Sweet Potato Pie Recipe (2024)

So I made this again using the recommendations of others that I bake the potatoes instead of boil and use cream instead of evaporated milk. The first pie was a 5 star, but with the suggested changes. It's now a 5 plus star. Highly recommend trying these changes to the recipe.

I've been making sweet potato pies for over 50 years, as my mother and grandmother did before me. We use at least half brown sugar, roast the potatoes rather than boiling, and season with cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and a lot of ginger. It's true that the WWII generation used evaporated milk, but I substituted cream. And we used more eggs, which makes the pies light. The day after Thanksgiving, we eat the leftovers for breakfast!

My mother used a mixture of brown sugar and white sugar in her sweet potato and pumpkin pies. The brown sugar adds a nice undertone to the sweet potato.

I have been using my grandmother's sweet potato pie for years. It is similar but uses 3 eggs instead of 1. My change to this is to separate the eggs and fold in egg whites that have been whipped to stiff peaks. This makes the pie a little bit less dense. I also blind bake the pie shell. That way the crust is done and not a white gummy mess.

You’re probably right about the taste of the cream.... but, evaporated milk is a taste of the depression era south and the Southern poor of the generations that followed. I love cream in sauces and soups and half and half in my coffee. But every now and then, opening a can of evaporated milk for my coffee is a taste that’ll take me back 50 years.

To the person who asked if anyone followed the recipe, I always view these things as a basic start from which you customize. This pie is a basic. I learned to make sweet potato pie from my former mother in law in the South. Always 3 eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg and even a touch of lemon juice. Bake the potatoes. Every sweet potato pie I’ve eaten from others has been different but still delicious. There is no one way to make it.

After reading the comments, I used four sweet potatoes (roasted in the over at 400 degrees for about an hour) - added ground ginger, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, maple syrup, and a tablespoon of bourbon. Three eggs. And used about 1/2 cup brown sugar and a 1/4 cup white sugar. Result was heavenly!

The biggest thing that makes or breaks a sweet potato pie is the potatoes. Make certain to buy rounder potatoes, rather than the long skinny ones. The long ones are stringy and that shows when you cut your pie.

nutmeg is the start but it's mandatory to add in a bit of mace. do a placebo controlled trial, one without mace and one with mace. science will validate my hypothesis.

Unfortunately, you forgot a key ingredient — a shot glass (or 2 Tbs if you live without a shot glass) of either bourbon or blackstrap molasses. Feel free to add some finely grated orange peel for good mixology. Cheers from the Southern cousin.

2 lbs or 3 cups of potatoesbake at 400 for 45 minsuse heavy cream instead of evap milk

Sleeper hit! This was devoured at thanksgiving, fresh nutmeg is strongly recommended. Used seriouseats pie crust recipe.

Cecile, I keep kosher,and have made pumpkin pie for years. Since we don't have meat and milk at the same meal in any way, I always substitute the evaporated milk for either mocha mix or almond milk. Should work here.

Loved the recipe. Great pie! Didnt have my reading glasses on and added too much nutmeg, but it was still great. Also used heavy cream instead of evaporated milk. This one is a keeper.

Made per the original recipe with one change: I substituted monk fruit for sugar! A healthier non-glycemic alternative. Turned out fantastic!

*Highly recommend* I did as suggested in the comments: roasted the sweet potatoes instead of boiling them and used cream instead of evaporated milk. I reduced sugar by 30% (as I always do because we are not fans of sugar). I also used vegan alternatives for the butter and cream because of lacto-intolerance in my family and it was delicious. I would only recommend using less nutmeg than the recipe calls for because I felt it was too present in the taste but if you don't mind that, keep it as is.

I made a number of recommended changes but I think this is the most important one: I used a metal pie plate and I baked the pie on a preheated rimmed baking sheet that sat on top of a preheated pizza stone. This cooked the crust all the way through without having to parbake the crust. I now bake all my pies on a pizza stone. Perfectly cooked crust every time.

I cubed & boiled two XL sweet potatoes, then mashed w/ a handheld potato masher. Added the remaining ingredients (I just went with my gut feeling for the sugar, milk, and spices). Then I used an immersion blender to get a silky texture. Poured into a store bought pie crust with no shame. Baked@ 350F for 1hour 5min (which is when the pie filling no longer "jiggled" when moved). I Added mini-marshmallows for the last 5min to achieve a nice gooey toasty top layer. Absolutely delicious!

Good notes only help if read. Forgot that valuable lesson so just the one egg and nutmeg this time. Always makes me smile when "3 medium" turns out to be exactly the right amount and the filling comes to within 1/8 inch of crust edge. Someone's note to "bake not boil" the sweet potatoes is the key to a fine pie regardless of spice-magic. Here's to all the Cooks who guide us humble cooks.

I also think roasting the sweet potato is better than boiling with one exception: if you use yams rather than sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are much drier and therefore need much more liquid in the mix after roasting.

I followed the suggestions and roasted rather than boiled the potatoes. And I subbed in heavy cream. I also blitzed the potato, sugar and egg mix with an immersion blender which I think helps a lot with a smooth consistency. This is my second year making this pie, and both times it’s been a huge hit! I used Alison Romans recipe for pie dough this year and it was perfect

The texture and sweetness of the pie were perfect BUT the nutmeg aftertaste was overwhelming (not in a good way). Next time, reduce the nutmeg to maybe 1/8 tsp and add allspice, ginger, and cinnamon. Also, per the other comments, replaced the evaporated milk with heavy cream.

Made lots of adjustments that others recommended (roasting potatoes, heavy cream, blind baking crust, adding more spices, two eggs instead of one), but also I recommend leaving out the baking powder. The first time I made this, I baked it about the whole 55 min at 350, and the filling puffed up and then fell, leaving some unsightly cracking. Made it a second time with no baking powder, and no cracking.

Just made this for Thanksgiving and it was a hit. Absolutely delicious. Family even had it for breakfast the next day. Will definitely make again, as is, not changes to recipe. Freshly grated nutmeg is a must! I did serve it with whipped cream slightly sweetened with pure maple syrup.

Aside from roasting the potatoes instead of boiling, I followed the recipe exactly as written. It was absolutely delicious, I will definitely make it again. It brought me right back to big Thanksgivings of my childhood with extended family in Western NC.

I followed the recipe and recommendations in the notes, such as roasting the sweet potatoes rather than boiling them and using heavy cream, but my crust was underdone underneath the pie. Should I have prebaked the pie crust before adding the sweet potato filling and bake again?

Delicious! Based on other recommendations we used heavy cream instead of evaporated milk and also added more spices: cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and orange zest. A big hit at our Thanksgiving celebration.

-1tsp basing powder

I would suggest cutting nutmeg to 1.5 -1.75 tsp. The 2.25 tsp overwhelmed the taste. I used brown sugar instead of white so less sweet. The light delicate texture was great due to added baking powder.