A classic Southern Sweet Potato Pie recipe made with mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, butter, evaporated milk, eggs, vanilla, and spices. This beloved southern recipe is a must-have dessert for Thanksgiving!
Sweet potato pie is a quintessential southern dessert that Black families have enjoyed during the holidays and throughout the year for decades.
This is a classic soul food sweet potato pie recipe handed down from my grandmother that I've made some minor tweaks to over the years to make it just perfect! For more classic southern recipes, check out our Southern Pecan Pie and Southern Candied Yams recipes next!
Jump to:
- Ingredients You Need To Make This Recipe
- How To Make This Recipe
- Variations and Substitutions
- Where Did Sweet Potato Pie Originate?
- Why Black People Love Sweet Potato Pie
- Is This Recipe Similar To Patti LaBelle's Sweet Potato Pie?
- FAQs and Tips
- Make-Ahead and Storing Instructions
- Recommended Tools For This Recipe
- More Thanksgiving Recipes You Will Love!
- 📖 Recipe
Ingredients You Need To Make This Recipe
- 9-inch pie crust. You can use homemade, refrigerated, or frozen pie crust for this recipe. If you use a frozen crust, be sure to use a deep dish. If you use a regular frozen crust, you may have enough filling for two pies.
- Orange flesh sweet potatoes. There are several types of orange sweet potatoes, and any of them will work perfectly for this pie.
- Unsalted butter. For moisture and richness. Soften your butter to room temperature.
- Eggs. To bind the ingredients and give the pie structure.
- Granulated sugar and dark brown sugar. This combination of sugars provides the perfect amount of sweetness and subtle caramel notes to the pie.
- Evaporated milk. Evaporated milk is used in classic, southern sweet potato pie recipes. You can also use milk or a combination of milk and cream.
- Vanilla extract. For added flavor and depth. Use good-quality vanilla extract and not vanilla flavoring.
- Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. These warm spices add delicious flavor, depth, and aroma.
- Salt. Just a small amount brings out the other flavors in the pie.
How To Make This Recipe
- Scrub the sweet potatoes, pierce them all over with a fork, and bake the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet at 450°F for 50 to 60 minutes until very tender. Allow them to cool enough to handle, then remove the skins.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a 9-inch pie plate with your homemade or refrigerated crust, or set your frozen crust out on the counter while you prepare the filling.
- Place the sweet potatoes in a large mixing bowl and use the beaters of a handheld electric mixer (without the mixer turned on) to mash the sweet potatoes. Add the butter to the bowl and beat the sweet potatoes and butter until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Start at a lower speed then gradually increase the speed to high.
- Add the eggs, evaporated milk, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, spices, and salt and beat on medium speed until well combined. Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust and smooth it out into an even layer.
- Bake the pie in the preheated oven for 55 to 65 minutes until the center is set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow the pie to cool on a wire rack. Serve sweet potato pie warm or at room temperature.
Variations and Substitutions
Southern sweet potato pie is made with evaporated milk to give it a signature richness that is so dang good! However, you can also use regular whole milk, buttermilk, or a combination of milk and cream if you like.
This pie can be made with just granulated sugar instead of a combination of granulated and dark brown sugar. Your sweet potato pie will have a lighter color and a more vanilla-like flavor.
Try making this pie with different combinations of spices such as cardamom, allspice, star anise, or five spice to try something different! Some other fun additions to sweet potato pie are:
- Pecans
- Maple syrup
- Coconut
- Meringue
- Fresh orange juice
- Brown butter
Where Did Sweet Potato Pie Originate?
Sweet potatoes were introduced to America through trades made with the Spanish and gained great popularity in the Southern US among the wealthy during the antebellum years.
Since sweet potatoes grow particularly well in warmer climates, they became a favorite in the south while pumpkins, which grow well in cooler climates, gained popularity in the northern US.
Wealthy plantation owners began having their cooks, who were mainly enslaved African Americans, prepare sweet potato pie with a custard filling cooked in a flour crust for large dinners and holiday gatherings.
Once Black people gained access to processed grains such as flour and proper cooking equipment after emancipation, the beloved sweet potato pie became a staple in our homes.
Why Black People Love Sweet Potato Pie
Sweet potato pie has an extensive history in Black culture, dating back to the years of enslavement when Black cooks prepared the pie for plantation owners and their families.
When Black people gained their freedom and left the kitchens of white plantation owners, they took the sweet potato pie with them and it has been a staple in our culture ever since.
For me, sweet potato pie is home. It takes me back to my earliest childhood memories of Thanksgiving dinner with cornbread dressing, a big pot of greens with pork, buttermilk cornbread, pecan pie, yellow cake with chocolate frosting, and sweet potato pie all laid out on the dining table.
Southern sweet potato pie is a big part of Black southern culture and I cannot envision the holidays without it!
Is This Recipe Similar To Patti LaBelle's Sweet Potato Pie?
This sweet potato pie recipe is very similar to Patti LaBelle's recipes since her recipe is also a classic southern preparation.
The main difference is Patti LaBelle's recipe uses all granulated sugar and this recipe calls for half granulated sugar and half dark brown sugar, giving it a deeper, more caramel-like flavor.
FAQs and Tips
Sweet potato pie has a custard filling, which means eggs are needed to bind the ingredients and give the pie structure.
Yes. Since sweet potato pie is made with eggs and butter it needs to be refrigerated and should not sit out at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
How can I tell my sweet potato pie is done?
When sweet potato pie is done, the center should be set and should not jiggle. The pie will also be slightly puffy but will go down after it is taken out of the oven. If a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, your pie can be taken out of the oven.
Make-Ahead and Storing Instructions
Sweet potato pie is the perfect make-ahead dessert. It can be prepared up to two days in advance, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, and stored in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Sweet potato pie can be served cold, at room temperature, or warm. Reheat sweet potato pie in the oven, covered with foil, if you prefer to serve it warm
Leftover sweet potato pie can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days.
Recommended Tools For This Recipe
More Thanksgiving Recipes You Will Love!
- Old Fashioned Southern Cornbread Dressing
- Southern Buttermilk Cornbread
- Southern Sweet Potato Casserole
- Twice Baked Loaded Potato Casserole
- Southern Pecan Pie
- Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes
📖 Recipe
Southern Sweet Potato Pie
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds orange flesh sweet potatoes about 2 medium sweet potatoes
- 9-inch pie crust homemade, refrigerated or frozen
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup dark brown sugar or light brown sugar
- ½ cup evaporated milk see note
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Scrub the sweet potatoes, pierce them all over with a fork, and bake the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet at 450°F for 50 to 60 minutes until very tender. Allow them to cool enough to handle, then remove the skins.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a 9-inch pie plate with your homemade or refrigerated crust, or set your frozen crust out on the counter while you prepare the filling.
- Place the sweet potatoes in a large mixing bowl and use the beaters of a handheld electric mixer (without the mixer turned on) to mash the sweet potatoes. Add the butter to the bowl and beat the sweet potatoes and butter until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Start at a lower speed then gradually increase the speed to high.
- Add the eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, evaporated milk, vanilla, spices, and salt and beat on medium speed until well combined. Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust and smooth it out into an even layer.
- Bake the pie in the preheated oven for 55 to 65 minutes until the center is set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow the pie to cool on a wire rack. Serve sweet potato pie warm or at room temperature with whipped cream.
Notes
- Southern sweet potato pie is made with evaporated milk to give it a signature richness that is so good! However, you can also use regular whole milk, buttermilk, or a combination of milk and cream if you like.
- This pie can be made with just granulated sugar instead of a combination of granulated and dark brown sugar. Your sweet potato pie will have a lighter color and a more vanilla-like flavor.
- Leftover sweet potato pie can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days.
Marlon Boyd
I love this recipe and will be using It every holiday season! Thank you!
Ashley Boyd
Thank you and I am very happy to hear that! I hope you continue to continue to enjoy the sweet potato pie!