Southern Sweet Potato Pie is a classic holiday dessert featuring a creamy and light sweet potato filling in a flaky, buttery crust. This one is extra special because it's topped with a sweet and crunchy brown sugar and pecan topping.
Southern Sweet Potato Pie (with Brown Sugar Crumble Topping)
Southern Sweet Potato Pie is an old-fashioned classic dessert. It embodies all of the classic flavors of the season featuring a fluffy sweet potato filling spiced with cinnamon and ginger. It has a beautiful, velvety texture and sits in a perfectly flaky pie crust.
Plus, this particular sweet potato pie is extra special because it's topped with a crispy brown sugar and pecan topping, kind of like the one that's on classic sweet potato casserole.
This Southern Sweet Potato Pie uses very simple ingredients and spices, most of which you probably already have on hand, so it's very easy to make. Plus, you can easily make it ahead of time and even freeze it. It's the perfect pie for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
How to Prepare Sweet Potatoes for Southern Sweet Potato Pie
To make Southern sweet potato pie, you need 2 cups of mashed sweet potatoes. To prepare them, they first need to thoroughly washed. Then bake sweet potatoes for about 45 minutes at 425°F until fork tender.
When sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel the skins off. This should be very easy to slip the skin off once they are baked.
Add the peeled sweet potatoes to a large mixing bowl and mash with a potato masher or fork until smooth. Alternately, you can beat with a mixer. Then just measure out 2 cups for the recipe.
Can I Use Canned Sweet Potatoes?
Canned sweet potatoes are a little bit more runny and have a little different flavor than fresh sweet potatoes. So I do not recommend using canned sweet potatoes, as they have the potential to alter both the consistency and flavor of the pie.
What Can I Do with Extra Mashed Sweet Potato?
If you have leftover mashed sweet potatoes after making your pie, you can add some butter (or some garlic powder and sriracha, which sounds weird but is my FAVORITE way to eat sweet potatoes), and serve mashed sweet potatoes.
If you have a lot leftover, you can use them in this amazing southern sweet potato casserole. It's technically a side dish, but it's so good, it may as well be dessert.
OR you can save them for leftovers, make this creamy turkey shepherd's pie topped with mashed sweet potatoes.
What Pie Crust Should I Use?
As always, I recommend using this recipe for the best, buttery, flaky, fool-proof pie crust. It's a family recipe and has hundreds of tried-and-true rave reviews. A great crust makes a great pie!
How to Serve Southern Sweet Potato Pie
You can serve this pie pretty much the same way you serve pumpkin pie. With a huge dollop of homemade whipped cream, of course.
You can also serve with toasted marshmallows or marshmallow fluff, vanilla ice cream, or a drizzle of caramel sauce.
Can You Make It Ahead of Time?
Yes! Prepare your pie according to the recipe. Allow it to cool completely. Then cover and store for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
More Pie Recipes You'll Love
- Eggnog Pumpkin Pie - an extra creamy pumpkin pie featuring the festive flavors of eggnog. This pie uses real eggnog with an extra hint of nutmeg.
- Southern Pecan Pie - a classic and our family's favorite. I make multiple of these pies every year. It has a gooey caramel-like filling, crunchy, lightly candied pecans and my signature buttery, flaky crust.
- Best Old Fashioned Apple Pie - best ever apple pie with homemade filling made from fresh tart apples in a gooey, spiced brown sugar caramel sauce.
- S'mores Pie - a decadent, rich chocolate pie filling in a graham cracker crust with a gooey, toasted marshmallow topping that has all of the favorite classic flavors of nostalgic s'mores.
- Butterfinger Pie - creamy peanut butter filling in a chocolatey Oreo crust that is topped with whipped cream with Butterfinger pieces mixed right in.
Southern Sweet Potato Pie Video
Southern Sweet Potato Pie
Ingredients
- 1 unbaked pie crust rolled out in a deep 9-inch pie dish (bottom only)
- 3 large sweet potatoes
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1⅔ cups heavy cream or half-and-half
For the topping
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup flour
- 4 tablespoons butter softened
- ⅔ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Wash and bake potatoes at 425°F until fork tender, about 40-50 minutes.
- Remove sweet potatoes from the oven. Adjust the oven temperature to 400°F.
- Peel sweet potatoes and place into a large mixing bowl.
- Mash potatoes with a masher or fork. You need to 2 cups of this mash for the recipe.
- Add 2 cups mashed sweet potatoes and sugar to a large mixing bowl. Beat until smooth.
- Add eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Beat again until smooth.
- Add cream and beat until smooth, creamy, and combined.
- Pour sweet potato pie filling into unbaked pie shell. Set aside.
- To make the topping, in a medium mixing bowl, add brown sugar and flour for topping. Whisk together. Add butter and cut in with a pastry blender. Stir in chopped pecans. Sprinkle on top of pie.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 55 minutes, or until knife inserted halfway between center and edge of pie comes out clean. Cool completely on a rack.
Notes
- Storage: Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Make Ahead: Prepare your pie to recipe instructions, and allow to cool completely. Then cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days before serving.
- Freezer Directions: Baked pie freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving.
Nutrition
UPDATE INFO: This recipe was originally published in October 2018. It was updated with new pictures, tips, and video and republished in November 2023.
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