The texture of this pie is just what you need to end off your meal. I love how the sweet potato filling is rich, silky, and luscious in contrast to the buttery, flaky pie crust. Roasting the fresh sweet potatoes leads to an even sweeter and caramel-like flavor, making for such a flavorful pie. The warm spices pair extraordinarily well with the sweet potatoes; you might even like it more than my pumpkin pie! If you want another easy holiday dessert recipe to go with your Thanksgiving dinner then, try my pecan pie recipe, pumpkin cheesecake recipe, or chocolate pie recipe.
What You Need to Make This Recipe
Sweet potatoes — I recommend using sweet potato varieties with orange or red skin, such as Red Garnet or Jewel. These varieties are more sweet and moist in comparison to tan or purple skin sweet potatoes that are more starchy. They also have deep orange flesh, making for a more eye-catching pie. Milk — you can use evaporated or whole milk for the pie filling. I would not use skim milk as it won’t give you a filling as rich and thick. Vanilla — for the best flavor, I like using real vanilla extract instead of artificial extract. Pie crust — for convenience, you can use a store-bought pie shell, but I recommend using my homemade pie crust recipe if you have the time! Store-bought crusts aren’t as thick in comparison, and you’ll want a sturdy crust to hold up the luscious filling. Seasonings — the filling is flavored with a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
How to Make Sweet Potato Pie
- Pierce the sweet potatoes in several places with the tip of a knife and place them on the baking sheet lined with foil. Bake for 1 hour or until very soft and the skin wrinkles when pressed. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes before peeling.
- Mash the sweet potatoes in a large bowl or puree them in a food processor for a smoother filling.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the roasted sweet potato, sugar, and milk.
- Add the eggs, vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- Whisk until well combined.
- Pour the sweet potato pie filling into the pie crust and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature and bake for another 40 minutes or until the filling is puffed and the center of the pie barely wobbles when gently shaken. Let cool completely on a wire rack. The sweet potato pie can be served at room temperature or refrigerated for up to 24 hours before serving.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
If using a homemade pie dough, I recommend you blind-bake the crust for a crisp and flaky crust. To blind bake, once the dough is crimped, freeze it for 20 minutes. Line with parchment paper and fill with pie weights. Bake for 20 minutes at 425F. Remove the parchment and weights and let cool while proceeding with the filling in Step 5. Store-bought refrigerated or frozen pie crusts do not need to be pre-baked. If following my homemade pie crust recipe, you’ll end up making two 9-inch pie crusts worth of dough. You can tightly wrap and freeze one disc of dough for up to 3 months- just thaw in the fridge for 24 hours before using. Roll out the pie dough, fill the pie pan and crimp the edge as desired. This recipe makes enough filling to fill a standard deep-dish pie. If using a shallow pan or pre-made frozen crust, you will have a bit extra, or you can fill two shallow pie crusts. Instead of mixing cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg, you can use a pre-made pumpkin pie spice. For extra flavor, you can add a couple of tablespoons of bourbon or rum to the sweet potato filling. The alcohol will evaporate in the oven and leave behind its flavorings, such as notes of vanilla and caramel. You can substitute light brown sugar for white granulated sugar if you’d prefer. I like to top my slice of pie with homemade whipped cream. However, ice cream, caramel sauce, cool whip, and marshmallow fluff are popular alternatives.
If you’ve tried this homemade Sweet Potato Pie recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave
