Sweet Potato Pecan Pie is two amazing desserts wrapped into one! Creamy, decadent sweet potato pie made even better with a crunchy, buttery pecan topping. Out-of-this-world deliciousness is a must-try for your next family occasion.
One day my son and I drizzled maple syrup and toasted pecans over a sweet potato pie just for fun. OMG, 😱 it was soooo good! And that got me thinking, how easy would it be to make a sweet potato pecan pie?
It was pure fun experimenting with different ways to combine these two incredible comfort food desserts. After a few not-so-impressive tries, we came up with this recipe. Booyah! Took it to the next cookout and blew everyone away.
Sweet Potatoes and Pecans in a Pie
How many ways do we enjoy sweet potatoes? But whatever the recipe, sweet potato casserole, pancakes, souffle, or bread, they’re all even better with pecans. There’s just something about pecans and sweet potatoes that makes them a marriage made in heaven. It must be the sweet and nutty saltiness, and it makes perfect sense they’d go fantastic together in a pie.
Recipe Ingredients
- Pie Crust – You can use a homemade or store-bought pie crust to hold a classic pie together.
- Sweet Potato Filling – Pureed sweet potatoes, sugar, butter, eggs, holiday spices, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract make a melt-in-your-mouth pie filling.
- Pecan Pie Topping – Pecans (of course), eggs, sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla extract are classic ingredients for pecan pie. Corn syrup is a must because it delivers the right texture without making it too sweet.
How to Make Sweet Potato Pecan Pie
Prep the Pie
- Make the Crust – Place your homemade or store-bought pie crust in a pan. Then place parchment paper on the pie crust and add dried beans on top. The beans will ensure that the bottom of the crust does not rise. (Photos 1-2)
- Bake the crust for 5-6 minutes in the preheated oven, remove it from the oven, and let it cool. (Photo 3)
- Prep Sweet Potatoes – Rinse, peel, and cut the sweet potatoes into chunks, then add to a medium saucepan. The water should cover the sweet potatoes by at least an inch.
- Cook – Bring it all to a boil over high heat and then reduce the heat. Cook until tender and sweet potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, about 12 minutes, depending on the potatoes’ size.
- Dry – Drain water and simmer for about one more minute or until water has evaporated from the potatoes.
- Mash – Place potato in a mixing bowl and mash using a handheld mixer.
- Make the Filling – Next, add the remaining ingredients: softened butter, eggs, white sugar, brown sugar, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, salt, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract. (Photos 4-5)
Assemble
- Bake – Pour the pie filling into the crust and bake it at 350℉/177℃ for 40- 50 minutes. (Photos 6-7)
- Rest – Remove the pie from the oven and let it rest (covered) for 10 minutes. (Photo 8)
- Pecan Topping – Mix eggs, pecans, sugar, corn syrup, vanilla extract, and salt in a bowl while the pie cools. Then gently pour the pecan filling over the sweet potato pie, spreading it evenly over the sweet potato filling. (Photos 9-11)
- Bake – Place the pie back in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes more or until the filling is set. (Photo 12)
- Serve – Place it on a wire rack and let it cool for about an hour. Serve with ice cream or homemade whipped cream.
Recipe Variations
- Pumpkin Pecan Pie is also incredible. Just replace the sweet potato puree with the same amount of pumpkin puree.
- Sweet Potato Bourbon Pecan Pie – Don’t say no to some alcohol by adding bourbon to the recipe. Yum!
- Sweet Potato Pecan Pie Tarts – Divide your pie filling into mini pie tart crusts. Then divide the pecan pie topping and bake. It won’t take as long because they’re smaller, so watch them so they don’t burn.
Tips and Tricks
- A shot of bourbon or brandy added to the pecan pie topping is so delicious.
- Chill your pie for 2 hours before serving for the best results.
- Leftover baked sweet potatoes also make an excellent puree. I always double what I need to make sure I can sneak in a pie. 😉
Make-Ahead Instructions
You can do a lot of make-ahead actions to save time. You can make the pie crust dough ahead and refrigerate or freeze it; the same is true with sweet potato filling. You can also bake it the day before and keep it in the refrigerator. Or you can freeze it up to two months ahead.
Serving and Storage Instructions
It’s tempting to dig in when it comes out of the oven, but be patient because it’s better after it has time to cool to room temperature and firm up. You could also put it in the fridge for a chilled pie.
Sweet potato pecan pie will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or freezer for up to 2 months.
FAQs
I’m so glad we have both. Sweet potatoes are a Southern classic because they grow better in the heat than pumpkins. Pumpkins aren’t as sweet, so you may want to add a little extra sugar if making pie. However, the spices hide a lot of the differences when using them for desserts.
There are usually two reasons a pie filling is runny. The first and easiest to fix is that it’s not done and needs more time in the oven to finish baking. The second is that it doesn’t have enough thickener. You can take a couple of spoonsful of the filling and mix it with a spoonful of flour or cornstarch, then carefully mix that with the rest of the filling and bake it until it sets.
I would love to say yes. And you can replace the corn syrup with maple or agave syrup. So that would be the way to go if you’re allergic to corn. However, it won’t be the same.
What to Serve With Sweet Potato Pecan Pie
This heavenly dessert is the perfect finale to roast turkey breast, green bean casserole, and garlic mashed potatoes. And, of course, you can forget a chai tea latte to complement the pie.
More Awesome Pie Recipes to Try
Conclusion
Merging two of our most loved Southern desserts creates an unbelievably delicious sweet potato pecan pie. Would you like more out-of-this-world recipes for free? Then subscribe to my newsletter and stay up to date.😍
Watch How to Make It
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Sweet Potato Pecan Pie
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Filling
- 1 9-inch pie crust (or homemade pie crust)
- 1½ pounds sweet potatoes (2 cups of mashed sweet potatoes)
- 4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup evaporated milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pecan Pie Topping
- 2 eggs
- 1½ cups chopped pecans
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup corn syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/177℃.
- Place the pie crust in the pie pan. Place parchment paper on the pie crust then add dried beans on top. The beans will ensure that the bottom of the crust does not rise.
- Bake for 5-6 minutes in the preheated oven; remove from the oven and let it cool.
- Rinse, peel, and cut the sweet potatoes into chunks, then add to a medium saucepan. The water should cover the sweet potatoes by at least an inch.
- Bring it all to a boil over high heat and then reduce the heat. Cook until tender and sweet potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, about 12 minutes or more, depending on the potatoes' size.
- Drain water and simmer for about one more minute or until water has evaporated from the potatoes.
- Place potatoes in a mixing bowl and mash using a handheld mixer.
- Next, add the remaining ingredients: softened butter, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, salt, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract.
- Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake at 350℉/177℃ for about 40-50 minutes.
- Remove the pie from the oven and let rest (covered) for 10 minutes.
- Mix eggs, pecans, sugar, corn syrup, vanilla extract, and salt in a bowl while the pie cools. Then gently pour the pecan filling over the sweet potato pie, spreading it evenly over the sweet potato filling.
- Place the pie back in the oven and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes or until the pie is set.
- Place it on a wire rack and let it cool on a wire rack for about an hour.
- Serve with ice cream.
Tips & Notes:
- A shot of bourbon or brandy added to the pecan pie topping is so delicious.
- Chill your pie for 2 hours before serving for the best results.
- Leftover baked sweet potatoes also make an excellent puree. I always double what I need to make sure I can sneak in a pie.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
Danielle says
I’m definitely making this.. I’ve been telling my daughters that I want a sweet potato pie and pecan pie so bad, since I wasn’t able to cook for the holidays due to having surgery on both legs due to an accident and could barely even walk on stand on them. But GOD is good and I’m getting around much better.
Imma says
Hi Danielle. I am so sorry to hear about you accident. I am glad you are getting better now and I pray you make a full recovery. Can’t wait for you to try out this recipe. This sweet potato pecan pie will definitely hit the spot :).
Alyson Wissinger says
Unless you really love nutmeg, you may want to reduce the amount and add more ginger and cinnamon. I couldn’t really taste the other spices for the nutmeg.
Imma says
Hi Alyson, thank you for catching that. It’s amazing the difference one number can make. I have fixed it.
Debbie says
Sounds amazing. Can I switch out the corn syrup for maple syrup?
Imma says
Maple syrup is awesome in pecan pie. However, it’s sweeter and thinner than corn syrup. So I would replace the ⅓ cup corn syrup with ¼ maple syrup. Please let me know how it turned out.