Best Southern Sweet Potato Pie (The Fast Way With Video) & Juneteenth Cookout Takeover

Southern Sweet Potato Pie should be easy and delicious and filled with tons of warm fall flavors like cinnamon and nutmeg. Holiday baking is a lot of work so we’re not going to stress with this old fashioned dessert. If you love this southern pie, you’ll also enjoy southern candied yams, and southern peach cobbler. All three are perfect as a holiday dessert or great any time of the year!

Today, I’m going to show you to make the pie filling smooth fast and easy with my secret method, plus some tips to make the best sweet potato pie!  

Hey! I’m happy to tell you that I am participating in the Juneteenth Cookout Takeover along with a bunch of other talented food bloggers! Don’t forget to check out their links below! This initiative was established to celebrate Juneteenth – a celebration to the end of slavery and to preserve and amplify the food traditions of culinary creatives.

Ever since Juneteenth, every summer black Americans celebrate the end of slavery (June 19th)  with a wide range of food traditions that tell a story of the perseverance of a people.

WHAT IS JUNETEENTH

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.  Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19^th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. (Juneteenth.com)

“On Juneteenth we think about that moment in time when the enslaved in Galveston, Texas received word of their freedom.  We imagine the depth of their emotions, their jubilant dance and their fear of the unknown.”(Juneteenth.)

Did you know southern sweet potato pie is popular on Juneteenth? I’m excited to share the recipe with you. So many people on social media love it!

“It was amazing! I loved the fact that no other pie tasted like mine. Will definitely be keeping this recipe!”~ Lena

SWEET POTATO PIE

Thanksgiving in my house, is all about turkey, cranberry sauce, candied yams, collard greens and of course a famous dessert called SOUTHERN SWEET POTATO PIE. In our home, Thanksgiving isn’t complete unless there is sweet potato pie.  This pie is rich in flavor and spiced just right. There’s nothing low-fat about this pie y’all. I tell ya right now though, you may just eat the whole pie to yourself. It’s that good! 

Everyone loves my mom’s southern sweet potato pie. She’s been making them every holiday since I was a kid. And everyone claims it’s the world’s best southern sweet potato pie. I was hoping that my mom would share her recipe but nope! WATCH HOW I MAKE IT BELOW!

She did help out by giving me her “no recipe” recipe. I’ve been helping her make sweet potato pies since I was a kid, so I pretty much know how to make it from scratch.This pie will have you moaning with every bite. It’s so delicious! It tastes just as good, if not better than my moms. Sorry mom!  

I bought this  food processor. It will smooth out your sweet potato filing in a HEARTBEAT.  Yes you can use a mixer but trust me, a food processor does the job MUCH faster.  If you have a one PLEASE use it! It’s a HUGE time saver.

Thank me later! Another thing, bake, not boil your sweet potatoes. Baked sweet potatoes are more flavorful than boils sweet potatoes.

During Thanksgiving dinner, my cousin told me about a time she tried to make sweet potato pie. Poor thing was up all night trying to mash and fix her pie.  She boiled the potatoes way too long. And so they ended up mushy.

I told her next time to just bake the sweet potatoes and put all of the ingredients into a food processor.  Smooth for a minute or so, fill the pie crust and bam, done! She was shocked how easy it sounded. She also didn’t think to use a food processor. 

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:

The best way to get the lumps out of your potatoes is to use a food processor. Just add the ingredients into the food processor. Process real quick until silky and smooth. Pour it into a prepared pie crust and bake. THAT SIMPLE and so flavorful! I’m eating a slice now.

My goodness it’s so good. I’m dreaming of selling them. I made this pie for a recent event and black folks, white folks all races of folks loved it! 

Not much else to say about this recipe except to ditch the electric mixer because it takes too long  to achieve a smooth batter. The food processor methods works so much better.  

HOW TO MAKE SWEET POTATO PIE & TIPS? 

Save your milk for something else because this is kind off dairy free sweet potato pie. And I said kind of  because I it contains butter. It’s just the way we’ve always made it. No milk means more sweet potato flavor with a firm but soft bite. It’s smoother and silkier. Milk tends to make it fluffier.  

Step 1: Prepare the sweet potato pie filling.  Preheat the oven to 350 F. Take the butter out of the fridge slice or dice it. Lightly coat each potato with oil.

Wrap each potato in foil then place them in a baking dish. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until the potatoes are very tender.  Remove the skin and mash the potatoes. Add the sweet potato into the food processor.

Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, eggs, butter vanilla extract and bourbon (optional) into the food processor.

Step 2:  Sweet potato pie filling – Using a food processor, process until the filling is smooth and lump and string free. I always add the sweet potato meat to the food processor when its still a bit hot but safe enough to touch.  The butter melts easily when the sweet potato is still hot or warm. The bourbon is optional but you can’t taste it since I only added 3 teaspoons.

Step 3: Pour the filling into a prepared pie dish and bake for 50-60 minutes or until the sweet potato pie is not jiggling. The pie will puff up a bit as it bake don’t worry. It will go down once it’s removed from the oven. Super easy right? 

My mom uses an electric mixer. She used to tell me to just beat the heck out of the filling with the hand electric mixer until smooth. Whatever appliance you use just make sure you mix very well until smooth. 

HOW TO CUT SWEET POTATO PIE

First, make sure the pie is very well chilled. Using a clean serrated knife, slice the pie. Remove the sample slice. The first slice doesn’t have to be perfect. Gobble the sample slice then keep it moving. 

The plan is to make room for the next slices.  So now that the sweet potato pie has more room, gently slice the pie again and and try to gently move the slice over some keeping the knife in slicing position.  Keep slicing and moving each slice over.

Don’t forget to wipe the knife clean with a damp clean kitchen towel after each slice. Run the knife a couple times through the slice of pie before you attempt to move it over.

The key is to make sure you cut all the way through the bottom pie crust.  Food52 has a great post to help perfect your pie slicing game. Serve the sweet potato pie as is, or top with whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon on top.

 CAN YOU FREEZE SWEET POTATO PIE?

Sweet potato pie can be frozen. The photo you see right below is a frozen picture of the pie. Bake it, let it cool down then freeze. It’s the perfect pie to make a couple days in advance.

My mom has been freezing her sweet potato pies since I was a kid. Some people say to freeze the uncooked pie so that it doesn’t get soggy but my family never experienced that.

We think it tastes even better.  Leave the pie on the counter to defrost then bake on 170 degrees until warmed through. Alternatively you can slice the pie then heat it up in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds.

Microwave it again if it’s not warm enough. We enjoy our pie chilled or room temperature. 
The gold fork in the picture is from Target. Check the recipe for links to a similar one. 

If you like the sound of this southern sweet potato pie please share it because if you like it, chances are other will too! Sharing is caring 🙂

Southern Sweet Potato Pie

April Boller Wright

Best Sweet Potato Pie - Southern Sweet Potato Pie should be easy and delicious and filled with flavor. Holiday cooking is a lot of work so we're not going to stress with this recipe. This silky pie is one of the easiest and the smoothest. I'm going to show you to make the filling super smooth the fastest and easiest way with a secret method.  And I'm sure you already have the appliance in your home. 

5 from 44 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 55 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Dessert

Cuisine Southern American

Servings 8 people

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 cups mashed sweet potatoes
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 tsp bourbon *optional
• 11 tbsp room temperature butter diced or sliced
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 unbaked pie crust
• 1/4 tsp salt plus a pinch

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly grease both sweet potatoes all over. Wrap each potato in foil. Place them in a baking dish. Bake for 45-55 minutes until the sweet potatoes are very tender. An easy tip, you'll know they are ready when you can slide the skins of the potato very easily. 
• Mash the sweet potatoes then put it into the food processor along with the rest of the ingredients. Process the mixture until very smooth. Pour the sweet potato pie filling into a prepared unbaked pie dish. 
• Bake the pie for 45-55 minutes or until it no longer jiggles.  The pie may poof up a bit but it's nothing to worry about. It will deflate once the pie is removed from the oven. Let the pie cool down then refrigerate for 2-3 hours until it's set. Slice then serve as is or top with whipped cream and garnish with a sprinkling of cinnamon on top. 

Notes

TIP TO MAKE THIS SWEET POTATO PIE

 

 

 

 

Baking- I stopped boiling my potatoes a long time ago. I now bake them. Baking results in a more flavorful sweet potato. 

 

 

 

 

Mixing - I always use my food processor to get smooth lump free camera ready sweet potato pie.. This method works so much faster than an electric mixer. It's a HUGE time saver plus it makes your pie look so pretty. You'll need an 8 or 10 cup food processor. See below for my recommendations. 

 

 

 

 

Slices - *Read the post for help on how to get the perfect slice and Freezing/Reheating tips. 

 

 

 

 

The crust - *If you notice the pie crust browning too fast place foil around the edges of the pie.

* I used one Pillsbury pie crust for this recipe. The Pie crust that comes with two aluminum pie dish are a lot smaller (even though they claim it's 9 inches) so if you use it, you may be able to make two pies with this recipe.

 

 

 

 

RECOMMENDED TOOLS:  

Corelle 9 in Deep Dish Pie Plate in Winter White 10 cup

Hamilton Food Processor and Veggie Chopper with Bowl scraper

All-Clad Stainless Steel Pie Server 

Chicago Roast Pan with Non stick Rack 13x9

Pyrex Easy Grab Pie

Target Gold Fork. Here's a similar one -> Gold Silverware Set

 

 

 

Keyword black folks sweet potato pie, Soul food, soul food recipes for thanksgiving

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