Southern Sweet Potato Pie

Our old-fashioned Southern sweet potato pie recipe includes a perfectly spiced and creamy sweet potato filling in a flaky pie crust with an irresistibly crumbly streusel topping.

Looking for a new Thanksgiving dessert to try this holiday season? Let me introduce you to my Southern sweet potato pie, the perfect soul food dish for your Thanksgiving table. This is a traditional sweet potato pie recipe finished off with a streusel topping because anything wonderful becomes even more so when you add a topping of brown sugar, butter, and pecans, right? The texture of the crumbly topping is truly out of this world and the perfect complement to the creamy sweet potato pie filling.

Speaking of, let’s delve into exactly what’s included in the pie filling besides freshly roasted sweet potato, of course. You’ve got sweetened condensed milk, butter, vanilla, and the perfect amount of seasonal spices, including cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Can you smell the pie already? It’s such a delicious fall dessert, that’s for sure.

If that streusel topping isn’t enough to convince you to try this recipe, let me just say this is such an easy sweet potato pie to make. You just have to mix the filling ingredients together, pour them into your pie shell, then mix the topping ingredients together and add them on top. With a little time in the oven, your Southern sweet potato pie will be ready to serve to the masses!

This is truly the perfect homemade sweet potato pie to put on your list for Thanksgiving this year (move aside, pumpkin pie). Make it a few days ahead of time and enjoy your holiday. Let’s get to cooking!

If you need more pie ideas for your Thanksgiving dinner make sure to check out some of these: Cherry Cream Cheese Pie, Apple Pie, Water Pie, Caramel Banana Pie (a.k.a Easy Banoffee Pie), Easy Pumpkin Pie Recipe From Scratch, and German Chocolate Pie.

Recipe Ingredients

• 9-inch deep dish pie crust
• Fresh sweet potatoes
• Unsalted butter
• Sweetened condensed milk
• Egg
• Ground cinnamon
• Ground cloves
• Ground allspice
• Salt
• Vanilla extract
• Dark or light brown sugar
• All-purpose flour
• Pecans

Helpful Kitchen Tools

• Electric Mixer
• Mixing Bowl

How to Make Southern Sweet Potato Pie

Bake your sweet potatoes

One of the keys to a more flavorful sweet potato pie is to bake your sweet potatoes. We used to peel, slice, and boil them until tender and you can certainly do this. But when you bake them they retain more flavor. To do this, I just wrap them in foil and place them in a 400-degree oven for about an hour. 

I recommend baking your sweet potatoes ahead of time so you don’t have to peel them. Once cooled and refrigerated, the skins will just come right off with a gentle tug and pull of your fingertips.

Place peeled and roasted sweet potatoes in a large bowl…

With the melted butter.

Beat with an electric mixer until mashed well, like so.

Add sweetened condensed milk to mashed sweet potato…

As well as the remaining ingredients: the egg, spices, and vanilla extract.

Beat again until well blended and smooth.

You’ll see tiny little lumps but that’s just some of the fibers of the sweet potatoes. 

Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.

Bake the pie at 400 for 20 minutes.

It will look like this.

Make the streusel topping

While that is baking, add the streusel topping ingredients (pecans, butter, flour, and light or dark brown sugar) to a medium bowl.

Mix together with a fork until well combined.

Remove the baked pie from the oven and sprinkle the top of the pie with streusel topping.

If any parts of the crust look dark, cover them with foil.

Return the pie to the oven for 25-30 minutes or until set.

If you are skipping the topping, you’ll still want to continue baking this pie until lightly brown on top and set, which is about the same amount of time.

Allow the pie to cool completely for the prettiest slices, like this one!

I like to refrigerate mine overnight.

Oh my! I couldn’t help myself 🤭. This pie is just too delicious!

Now you have one more thing to be thankful for! 

Storage

The covered sweet potato pie will last in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can serve cold, at room temperature, or reheat in the oven or air fryer.

Recipe Notes

• Use whatever spices you have on hand. Some other good options include ground nutmeg, ground ginger, pumpkin pie spice, or apple pie spice.
• If you’d prefer to use a homemade pie crust, here’s my easy-peasy recipe.
• Some traditional Southern sweet potato pie recipes use evaporated milk, but I love the additional sweetness of the condensed milk, especially because we don’t add granulated sugar either. 
• If you’re a nut-free household, please feel free to omit the pecans from the topping. Don’t worry, I frequently do this because pecans are expensive, y’all!

Recipe FAQs

What does Patti Labelle put in her sweet potato pie?

Pattie Labelle’s sweet potato pie recipe (click here) uses very similar ingredients. This includes a filling made with sweet potato, butter, and spices. The key difference is that she uses evaporated milk and sugar instead of condensed milk.

What are the ingredients for a sweet potato pie?

The most common sweet potato pie ingredients are sweet potato, butter, sugar and milk (or condensed milk), egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract.

How do you serve Southern sweet potato pie?

I love to serve my homemade sweet potato pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a big dollop of whipped cream (here’s my homemade recipe).

Can I make my sweet potato pie ahead of time?

To make your holidays as enjoyable as possible, I highly recommend making your sweet potato pie a day or two in advance and keeping it in the fridge for easy serving. If you’d like it at room temp, just take it out an hour or two before your meal. If you’d like it warm, briefly reheat the entire pie or individual slices in the oven or air fryer.

Can I use canned sweet potato instead?

Yes, you can use canned sweet potatoes or canned yams instead. 

Check out these other sensational sweet potato recipes:

Loaded Sweet Potatoes With Marshmallows

Sweet Potato Bread With Cinnamon Swirl

Easy Candied Sweet Potatoes

Grandma’s Old-Fashioned Sweet Potato Casserole

Sweet Potato Creme Brûlée

Vegan Sweet Potato Cake With Maple Cashew Icing

 

Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can.

~John Wesley