This vegan sweet potato pie is the perfect make-ahead holiday dessert - so silky smooth you would never know it's dairy free!
If you love pumpkin pie, you are absolutely sure to love my Vegan Sweet Potato Pie - a Southern classic totally made over without the dairy or eggs.
In fact, I may go as far as to say I like this pie even better than my vegan pumpkin pie. It's boldly rich and creamy. The flavor is next-level.
Your Thanksgiving (or really any other holiday) dessert table will be kicked up a notch once you add this one to the crowd. Watch it quickly disappear and hear your crew praising your efforts - efforts that took you like 15 minutes tops.
Ingredient Spotlight for Vegan Sweet Potato Pie
I would be willing to bet that you may have the majority of the ingredients needed to make this pie right now. Maybe you don't have a pie crust on hand, but my vegan pie crust (which is insanely easy to make) uses just a few staple ingredients.
And then just the sweet potatoes and whatever couple other items you could be missing, and this pie can be in the oven in no time.
Let's go over what you need.
Sweet Potatoes - There are a few types of sweet potatoes. You want to be sure you get red sweet potatoes to get that rich flavor and color. To cook them, I like to pierce them all over, place on a microwavable plate and heat for 7-9 minutes, rotating every few minutes. Wait for them to cool a few minutes (those suckers are hot!) before scooping the flesh out and away from the skin.
Full-fat coconut milk - You may be tempted to cut corners here and choose light coconut milk, but I promise you, the silkiness and stability of this pie depends on you using full fat coconut milk. It should be solid when you open the can. Use mostly all solids and just a small amount of the liquid to make up the amount needed in this recipe.
Other dairy-free milks like almond, soy, cashew, or oat will not work properly in this recipe either.
Brown sugar
Maple syrup - Always be sure to use pure maple syrup - not pancake syrup that's full of high fructose corn syrup.
Vanilla extract
Cinnamon
Ground ginger
Ground nutmeg - As a shortcut, I usually use ground nutmeg, but if you want to take it up a notch and happen to have fresh nutmeg on hand, feel free to use a microplane to grind your own fresh nutmeg.
Sea salt
Cornstarch - You can use tapioca flour or arrowroot powder here if you'd rather. This will help to keep the filling stable, thick, and creamy
Vegan Whipped Cream - I love whipping up my homemade vegan whipped cream (made from a surprising ingredient), but in a pinch, you can use a store-bought dairy-free whipped cream. Most stores seem to be carrying Silk or So Delicious brands.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Vegan Sweet Potato Pie
Just like you're about to be, I was totally shocked by how easy it is to bring this delicious pie together. This is one of those recipes where it takes longer to actually bake and cool than the time you spend mixing and assembling it.
Let me show you how it's done.
Step 1 - Prepare your pie crust in a standard 9" pie plate.
Step 2 - In a large bowl, combined the cooked sweet potato, coconut milk, brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, sea salt, and cornstarch.
Step 3 - Beat well using an electric mixer until smooth. Alternatively, you could combine til smooth in a high powered blender.
Step 4 - Transfer the filling mixture to the prepared pie crust. Transfer to the oven and bake for 1 hour until set.
Step 5 - Let cool completely before serving with whipped cream.
This Vegan Sweet Potato Pie is everything you’ve ever needed when it comes to a simple harvest vegan dessert:
- Packed full of flavor without much fuss at all.
- All plant-based ingredients while keeping all the flavor.
- Comes together in less than 15 minutes.
- Super silky smooth with every bite.
- Perfect addition to any holiday dessert table.
Holly's Insider Pro Tips
Don't burn the pie crust
Check on the pie crust about 30-40 minutes into the baking time. If it's getting a little too done, tent your pie with foil or use a pie shield to protect the crust.
Don't rush the chill
In order to have a perfectly stable pie, you need to make sure the pie rests on the counter for at least 2 hours. Then you can even let it cool some more in the refrigerator to be sure it's solid.
Get fancy with it
Feel free to top this sweet potato pie with chopped nuts like pecans. Or swirls of vegan whipped topping and sprinklings of cinnamon or freshly grated nutmeg. You can be as simple or fancy as you'd like.
Blend it up
Although I have made this using a hand mixer for the filling, I have to say that I much more prefer the smooth and silky consistency of blending all the ingredients together in my Vitamix. If you don't have a high powered blender, I would suggest cooking and pureeing the cooked sweet potato before adding it along with the other filling ingredients.
Vegan Sweet Potato Pie FAQs
Yes, this is definitely one of those pies that are actually better off being prepared before being served. It'll be more set up and the flavors will be even better! Let it sit in the fridge overnight (covered), and you'll be good to go.
Store the leftover pie in the fridge (covered) for up to 1 week.
You absolutely can freeze the baked pie. Just wrap it tightly and store in the freezer. Thaw in the fridge overnight and serve as usual.
Looking for more Vegan Dessert Recipes?
Now that you know how to easy it is to make this vegan sweet potato pie recipe, please give it a star rating below and comment letting me know how it turned out for you.
Vegan Sweet Potato Pie
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds sweet potatoes, cooked and flesh removed (about 2 large sweet potatoes)
- ¾ cup full-fat coconut milk
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 vegan pie crust
- Vegan whipped cream (optional, for serving)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare your pie crust in a standard 9-inch pie plate and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the cooked sweet potato along with the remaining ingredients (except whipped cream).
- Beat well using an electric mixer until smooth (see notes).
- Transfer the filling mixture to the prepared pie crust. Transfer to the oven and bake for 1 hour until set.
- Let cool completely before serving with whipped cream.
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