When it comes to a straight up authentic Southern sweet potato pie recipe, this is it boos. This one comes straight from my Mississippi big mama Maggie. Sweet potatoes are baked until tender and caramelized, then the filling is whipped until smooth with milk, warm spices, and sugar before baking in a butter crust (all strings removed!). This is how the South truly makes sweet potato pie. You won’t find none of that imposter Southern mess around these parts. Check out the video tutorial below so you can nail it too!
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Video Tutorial
Sweet Potato Pie Ingredients
- Sweet potatoes and oil: Look for firm, orange-fleshed sweet potatoes without soft spots, wrinkled skins, or sprouts. Pick ones about the same size so they bake evenly. I like to bake mine because boiling takes away some of the flavor, and I want every bit of it in my pie! Rub the skins with vegetable oil or another neutral oil, like canola, before baking.
- Wet ingredients: Salted butter, eggs, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract make the creamy filling. Let the butter soften and bring the eggs and milk to room temp so everything blends smoothly. PET was Big Mama’s favorite evaporated milk! Make sure you grab that and not sweetened condensed milk, which has added sugar.
- Dry ingredients: Granulated sugar, all-purpose flour, ground nutmeg, and a pinch of kosher salt. Level off the flour when you measure it so the filling doesn’t get super thick. Big Mama was all about nutmeg in her sweet potato pie. No cinnamon in this one, y’all!
- Pie crusts: Homemade pie crust or store-bought dough both work, so use what you’ve got time for. A graham cracker crust is delish with this filling too! You’ll need two bottom crusts for 9-inch pies. If using frozen shells, make sure they’re deep enough to hold the filling and follow the package directions for thawing and prebaking.
How to Make Sweet Potato Pie
These step-by-step photos show how to make this easy sweet potato pie, but be sure to check the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and detailed instructions. Skip to the → Best Sweet Potato Pie Recipe
1. Bake the sweet potatoes and peel off the skins
Scrub, dry, prick, and oil the potatoes, then bake until completely tender and let cool just enough to handle before peeling.
2. Whisk the warm sweet potatoes
Measure the mashed potatoes, then whisk in short bursts, stopping to rinse the fibrous strings off the attachment.
3. Mix in the butter and sugar
Beat the softened butter into the warm potatoes until absorbed, then slowly add the sugar and scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
4. Add the remaining wet ingredients
Mix in the eggs one at a time, then slowly add the vanilla and evaporated milk on low speed.
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5. Finish the sweet potato pie filling
Mix in the flour, nutmeg, and salt until combined, then press the filling through a fine-mesh strainer if you want it extra smooth.
6. Prebake the pie crusts
Line your pie plates with dough, prick with a fork, and prebake with parchment and pie weights before removing the weights and letting the crusts cool.
PRO TIP: If you’re making the crust from scratch, start with cold butter and ice-cold water, and handle the dough as little as possible so your hands don’t warm it up. My homemade pie crust recipe has all my tips and tricks for getting those buttery, flaky layers boos!
7. Pour the filling into both crusts
Divide the filling between the prepared crusts, about 3¾ cups per pie, keeping it below the rim.
8. Bake your homemade sweet potato pie
Bake until the edges are set and the center has a slight jiggle, then cool and chill before serving with whipped cream (like my fam does), vanilla ice cream, or caramel sauce.
Full Sweet Potato Pie Recipe
Sweet Potato Pie Recipe
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Ingredients
- 4 medium sweet potatoes 44 ounces total
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil or any neutral oil like canola
- 1 cup salted butter room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup evaporated milk PET brand was big mama's fave brand
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp ground nutmeg
- pinch of kosher salt
- 2 pie crusts either homemade pie crust or store-bought
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Place the rack in the middle position. Prepare sheet pan by lining with parchment paper.
- Scrub, rinse, and dry sweet potatoes. Stick a fork all over each potato multiple times to allow steam to escape.
- Rub oil on the surface of each potato. Place on the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, flipping the potatoes halfway through. Use a toothpick or skewer to check for doneness; the toothpick should slide easily into the potato with no resistance. If not done, bake for a few more minutes.
- Remove potatoes from the oven and let cool slightly on parchment paper, about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, line two 9-inch glass pie plates with my homemade pie dough or store-bought dough. Prick with a fork, line with parchment, add pie weights and blind bake for 10-15 minutes in the 400℉ oven. Remove from the oven and cool.
- Carefully remove the skin from the potatoes. You should have 4 cups of mashed potatoes. (You can gently press on them with a fork or whisk and measure them into a large measuring cup.)
- While warm, place the potatoes in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment. Turn the mixer on medium low for about 20 seconds then stop and remove the whisk and rinse the fibrous strings from the whisk. Repeat this two or three times, each time rinsing the strings from the whisk. We want this pie to be unbelievably smooth!
- Add butter to warm potatoes and mix on medium until butter has absorbed, about 1 minute. Slowly add sugar on medium low and mix until incorporated. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.
- If you see more strings at this step, remove them. Add the eggs one at a time, waiting for each to incorporate into the batter.
- While the mixer is on low, slowly add vanilla and evaporated milk. Scrape bottom of the bowl to ensure batter is mixed evenly.
- Finally, add the flour, nutmeg, and salt and mix into the batter. Pro tip: If you want to smooth out the filling even more, you can pour it through a strainer so it is super silky before baking.
- Pour 3 ¾ cups of batter into each prepared crust- REMEMBER THIS MAKES TWO PIES (it may seem like the crust is too full but it is fine). Bake for 10 minutes on 400 F, then reduce oven temperature to 325 F and continue baking until the middle of the pie is set (there will be a slight jiggle but this is fine), about 45 minutes. The filling will rise slightly during baking, but not spill over.
- Remove both pies from the oven and let sit until it comes to room temperature, about 30-40 minutes. Then place in the refrigerator until chilled and set, about 3 hours.
- Serve room temperature or slightly warmed.
Video
Notes
How to Store
- Fridge: Once cooled, cover the pies and refrigerate for up to 3 to 4 days. Wait until they’re cold before wrapping tightly so you don’t trap steam against the crust.
- Freezer: Chill completely, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and foil, and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and add toppings when serving.
- Reheating: Warm individual slices in the microwave in short bursts. If you prefer room-temperature pie, let your slice sit out for about 20 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Recipe Tips
- Measure the mash, not just the number of potatoes. Sweet potatoes come in all sizes, boos. You should have 4 cups of cooked, peeled mash before mixing the filling. Bake another potato if you’re short.
- Keep the potatoes warm for the butter. That warmth helps it blend in. If you baked the potatoes ahead, warm the mash before mixing, then let the mixture cool a bit before adding the eggs.
- Don’t stretch the dough into the pie plate. Gently lift and ease it into the bottom and corners instead. Stretched dough shrinks back in the oven, leaving you with less room for the filling.
- Watch the crust edges as the pies bake. Once they’re golden, loosely cover them with foil or a pie shield so they don’t burn while the filling finishes baking.
Recipe Help
It needs more baking time or hasn’t chilled long enough. If the center moves like liquid while it’s in the oven, keep baking. If it’s already baked, give it the full chill before slicing. Extra milk or too little sweet potato can also keep the filling from setting.
The crust probably needed more prebaking. After removing the weights, check the bottom before filling it. If it still looks damp, bake it uncovered for a few more minutes until the top looks dry.
You probably baked too long. Pull it out while the center still has a slight jiggle. A crack won’t ruin the flavor boo, so cover it with whipped cream and serve it up!
Yep boo! Halve every ingredient and use one 9-inch crust. Measure 2 cups of cooked, mashed sweet potato for the filling. Keep the same oven temperatures and start checking for doneness around the listed baking time.
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I have tried sweet potato pies and not liked them. so I said to my family I’m going to make one and we’ll see how it goes. I have four sons, five if you count my husband, and I got tens across the board!!
oh wow thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed these.
This pie was so good! Thank you for the recipe! I added cream cheese frosting on top, and it was out of this world!
I’m so so glad you enjoyed this!
In the past I used the Black folks Sweet Potatoe pie recipe and it was delicious. However, agter tyring this one, I like this better. It came out perfect!!!! I also.make your cream cheese would cake and OMG… I have your digital cookbook and love it. Thanks for sharing all these great family recipes!! ❤️
I’m so happy you enjoyed this. My big mama is smiling from heaven.
Hi, I’m making this recipe for the holidays. There are diabetic’s in the fam. If I cut the sugar by half or maybe a quarter. Would it still ok maybe less sweet? Happy for input or ideas. Maybe someone has used diabetic friendly sugars? Thxs
Absolutely, you can try Truvia Sweet Complete and swap out the sugar all together or do half and half.
Is this a regular pie crust or deep dish?
It makes two pies. Very important to know. 2 regular are fine.
I made the sweet potato pie of yours yesterday and was blown away…. so delicious OMG!!!
Fantastic! So glad you enjoyed it.
This tasted just like home. Thank you for giving me such a fool proof recipe. It’s so good!
Thank you so so much!
Yes Hunny! Good old-fashioned sweet potato pie for me too! Your recipe sounds great! The only thing I’d do is add either a tbsp. of lemon juice or 1 tsp. of lemon extract to the batter. That lemon makes that flavor take off! Happy Thanksgiving!
Sounds delish!
I love that this recipe does not call for cinnamon! I never put cinnamon in my apple pies either because I like the taste of the apple to come through. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I will be making it for the holidays
Please report back and let us know how it turned out.
I posted a comment about what happened to my pie and i dont know what happened to it.
Hi Jessica, sorry traveling for work. Did you pour all of the liquid into one pie crust? It makes two pies. If so, this would explain the spillage and also it not being ready when during the allotted time.