Caribbean

Serving

Sweet Potato Pudding

Name: Sweet Potato Pudding
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Caribbean
Ingredients: 2 lbs sweet potato, peeled and finely grated; 1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk; 1 cup brown sugar; 1/2 cup all-purpose flour; 1/2 cup cornmeal; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1/2 cup raisins; 2 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more for the pan; 1/4 cup dark browning or extra brown sugar for coloring

Grated sweet potato baked with coconut milk and warm spices into a dense, custardy Caribbean pudding.

90 minutes

Serves 8

Dessert

31 min prep

50 min cook

Contains common allergens

Dairy Wheat

In the app, Listahan checks these against your household automatically.

Instructions

8 steps

1
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and grease a deep baking dish.
2
In a large bowl, combine the grated sweet potato with the coconut milk, brown sugar, flour, and cornmeal, mixing until no dry pockets remain.
3
Stir in the cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, raisins, and melted butter.
4
In a small saucepan, melt a few tablespoons of sugar over medium heat until it turns dark amber, then carefully stir this browning into the pudding mixture to deepen the color.
5
Pour the batter into the prepared dish and smooth the top with a spatula.
6
Bake for 1 1/2 hours, until the top is deeply browned and a knife inserted in the center comes out mostly clean with a dense, custardy texture.
7
Let the pudding cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing; it firms up considerably as it sits.
8
Serve warm or at room temperature, cut into squares.

Sweet Potato Pudding — plated and served — Serving moment. How Sweet Potato Pudding looks plated and ready to eat — a representative photo, not a step in the recipe.

Listahan Family Score™

76/100

Good fit for most families

Allergen-friendly 80

Kid-friendly 85

Weeknight-easy 61

Budget-friendly 84

Great leftovers 93

Pantry-friendly 45

Score reflects how well this recipe fits a typical busy household. In the app, your Family Score is personalized to your household's allergens, kids, and pantry.

Nutrition

per serving

175

Calories

2 g

Protein

19 g

Carbs

11 g

Fat

Estimated per serving. Actual values depend on the brands and portions you use.

Listahan cooking guide

Chef notes & practical guide

Technique notes, ingredient swaps, serve-alongside ideas, storage guidance, and equipment for this recipe.

Cultural context

Jamaican sweet potato pudding is a baked dessert built on grated white-fleshed sweet potato, coconut milk, and warm spices, traditionally cooked with fire above and below, which gave rise to the saying hell a top, hell a bottom, hallelujah in the middle. It is a dense, fudgy pudding closer to a baked custard-cake than the soft spooned pudding North Americans expect.

Listahan note

This version grates the sweet potato fine and binds it with coconut milk before baking until just set, so the pudding cooks into a dense, moist slice rather than a loose spoon dessert.

Technique cues

Grate the sweet potato finely so it cooks evenly and binds into a smooth, cohesive pudding instead of a stringy one.
Coconut milk is both the liquid and the fat here, so use the full-fat kind; light coconut milk leaves the pudding dry and crumbly.
Bake only until the center is just set; an overbaked pudding turns dry and loses the signature fudgy moisture in the middle.

Kitchen flow

Parallel prep: Grate the sweet potato and measure the spices while the oven preheats and the pan is greased.
Make-ahead: Bake it a day ahead; the pudding firms up and slices more cleanly after a night in the fridge.
Leftover move: Warm a slice and top with a scoop of coconut ice cream, or pan-toast it for caramelized edges.
Cleanup rhythm: Grease the pan well or line it so the sticky pudding releases cleanly and the pan rinses fast.

Ingredient brief

Role, handling, and swap guidance for each key ingredient.

Grated sweet potato

Main body

Purpose: The grated sweet potato is the structure and the flavor, baking into the dense, fudgy slice.

Handling: Grate it fine on the small holes so it binds smoothly rather than staying fibrous.

Adaptation: White yam or a mix with cornmeal gives a more traditional starchy texture if sweet potato is too soft.

coconut milk

Liquid and richness

Purpose: Full-fat coconut milk supplies both the moisture and the fat that give the pudding its rich, moist crumb.

Handling: Use the thick canned kind and stir it in well so the grated potato is fully moistened.

Adaptation: Evaporated milk works for a non-tropical version, but the coconut flavor and richness are lost.

spices

Warm flavor

Purpose: Cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla give the pudding its warm, aromatic backbone.

Handling: Mix the spices evenly through the batter so no single bite is bland or overpowering.

Adaptation: A pre-mixed pumpkin pie spice covers most of the same warm notes in one spoon.

Sugar and warm spices

Sweetener and aromatics

Purpose: They turn the grated starch into a fragrant, sweet pudding rather than a plain bake.

Handling: Dissolve the sugar into the coconut milk before mixing so it distributes evenly.

Adaptation: Muscovado or brown sugar gives a deeper, more traditional flavor.

Technique notes

Wait for a clean center skewer with just a faint moist crumb; fully dry means you have gone too far.
Pour a thin custard topping over the batter before baking for the traditional soft custard layer on top.
Cool the pudding completely before slicing so it sets into firm, clean squares.

Ingredient swaps

Tree-nut-free direction: Swap coconut milk for evaporated milk so coconut-avoiders who treat it as a tree nut can eat it, accepting a less tropical flavor.
Dairy-free direction: Stick with coconut milk and confirm any added butter is a plant version to keep it fully dairy-free.
Lower-sugar direction: Cut the sugar and lean on a very ripe sweet potato plus extra cinnamon and vanilla for sweetness.

Serve alongside

Coconut ice cream
Fresh mango slices
Lightly sweetened whipped cream
Spiced rum-raisin sauce
Spiced black tea
Black coffee
Coconut water

Serving suggestions only — check pairings for your household's allergens.

Storage & reheating

Refrigerate covered for up to 5 days; the pudding firms and the flavors deepen over time.
Reheat individual slices in the microwave for a few seconds or in a low oven to restore softness.
Freeze well-wrapped slices for up to 2 months; thaw in the fridge and warm gently before serving.

Equipment

Box grater or food processor with grating disc
Baking dish or loaf pan
Mixing bowl
Skewer for testing doneness

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