Southern Sweet Potato Pie (w/ brown butter)
“An old-fashioned, deep south sweet potato pie that’s creamy, delicious and full of flavor. Using brown butter and a hint of citrus to kick it up a notch without losing that old school flavor!
Watch me make this southern sweet potato pie from start to finish!
“Will you make me some black people food?” This was a question by my then 7-year-old niece Rayvn that still tickles me to this day! She is biracial and apparently that day she was needing her black people food fix.
She is 22 now and she still wants to know when I’m cooking something. Gotta love her! Apparently, she isn’t the only person requesting “black people food” because one of the top requests for the keywords “sweet potato pie” on google is “black folks sweet potato pie recipe”.
So yall want a black person’s sweet potato pie recipe huh? Ha! Too funny, but I think I might can help with that!
Let’s talk about this southern sweet potato pie right HERE! My grandmother makes a great sweet potato pie! And now that I think about…I don’t know too many people in my family who can’t make a decent sweet potato pie! I’ve had so many including this recipe that you guys seem to like so much.
However, NO sweet potato pie holds a candle to the sweet potato pie I use to have after church in Elberton, GA. I don’t know who use to make it but it was one of the first things I’d go to in the lunch line and I think I FINALLY figure out the secret ingredients!!!
I remember the pie tasting like it had nuts or maybe even some toffee in it but it was just as creamy and smooth as ever. The flavor was so deep & rich, sweet but yet somehow that fresh sweet potato flavor was still able to shine through.
What’s the secret? BROWN BUTTER and a splash of orange pineapple juice! Oh and roasting those sweet potatoes!!
Ok, so I’m pretty sure whoever made the pie many years ago at Holly Springs Church probably wasn’t browning butter or was she??? Maybe she was using maple, toffee or maybe she really did put ground nuts in it, heck all I know is that this sweet potato pie tastes so much like hers, maybe even a lil better!
The texture is so fluffy and creamy! It just kinda melts right there on your tongue. And that flavor!! Dear Lordt be some lipo for me today because I had 2 1/2 pieces!! So ashamed of myself….ok I’m over it. Off to get more pie! : ) jk (but not really)
Brown butter has pretty much changed my sweet potato, pecan, and pumpkin pies life. It adds such a deep, nutty, slightly caramel-ish flavor! And yep, roasting sweet potatoes for sweet potato pie is pretty much the only way I roll these days. It brings out such a rustic, naturally sweet flavor.
It’s so good yall!
Now let’s talk CRUST for a minute. Use my Buttery Deluxe Pie Crust recipe. Sorry if I’m being bossy but that’s what you need to use. It’s still hands down my favorite pie crust ever! A flavorful crust + A flavorful sweet potato pie….catch my drift here!! It’s an overload of good stuff for your mouth…you’re seriously standing close to the edge of marriage proposal territory. The best part is that it’s crazy easy to make so no excuses people!! “Make the crust Annie-Mae!!!”
Even though brown butter is easy to make, I don’t make it all the time for my pies. Usually only for holidays or if someone is paying me to make them one. It’s just a little extra layer of flavor (and love) to add in if you have the time. So worth it though!
When I first made this pie last year, I was curious to see what my hubby thought of it. He is team Patti Labelle’s sweet potato pie all the way, but took one bite and gave me two thumbs up. He coined it the best homemade sweet potato pie he’s ever had (over my normal sweet potato pie) and “Patti Pie” still holds the place for the best store-bought pie in his book.
I guess I can live with that…not unless I decide to introduce my own line of desserts. Watch out, Patti! : )
Enjoy!
Get the Recipe: Southern Sweet Potato Pie
Ingredients
- 1 Homemade Deluxe Buttery Pie Crust, see my recipe
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes or slices
- 2 lb. sweet potatoes washed & dried, equals about 2 cups pureed
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger
- tiny pinch clove, optional
- 2 tablespoons orange or pineapple juice, I use a mixture of both
- 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Pierce sweet potatoes with a fork several times.
- Place on foil-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until very tender.
- Let cool while preparing the brown butter.
- To make the brown butter, add butter to a heavy-bottom skillet over medium heat.
- Once butter has melted it will begin to foam a bit, whisk continuously while scraping the bottom of the pan.
- The butter will begin to turn golden and form golden brown bits on the bottom of the pan, keep whisking.
- Once the aromas become nutty (almost like the smell of caramel) and the solids in the bottom of the pan are golden brown remove from heat. (see note)
- Pour into a glass dish (including the brown solids) and set aside to let cool.
- In a large bowl, scoop out the flesh of the cooled sweet potatoes.
- Mix until creamy and smooth, adding a few splashes of water(or milk) until you have the texture of a very thick puree. (don't get it too watery, just use enough water to make mixing easier)
- Mix in the cooled brown butter until smooth.
- Mix in the brown sugar, white sugar, evaporated milk, eggs (see note before adding), vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove (if using), juice, and flour until well combined.
- Pour into pie crust shell and smooth the top.
- Preheated oven 350 F. and bake for 55 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely until the middle is firmly set.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve. (You can absolutely serve it warm, but I like for it to sit in the fridge for a few hours for a denser, creamier texture.)
- Serve with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Video
Notes
Adding the eggs: It's important that you taste your mixture once you've added all the ingredients so that you can adjust the spices to your liking. If you are nervous about tasting the filling with the raw egg in it then add all the other ingredients except the eggs, taste and adjust your spices and then add the eggs once you are content with the flavor.
Adapted from sweet potato pie.
Want more sweet potato goodness?
Thank you so much for such a wonderful, exemplary Southern Sweet Potato Pie that is also amazingly easy to make. I love adding the touch of orange juice and pineapple juice. My sweet potatoes were a beautiful orange color. I followed your recipe exactly.
My browned butter, with it’s nuttiness, definitely added a great taste, but it changed the color of the pie when I added it in. Is there anything that I could do differently the next time to preserve the original orange color of the sweet potatoes? If not, I’ll just continue doing it as I’m doing because I do live the taste that the browned butter adds. It wasn’t as orange as I like, yet it still came out delicious and quite beautiful.❤️. Thanks so much, and HAPPY NEW YEAR (2022)!!!
This was my first time making a sweet potato pie and yes, this recipe really is all that and then some. A wise person will double the recipe and just make 2 pies because 1 will not be enough. Thank you for ALWAYS sharing amazing recipes!
I make this pie for my boyfriend and his family every year and they absolutely love it. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us, it is amazing!
Can I use a store bought pie shell instead of making my own for this recipe?
Hi, I am tryin this for the first time for thanksgiving. I have some questions
1. to make 3 reg size pie do I need to double ingredients?
2. orange and pineapple juice add-in, is there a specific kind?
3. what does browning the butter do to the pie?
You would need to triple it.
You can use any.
It adds a nice nutty/caramel flavour.
Hi! This is not my recipe but I do use it for my pies and I can day this….the brown butter takes it over the top! It’s velvety and nutty and rich and delicious!
This is my absolute go to recipe for yearrrsss. Rivals my grandmothers!
I made a mistake and bought white sweet potatoes which I know will look funny but if I am just making the pie for my house can I use them instead?
White potatoes are not a replacement for sweet potato pie at all lol. The texture and flavor is different so you’ll basically have sweetened mashed potatoes in a pie crust.
You can use either use orange or white sweet potato. When using white, it has a more milder flavor compared to orange. Consider using slightly more flavoring when making your batter. Taste as you make make and you will do just fine.
Amazing! My husband, twin boys and I love this! He’s from Tennessee and sweet potato pie is his favorite. Fourth time making this exact recipe and he is (we are) obsessed! Thank you, it will stay in our family forever!
I just dropped in to say that 1) I’ve never been disappointed by one of your recipes and 2) this pie is ridiculous. I’m pretty sure no one else in this house is getting a slice. This filling rivals your sweet potato casserole. I didn’t have evaporated milk in the pantry, and I was too impatient to wait until I could get to the store, so I used heavy whipping cream. Still fantastic. Thank you for sharing your Southern recipes with us.
This sweet potato pie was among the best I’ve ever cooked. I think it will be better next time as I execute the brown butter part of the recipe better. The flavors were delicate yet delicious and well rounded.
Thank you Monique for yet another phenomenal soul food recipe. I cannot wait to make this pie for my family over the holidays
Making this pie now, bout I have a question. Why do the butter needs to cool off before adding it to the sweet potato mixture?
Yes. It’s instruction #10.
More importantly, after reading up on this technique, the residual heat from the saucepan or skillet will continue to brown the butter. You should Transfer the butter to a heatproof dish to stop the cooking and prevent it from burning. This will produce a delicious, almost caramel-like flavor and greatly enhance any of your baked goods. Hope that helps.
I like it Better without, Clove, Ginger an Nutmeg
So it does not cook your eggs when you mix all ingredients together.
If your eggs aren’t already mixed in when you add the butter you’ll be fine. If they are letting the brown butter cool a bit lessens the chance that the eggs will curdle. As tempting as scrambled eggs with sweet potato sounds I’m sure that texture would be weird.
Cooking this pie now, but I do have a question why do let the brown butter cook before adding it to the sweet potato mixture?
When cooking the brown butter, you are cooking at a more intense heat to release the flavorings of the butter. As the brown butter cools, not only the butter is cooling to prevent over cooking, but the butter is sitting releasing flavoring. Now the cooled brown butter is added to batter. The pie is slow cooking in the oven to allow all ingredients to release and mend to what we have here is a real good sweet potato pie.
I made 2 Thanksgiving and had extra filling I baked crustless. My boyfriend loved it. THANK YOU!
Making Christmas by request.
Want to make four pies so how do I double up on the ingredients? Are what is the adjustment on making for pies just want to get the ingredients right.
1 cup unsalted butter cut into cubes or slices
4lb. sweet potatoes washed & driedequals about 2 cups pureed
1 cup light brown sugar packed
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
4 eggs room temperature
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
tiny pinch clove optional
1/4 cup orange or pineapple juice I use a mixture of both
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Hello! I want to make two pies, so does this still apply?
So, I loves me some sweet potato pie but haven’t tried making one before. I can almost taste this one, the brown butter seems like an inspiration. But up here in the Pacific Northwest, our stores have what they call yams and what they call sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes are supposed to have a little sweeter flavor, and are shaped exactly like the yams, but are light skinned and almost potato-white in the flesh. I just can’t see a pie made from those turning out the lovely brown-orange tone of all the sweet potato pie I’ve had, or like your pictures.
So it seems like maybe people are making pie from what our groceries here call yams, and are actually just an more deeply-colored, orange, variety. Can you confirm that you’re using the deep orange ones, and do you ever see them called “yams” in your neck of the woods? (I know they aren’t technically a yam at all, but the insistence on calling them that here has me a little uncertain about using them. I’ve never hear of “yam pie.”
Thanks!
Hey Allen! Same with me. I grabbed what I saw as sweet potatoes then went to peel and saw they were white on the inside! I will know in about 55 minutes if it tastes just as good lol
There is a difference between the sweet potato and yams. The issue is that America tends to misuse both words. Sweet potato is the root vegetable that is red in color. The starch is rich orange in color. It’s naturally sweet and has a higher water content. Yams are much longer than sweet potato. Yams are a grey grainy color. The inside are white, simulator to a potato. Yams have less water content and tend to be dry. Mainly a neutral flavor. Both sweet potatoes and yams are universal root vegetables. Both can be baked, fried, boiled, roasted. Yams tend to be used in more savory dishes such as sauces, soups, meats, etc. Since yams have little flavor, you can add seasonings, stocks, broths, meats, etc. If you want to use yams for this recipe, consider adding more water to puree, and adding more flavorings and/or sweetness. Expect the yam pie to be white in color.
I just put two of these pies into the oven. Doubled the ingredients of course. Sure tasted good, the pre-cooked version. I mean reeeall good! Hopefully I re-post after dinner. I am taking these pies to a friends home for thanksgiving dinner.
Major error. Says preheat oven to 425 then says 325. Burnt the pie thanks to that
Judy there are two different oven temperatures needed for this recipe. The first (425) is for roasting the sweet potatoes the 325 is for baking the pie, as stated.
A-ma-zing!!! Thank you!
You all the bomb!! you never lead me wrong. Thanks again for making another holiday perfect….. smiles all around
Delicious! The best sweet pie I have ever had
I can’t have dairy, so can vegan butter be used instead of regular butter? And can vegan evaporated milk also be used?
I want to make 3 of these pies, do I just times 3 of all the ingredients?
I’m over here talking to the screen like “okay”, “not the wedding proposal cake”!!!! I can not wait to make this pie for the people at my school, these San Franciscans ain’t gonna know what hit em!
Oh my, this was excellent.
I didn’t have orange or pineapple juice on hand, so used a bit of orange zest I had in the freezer, plus 2 tablespoons dark rum. Also included a dash (maybe a tablespoon) of maple syrup. The browned butter is what catapults this from perfectly good to outstanding. In the future, I’ll reduce the granulated sugar to 1/4 cup to compensate for the maple syrup. Will also have to try again with orange or pineapple juice as intended. This is going to be my go-to sweet potato pie from now on. Thank you for posting this recipe!
I’ve made this pie recipe at least 4 times since Thanksgiving 2018. My grandma makes the best sweet potatoe pies and this is just as good. Not as sweet as hers which is a good thing. Lol.. thanks for posting!
Do these freeze well? Prior to baking of course.
I just completed this pie too!
I will serve it tomorrow for Thanksgiving Dinner, I’m sure it will be scrumptious. I test tasted the batter as I mixed the ingredients.
Thank you & Happy Thanksgiving!
Renee
I made this tonight. It’s very good.
This freaking rocked. I baked 1 1/2pies last night as a test run. I’m hooked. I didnt use your pie crust. I store bought lol. I know, I know. Thank you so much for sharing your amazing recipe.
I can relate to your niece – I live with a man from NC who’s momma was the county’s best cook. Not enough pressure? My mom was British and (truly) was a horrible cook. Your website has helped me step out of the boat & walk on the water! When I make one of your incredible meals and he looks surprised, my phrase is “Not bad for an old white girl, huh”! He’s taught me to close my eyes & cook by sound & taste. Both feets are in! And we’re close to 70. You CAN teach an old dawg new tricks with the right teacher (wink). Thank you for your help, this pie will have him one happy man!
I have three questions.(1)Does it natter if I use a store brand or bane brand butter and what suggestions you have?(2). Do I have to cut butter into slices does butter need be at room temputre? (3). How long do I cook butter for pie? Thanks for answering my questions. I can’t wait to try your pie. I know it will be good.
Butter is butter. I have always used what was available. If store butter is on sale, I get store butter, if brand butter on sale, I get brand butter. But do you. If there is a particular butter you like, use it. ALWAYS use unsalted butter, unless specified. ALWAYS use cold butter when making pie dough. You can use cold butter slices, or cold butter cubes. Brown butter takes about 10-20 minutes to make. To save time, use a heavy bottom pan. I never time when browning butter. I always go by scent. The smell of Carmel, then the nutty smell, turn off heat and remove immediately.