This sweet potato pie recipe uses vanilla pudding for the best ever flavor and texture. Learn how to make the best homemade sweet potato pie recipe from scratch! It’s one of our best potato recipes!
Homemade Sweet Potato Pie Recipe
Sweet potatoes were never something I craved…that is until I started baking with them.
Is sweet potato pie a dessert or side dish?
Sweet potatoes are often thought of as “healthy”, but when you bake with them, I’m sorry to say that sweet potatoes are not that great for you. Sweet potato pie is a dessert because of the amount of sugar that goes into the recipe. Sweet potatoes do have many health benefits though (they are a great source of Vitamins A, C and B6) so hey…if you want to eat it as a side dish, go for it!
Do you use yams or sweet potatoes for sweet potato pie?
Yams that are found in US grocery stores are a type of sweet potato. True yams are often not found around the US except in specialty markets. US yams are higher in sugar content and get very soft when they bake.
Sweet potatoes are starchier and are better for cooking and frying because they keep their shape. Yams are great to use for sweet potato pies and other baked goods. You can use either for this recipe.
How to Make Sweet Potato Pie
- The first thing you need to do when making a pie is prepare the crust. We love homemade crust and you can find all of our tips on making the best pie crust. If you’d like to take a shortcut, buy an unbaked refrigerated crust.
- Fresh sweet potatoes vs. canned sweet potatoes. You can use either for this recipe. Fresh sweet potatoes (or yams) will obviously mean a pie that tastes just a little bit fresher. If you choose fresh sweet potatoes, peel the potatoes, cut them in chunks, then boil them in water until they are soft. Drain the potatoes and mash until they are creamy. For canned potatoes, be sure to drain all of the liquid off of the potatoes before you mash them.
- We like to use a hand mixer to blend the sweet potatoes and sugar together. This allows the potatoes to get completely mashed so your sweet potato pie is smooth.
- Vanilla pudding and sweetened condensed milk both add to the flavor of this pie. You can use sugar free pudding mix if you’d like!
- How long to bake sweet potato pie? This pie will take about 40-50 minutes to bake. A knife inserted in the center of the pie should come out clean and the pie should seem mostly firm in the center.
Can you freeze sweet potato pie?
Yes, you can freeze sweet potato pie. It’s important to allow the pie to defrost slowly in the refrigerator or it may get wet and have moisture on top of the pie.
Another option is to make the pie crust and freeze it, then make the pie filling closer to the day you want to serve it. That will say some of the mess.
How long does sweet potato pie last in the freezer?
Sweet potatoes can be frozen for about 6-8 months. (source)
Other Sweet Potato Recipes
- Sweet Potato Bread
- Sweet Potato Casserole
- Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole
- Sweet Potato Fries
- Sweet Potato Puffs
Kitchen Tools Needed to Make Pie
- Pastry Cutter: I use this tool all the time. It cuts butter into flour perfectly for streusels, crusts and other pastries.
- Pastry Mat: This silicone mat keeps your cupboard clean and makes rolling out pastries so easy.
- Cute Pie Plate: Because if you’re taking the time to make pie, serve it up in style!
- Pie Crust Decorator Wheel: Makes beautiful edges to your pie!
- Pastry Guide: Makes perfectly round crust, every time.
Sweet Potato Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked mashed sweet potatoes
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup butter (very soft so it mixes in easily)
- 1 small box instant vanilla pudding (dry mix..do not add milk!)
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk (1 can)
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 unbaked pie crust
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Blend sweet potatoes and sugar with a hand mixer.
- Add one egg, then beat the mixture.
- Add the second egg and beat again.
- Add softened butter, pudding mix, condensed milk, cinnamon and vanilla. Mix well.
- Pour into an unbaked pie crust and bake for 40-50 minutes.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Chevy says
This recipe looks really yummy can i have measurements for 3 pies i want to make 3 instead of 1
Julie Clark says
6 cups cooked mashed sweet potatoes
1 ½ cups packed brown sugar
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups butter (very soft so it mixes in easily)
3 small box instant vanilla pudding
3 cans sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces each)
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 unbaked pie crusts
Chervette says
Thank you so much would that be about five sweet potatoes?
Julie Clark says
It depends on the size, but that is a good place to start.
Danita Norton says
Thanks for a bigger amount I’m get ready to make them for Thanksgiving I let you no how it was after they are cooked and eaten
Kenyata says
I have to make 6 pies do i just multiply the ingredients by 6
Julie Clark says
Yes!
Anonymous says
4you should just double recipe nice it makes 3
KJ says
Curious how much you cook down the yams? Just until fork tender? Or softer? I can’t wait to try this, it looks/sounds heavenly 🙂
Julie Clark says
I’d say until they are soft enough to mash to a smooth texture. But it really depends on what you’d like the texture of your pie to be.
KJ says
Thank you Julie 🙂
Candi says
If you use the canned yams which come in syrup can you cut down on the added sugar?
Julie Clark says
We drain off the syrup so usually don’t cut back on sugar. But…many times you can cut back on sugar a little in recipes and it doesn’t make a difference.
Anonymous says
What kind of butter
Julie Clark says
We normally use salted butter
Fara says
Maybe i made a mistake but this gave me a lot more liquid than my pie needed. I think i overfilled it and it’s taking much longer to not be so jiggly. 🙁 with the pudding mix, would you say the expectation should still be that a knife comes out clean?
Julie Clark says
It should be…or at least close to it. It maybe was a different size pie pan?
Ursula says
Do u make the pudding or just add the box to ingredients
Julie Clark says
Add the dry ingredients to the pie. Don’t make the pudding first.
Carmen says
This pie is absolutely delicious! But I’d half the sugar or even omit due to the sugar in condensed milk and pudding mix. My husband felt it needed more spice but I loved it!
Julie Clark says
Thank you so much!
Marsha says
What would the baking temperature and time be if I’m making this into mini pies?
Julie Clark says
I would do 350º F for anywhere from 15-25 minutes, depending on how big the mini pies are.
Pam berry says
Do I need to refrigerate this pie once it’s cooled
Julie Clark says
Yes, I would refrigerate it.
Danielle says
I NEED HELP PLEASE..I accidently premade the van. Pudding mix and I don’t have any possible way to get another box…would it be possible to use the premade pudding into the pie please I don’t know what to do
Julie Clark says
Oh no… I don’t think the pie would set up with that unfortunately. 🙁 I’ve not made it without pudding so can’t say for sure if it would set if you just left it out. Sorry!
Anonymous says
My mixture was quite thick. I doubled and still have plenty left for at least 2 more pies. Did I do something wrong?
Julie Clark says
Did you make the pudding up with the milk first? You are just supposed to use the dry mix. Other than that I’m not sure what it could have been without being there. 🙁
Jackie says
The flavor on this pie is simply delicious! Delicious 😋Thank you! Happy Thanksgiving!
pam berry says
This pie was absolutely wonderful 🥧 I felt the cinnamon could have been doubled but maybe next time I will tweak it a bit it’s delicious 😋
Candi says
My new go to recipe for sweet potato pie. Absolutely delicious.
Maria says
This pie is amazing!!! I’d only had sweet potato pie once before and it was store bought. I wasn’t crazy about it so I figured I’d try to make one myself. I followed the recipe and added just a punch of ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. It was soooo good. I made two of them and ended up eating about half of one by myself… whoops!! Everybody raved about it… I plan on making it again tomorrow. Thanks for the recipe!
Beckye Thomason says
Absolutely Fabulous Thanks for sharing Recipe is perfect
Annette says
I’m in Paris and finding canned pumpkin is near impossible so I thought for my ‘French Thanksgiving’ I would try a sweet potato pie instead. I’m so glad I did, it is really delicious. I did not add the box of vanilla pudding (you can’t get it in Paris) so after mashing the sweet potatoes, I let them cook down another 10-15 minutes to evaporate the excess water. After it cooled I mixed the remaining ingredients and used a 10 inch tart pan (also a French thing). I had to use an additional cup of mash, leaving all other measurements the same, baked it at 350 for 30 minutes, and ‘Viola, super délicieux’! Thanks for posting this easy and tasty recipe.
Julie Clark says
Wonderful! Thank you for those variations!
M Sky N says
Well, I wanted to try a new recipe for Thanksgiving, but i found this to be too sweet. I couldnt taste the sweet potato anymore, just vanilla. For me it was sweet enough with the condensed milk and vanilla extract. The vanilla pudding mix on top of it was too much for me. But thank you for the recipe. I love trying new things. I will say that the texture of the pie was very nice. So thank you for that.
Rhonda says
I found the recipe made more than a 9″ pie shell could accomodate but the flavor was great
Rachel says
Very nice. Verrrry sweet. Next time i will cut back the sugar and maybe use unsweetened condensed milk.
My rose up about an inch so note sure why.
Really good though. Im a terrible cook though but it was great. In australia we dont eat sweet potato as a dessert. Ever.
But this was great.
Wayne says
Can I use cook and serve vanilla pudding in the sweet potato recipe? Plus how many oz of pudding mix do I use?
Julie Clark says
No only instant pudding. The small box is usually around 3.4 ounces.
Brenda D Green says
What do i need to bake 8 potatoe pies
Julie Clark says
Just multiply the recipe x8. I would suggest making it 8 times instead of trying to multiply the ingredients. It will just work better that time.