flavor, reminiscent of pumpkin bread, but better!
- The pie freezes well, that is, if you have any leftovers.. you probably won't!
🛒 What You Need For This Recipe
🔖 Recipe Ingredients & Substitutions
- Yams: Yes, you read that correctly, you need to use yams to make sweet potato pie, not sweet potatoes. Yams are the ones that have darker peel and orange flesh.
- Pie Crust: Choose the convenience of store-bought pie crust (for example, Pillsbury pie crust) or make your own. I highly recommend sour cream pie crust!
- Spices: You will need freshly ground nutmeg, ground cinnamon, and ground ginger.
- Cream: The half and half can be substituted with cream, evaporated milk, or whole milk.
- Yogurt: If you don't have yogurt, you can use sour cream instead.
🥧 How to Make This Recipe
Preheat oven to 400-Degrees F
Step 1: Wash yams thoroughly and poke each with a fork. Bake in the oven, uncovered, for 45 minutes to one hour, or until tender. Remove the yams from the oven and allow them to cool.
Reduce Oven Temperature to 350-Degrees F
Step 2: Meanwhile, form pie crust in a 9" pie dish. Poke the bottom and sides of the crust with a fork and set aside in the refrigerator until needed.
Step 3: Once the yams are cool enough to handle, slice the sweet potatoes in half and then slice off the stringy ends. Add the flesh to a large mixing bowl and beat on medium speed for a few minutes. Stop occasionally to remove any stringy fibers that collect on the beater.
Pro Tip: The silky texture of southern sweet potato pie is achieved by doing a thorough job of using an electric mixer to beat the sweet potato pie filling and removing the fibrous strings that are naturally contained in yams. Don't skip this step, it does make a big difference!
Step 4: Add eggs, yogurt, vanilla, butter, and half-n-half. Mix on medium until fully incorporated. Add brown sugar, flour, salt, and the remaining spices. Mix on medium until all the ingredients are combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed and removing the stringy fibers.
Step 5: Pour the pie filling mixture into the prepared pie pan. If you have enough dough, use cookie cutters to cut out leaves or another shape to decorate the edges of the pie (optional).
Step 6: Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake, uncovered, for an hour or until the center of the pie is set. You can test for doneness by inserting a knife into the center of the pie. If the pie is done, the knife should come out relatively clean.
Pro Tip: The pie is done when the middle is no longer jiggly and soft and does not have a dent in the center.
Step 7: Cool to room temperature before storing in the fridge. The pie will be puffed up when you first remove it from the oven but will deflate as it cools. Serve pie with ice cream, whipped cream, or cool whip if desired.
Recipe FAQs
Sweet Potato Pie is ready when the center of the pie is set and springs back when lightly touched. Another way to confirm that the pie is ready is by inserting a clean knife into the center of the pie. If the knife comes out clean, then the pie is ready.
Sometimes food is hard to describe because of its unique flavor. Not so with Sweet potato Pie. Sweet potato pie tastes very similar to pumpkin pie, especially when you consider that it has a lot of the same ingredients found in pumpkin pie.
Both pies have a velvety texture, although sweet potato pie can have a stringy texture if not prepared properly. Additionally, both pumpkin pie and sweet potato pie usually contain similar spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice).
There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding the use of yams vs. sweet potatoes, especially when making sweet potato pie. Although it's called sweet potato pie, most recipes call for yams, not sweet potatoes.
But here's the thing, the supermarkets have been confusing their customers for years. By mislabeling the two, they've led us to believe that yams and sweet potatoes are two different vegetables or tubers.
In fact, they are both sweet potatoes, just different varieties. The orange-fleshed sweet potatoes are sweeter and less firm than the paler-skinned/fleshed sweet potatoes.
Although I've made this pie using both, I much prefer the taste and rich color of what the store calls "yams." And here's another plus, orange-fleshed sweet potatoes are usually less expensive than paler sweet potatoes.
African slaves who came to the US called the local sweet potato “nyami,” which translates to “yam” in English. This is because it reminded them of true yams, a food staple they knew in Africa.
In addition, the darker-skinned, orange-fleshed sweet potato variety was only introduced to the US several decades ago. In order to set it apart from paler-skinned sweet potatoes, producers labeled them “yams.” —healthline.com
Pro Tips
- Cover leftover pie with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Baked sweet potato pie can be frozen for up to 3 months before consumption.
- Thaw the pie in the refrigerator the night before you plan on serving it.
- Prepared pie filling can also be frozen for up to 3 months before baking. Just thaw overnight in the refrigerator before baking the pie.
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📖 Recipe
Southern Sweet Potato Pie
Ingredients
- 2 lbs yams (approximately two large) (2 cups flesh)
- 1 Pillsbury pie crust
- 3 large eggs (beaten)
- ½ cup yogurt
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoon softened butter
- ⅓ cup half-n-half
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ginger powder
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400-Degrees F
- Wash yams thoroughly and poke each with a fork. Bake in the oven, uncovered, for 45 minutes to one hour, or until tender. Remove the yams from the oven and allow them to cool.
Reduce Oven Temperature to 350-Degrees F
- Meanwhile, form pie crust in a 9" pie dish. Poke the bottom and sides of the crust with a fork and set aside in the refrigerator until needed.
- Once the yams are cool enough to handle, slice the sweet potatoes in half and then slice off the stringy ends. Add the flesh to a large mixing bowl and beat on medium speed for a few minutes. Stop occasionally to remove any stringy fibers that collect on the beater.
- Add eggs, yogurt, vanilla, butter, and half-n-half. Mix on medium until fully incorporated. Add brown sugar, flour, salt, and the remaining spices. Mix on medium until all the ingredients are combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed and removing the stringy fibers.
- Pour the pie filling mixture into the prepared pie pan. If you have enough dough, use cookie cutters to cut out leaves or another shape to decorate the edges of the pie (optional).
- Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake, uncovered, for an hour or until the center of the pie is set. You can test for doneness by inserting a knife into the center of the pie. If the pie is done, the knife should come out relatively clean.
- Cool to room temperature before storing in the fridge. The pie will be puffed up when you first remove it from the oven but will deflate as it cools. Serve pie with ice cream, whipped cream, or cool whip if desired.
Notes
- The silky texture of southern sweet potato pie is achieved by doing a thorough job of using an electric mixer to beat the sweet potato pie filling and removing the fibrous strings that are naturally contained in yams. Don't skip this step, it does make a big difference!
- The pie is done when the middle is no longer jiggly and soft and does not have a dent in the center.
- Cover leftover pie with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Baked sweet potato pie can be frozen for up to 3 months before consumption.
- Thaw the pie in the refrigerator the night before you plan on serving it.
- Prepared pie filling can also be frozen for up to 3 months before baking. Just thaw overnight in the refrigerator before baking the pie.
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