Desserts

Serving

Desserts Kid-friendly

Mashed Sweet Potato Pie

Name: Mashed Sweet Potato Pie
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Desserts
Ingredients: 2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes (about 2 large); 2 large eggs; 3/4 cup sugar; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp ground ginger; 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1 2/3 cups evaporated milk; 1/2 cup butter, melted; 1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

A smooth, custardy sweet potato pie warmly spiced with ginger and nutmeg.

65 minutes

Serves 8

Dessert

23 min prep

36 min cook

Contains common allergens

Egg Dairy Wheat

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

Instructions

4 steps

1
Bake the sweet potatoes at 400°F (205°C) until tender, about 45-60 minutes, then peel and mash them. Press through a strainer if needed to remove any lumps for a smooth filling.
2
In a large bowl, combine the mashed sweet potatoes, eggs, sugar, salt, ginger, nutmeg, vanilla, evaporated milk, and melted butter. Whisk until completely smooth and well blended.
3
Pour the filling into the unbaked 9-inch pie shell, spreading it evenly.
4
Bake at 400°F (205°C) for about 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted one inch from the edge comes out clean. Cool before slicing and serving.

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

Listahan Family Score™

74/100

Good fit for most families

Allergen-friendly 70

Kid-friendly 85

Weeknight-easy 64

Budget-friendly 86

Great leftovers 93

Pantry-friendly 48

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

295

Calories

6 g

Protein

31 g

Carbs

17 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

Sweet potato pie has deep roots in African American Southern cooking, evolving from the necessity and creativity of enslaved cooks who transformed available ingredients — sweet potatoes, eggs, milk, and spices — into a dessert with extraordinary staying power in American foodways. Unlike pumpkin pie, which gained commercial ubiquity through canned pumpkin, sweet potato pie remained a largely hand-made, home-kitchen tradition passed through generations. This mashed version, using fully cooked pureed sweet potato, is the classic Southern diner and home-kitchen standard.

Listahan note

This version uses fully cooked mashed sweet potato for a uniformly smooth, creamy filling with a clean sweet potato flavor and no raw starch texture, making it the standard form most people recognize from Southern cooking.

Technique cues

Baking (rather than boiling) the sweet potatoes for mashing concentrates their sugars and flavor; boiled sweet potatoes retain water that dilutes the filling and can prevent the custard from setting properly.
The evaporated milk in this filling contributes significantly more creaminess and richness than whole milk would — it acts as a concentrated dairy binder that produces a silkier, more cohesive custard with less risk of weeping liquid.
This pie benefits from a low, slow bake (325-350 F) rather than a high-heat bake — high heat causes the eggs to set unevenly, creating a curdled, bubbly custard surface rather than a smooth, level one.

Kitchen flow

Parallel prep: Bake the sweet potatoes well ahead (or the day before); while they cool, prepare the pie shell so it is ready to fill when the custard is mixed.
Make-ahead: This pie is excellent made a day ahead and refrigerated; the filling sets more firmly and the flavors deepen overnight. Remove from refrigerator 20-30 minutes before serving.
Leftover move: Serve cold slices from the refrigerator with a spoonful of whipped cream — cold sweet potato pie is a legitimate standalone pleasure that needs no reheating.
Cleanup rhythm: The mixer bowl and the mashing bowl are the main items; the pie itself goes from mixing bowl to shell to oven with minimal additional equipment.

Ingredient brief

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

2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes (about 2 large)

filling base and flavor

Purpose: Fully cooked, mashed sweet potato provides the smooth, starchy base that gives the pie its structure and signature sweet-earthy flavor.

Handling: Bake sweet potatoes at 400 F until fully soft (45-60 min), scoop flesh, and mash until completely smooth — lumps produce an uneven custard.

Adaptation: Canned sweet potato puree (not candied yams) works in equal measure for a faster prep without significant flavor loss.

1 2/3 cups evaporated milk

custard richness and stability

Purpose: Evaporated milk is concentrated and provides more milk solids per cup than whole milk, producing a richer, more stable custard that sets cleanly.

Handling: Add directly from the can; no preparation needed.

Adaptation: Full-fat coconut milk is the best dairy-free substitute and produces a subtly tropical custard with similar creaminess.

1/2 cup butter, melted

richness and smoothness

Purpose: Butter enriches the filling and smooths the sweet potato's fibrous texture into a more uniformly creamy custard.

Handling: Cool to room temperature before whisking into the egg mixture to avoid scrambling.

Adaptation: Coconut oil (same quantity) creates a dairy-free version with a mild coconut undertone.

2 large eggs

custard binder and structure

Purpose: Eggs set the filling from a pourable batter into a sliceable custard during baking; the quantity here produces a firm but tender set.

Handling: Beat well before adding to the sweet potato mixture to prevent egg streaks in the finished pie.

Adaptation: No reliable egg substitute for a custard pie filling.

1/2 tsp ground ginger

spice warmth and flavor lift

Purpose: Ginger cuts through the sweetness of the sweet potato and adds warmth that distinguishes the pie from a one-dimensional sweet pudding.

Handling: Sift with the other spices to distribute evenly through the filling.

Adaptation: Increase to 3/4 tsp for a more pronounced ginger note; add a pinch of cardamom for a more complex spice profile.

Technique notes

Cover the pie crust edges with foil or a pie shield after 20-25 minutes to prevent the pastry from overbrowning while the filling finishes setting.
Test for doneness by gently shaking the pan — the edges should be fully set with just a 2-3 inch circle of wobble in the very center, which will firm as the pie cools.
Allow the pie to cool fully at room temperature (at least 2 hours) before refrigerating — rushing to the refrigerator while hot traps steam and creates a wet surface on the filling.

Ingredient swaps

Dairy-free option: Use full-fat coconut milk in place of evaporated milk and melted coconut oil in place of butter; the pie will set and taste very close to the original.
Gluten-free direction: Use a gluten-free pie shell or a press-in almond flour crust (1 1/2 cups almond flour, 3 Tbsp butter, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1/4 tsp salt — pre-bake 10 minutes at 350 F).
Spice variation: Add 1/4 tsp allspice and 1/8 tsp ground cloves alongside the ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon for a more complex, holiday-style spice profile.

Serve alongside

freshly whipped cream with a pinch of cinnamon
a scoop of butter pecan ice cream
candied pecan halves arranged on each slice
hot black tea with milk and sugar
cold sweet tea
spiced hot apple cider

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

Storage & reheating

Refrigerate covered for up to 4 days; the crust softens slightly after day 1 but the filling stays excellent.
Serve cold or at room temperature — this pie does not need reheating and is arguably best served cool.
Do not freeze — custard pies separate and weep liquid on thawing.

Equipment

9-inch pie dish
potato masher or hand mixer for mashing sweet potatoes
large mixing bowl
pie shield or foil strips for the crust edges

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