Get Your Thanksgiving Fix With Grandma's Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Pie Recipe

Grandma’s old fashioned sweet potato was always the star of our Thanksgiving feasts. She followed the same, simple recipe every single time. Just gather the ingredients, which are almost exclusively kitchen staples, and in an hour or so you’ll end up with the most delicious old fashioned sweet potato pie. Grandma’s old fashioned sweet potato pie recipe allows a great deal of flexibility too. The pie itself is autumn on a plate, with seasonal spices that will keep you warm during chilly nights, a bright, orange color, and a creamy, velvet texture.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Tips
• Grandma's Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Pie Recipe
• Comments

Ingredients

• Mashed sweet potatoes — 2 cups.
• All-purpose flour — 1 tbsp.
• Unbaked pie crust — 9 in.
• Vanilla extract — 1 tbsp.
• Ground cinnamon — ½ tbsp.
• Ground nutmeg — ¼ tbsp.
• Eggs — 2 pcs., large.
• Evaporated milk — ½ cup.
• Sugar — 1 cup.
• Melted butter — ¾ cup.
• Whipped cream — 1 serving.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place the pie crust on the pie plate.

3. Bring a pot of water to a boil.

4. Add the sweet potatoes and let them simmer for 10-15 minutes.

5. Once the potatoes are soft enough, remove them from the heat and let them cool. 

6. Mash the now-cooled sweet potatoes and blend them with two large eggs.

7. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, spices, salt, sugar, evaporated milk, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract. Mix well.

8. Combine the two mixtures, and pour them into the prepared pie crust.

9. Bake for 45-60 minutes.

10. Cut it into 8-10 slices and top with whipped cream to serve.

Substitutions

• Condensed milk — If you find yourself short on evaporated milk, feel free to swap it for condensed milk. Using evaporated milk will result in a creamier texture since it’s less concentrated. However, if you don’t mind the texture, use condensed milk, as it tastes the same for most people.

Variations

One of the great aspects of this grandma’s old fashioned sweet potato pie recipe is that, with a few tweaks here and there, you get to adjust it just the way you want.

• Bourbon — If you’d like to spice things up, add 2 ½ tbsp. bourbon to the mix and you’ll see how better it gets.

• Orange — Grandma’s old fashioned sweet potato pie is already orange as it is, so why not go ahead and put orange peel in the mix?

• Gluten-free — This sweet potato pie is not gluten-free. But it could be. The good news is that the filling does not contain gluten already, so all you should do is adjust the pie crust. You can buy a gluten-free pie crust or make your own.

Equipment

• Medium-sized mixing bowl.

• Large pot.

• Pie plate.

• Measuring cups and spoons.

• Whisk.

Storage

• You can safely store any leftover sweet potato pie in an airtight container in your fridge, for up to a week. If you opt for freezing them, they will last for up to a month.

Tips

• Use a fork — Overbaking the sweet potato pie is a good way to disturb the texture and taste. Although 45-60 minutes should be enough, you should know when to stop. A good way to know this is by piercing the pie, using a fork. If the fork easily pierces the pie and comes back without any crust, the pie has softened enough.

• Use whipped cream — The topping is crucial for the pie, and without whipped cream, your sweet potato pie is not complete.

• The texture — What makes this old fashioned sweet potato pie a complete delight is how it looks. The texture should be smooth and velvet. To avoid disturbing the texture, make sure you don’t overcook it. Over mashing the potatoes can also disturb the texture.