Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website.
This Vegan Sweet Potato Pie is made with simple ingredients, any pie crust of choice, and can be made in advance. Try it this holiday season. Gluten-free, grain-free, and refined sugar-free options.
This Vegan Sweet Potato Pie is made rich and creamy with oven-roasted sweet potatoes, coconut cream, and warming spices then baked in a buttery, flaky pie crust until beautifully golden. It’s also free of eggs, dairy, and can be made entirely gluten-free! All you need is 11 basic ingredients (no silken tofu!) and 20 minutes to prep this holiday favorite!
Table of Contents
A Pumpkin Pie Alternative to Try
If you’re looking for the perfect alternative to Vegan Pumpkin Pie for your Thanksgiving table this year, look no further than this sweet potato pie! In a side by side taste comparison, sweet potato pie tends to have a sweeter, creamier, nuttier flavor compared to the Southern classic. But the best part? Since sweet potatoes are naturally sweeter than pumpkin, you’ll need less sugar to sweeten the filling. While I wholeheartedly believe in indulging, especially around the holidays, I’m all about recipes that taste just as good with as many plant-based whole foods as possible. And with this in mind, this sweet potato pie is a win-win all around.
What You Need for Vegan Sweet Potato Pie
Just like my Sweet Potato Pie Bars, this traditional pie is quick, simple, and easy to make. made with just 10 easily accessible ingredients, plus your favorite pie crust of choice.
- Sweet potatoes: You’ll need just over a pound of sweet potatoes. I’ve only made this recipe using Beauregard sweet potatoes (the standard sweet potato variety with reddish-brown skin and orange flesh). It will likely work with alternative sweet potatoes such as purple sweet potatoes, but note that this can effect the taste, texture, and color of the final pie.
- Vegan butter: Any brand of choice will work in this pie. I typically use salted vegan butter, so if you are using an unsalted butter, additional kosher salt to taste may be desired (try 1/2 teaspoon instead of 1/4 teaspoon).
- Brown sugar: Dark brown sugar adds a rich, molasses flavor that enhances the caramel-like flavors in the roasted sweet potatoes and gives this pie a complex, depth of flavor. Light brown sugar can work in it’s place, but the pie will be slightly less moist and more mild in flavor.
- Coconut cream: Many traditional pies are made with heavy cream or whole milk. Coconut cream adds a similar rich, creaminess without adding a coconut flavor.
- Spices: A simple blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla extract complement the sweet, nutty flavors in the sweet potato and enhance the warmth. If you’re out of individual spices, replace the individual cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg with 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- Cornstarch: Essential for thickening the sweet potato pie filling. If you are corn-free, use arrowroot starch.
- Pie crust: Use any store-bought crust or homemade easy vegan pie crust. I like to use this All-Butter Crust recipe, but make it with dairy-free butter to keep it vegan. If you’re gluten-free, use my Healthy Homemade Pie Crust recipe, or an alternative gluten-free crust of choice.
How to Make Vegan Sweet Potato Pie
- Cook the sweet potatoes until tender and oozing.
- Grease a pie dish and shape the pie crust.
- Peel the outer skin from each sweet potato, then beat into a smooth puree.
- Add the remaining pie filling ingredients and beat again until smooth and creamy.
- Transfer the filling to the chilled pie crust, then bake until slightly puffy and browned on top.
- Cool completely, then slice and serve, as desired!
Caitlin’s Cooking Tips
- Avoid using steamed potatoes. I do not recommend using boiled or steamed sweet potatoes in the pie filling as they retain more moisture and create a less firm pie. Roasting sweet potatoes is necessary to help remove the excess moisture and yields a deeper, more caramelized flavor!
- Use a full-fat plant-based milk. For a filling with a rich and creamy texture, it is essential to use a higher fat plant-based milk. Please avoid using store-bought milks such as almond milk or other thin non-dairy milks. These milks are too watered down and will in turn water down the flavor of the pie filling. If you are interested in lower fat holiday dessert recipes, I’d recommend making one of my Oil-Free recipes or check out this Vegan Guide to Thanksgiving for more ideas.
Serving Suggestions
Sweet potato pie slices are delicious served with a dollop of coconut whupped cream, a scoop of your favorite ice cream, or as is. You can also make this pie even more sweet and indulgent by finishing with a light drizzle of Salted Caramel Sauce and a dusting of additional cinnamon.
If you’re looking for more Thanksgiving-worthy dessert recipes, you’ll also love this Vegan Pecan Pie, this Vegan Peanut Butter Cup Pie and this Vegan Baked Snickers Cheesecake. Or, check out my complete Vegan Thanksgiving Guide for 60+ delicious recipes.
How to Store Vegan Sweet Potato Pie
Cover leftover pie tightly with a layer of foil or plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Alternatively, the pie can also be cut into individual slices and frozen in a tightly sealed container for up to 2 months. To help prevent freezer burn, let the pie cool completely before freezing.
If frozen, defrost desired slices overnight in the fridge, or until softened.
Substitutions and Variations
- Coconut cream substitution: Use full-fat coconut milk instead. If using, refrigerate the coconut milk can overnight to help separate the cream and liquid. Scoop out the cream for this recipe and save the liquid for making a Mango Pineapple Smoothie or Chocolate Cherry Almond Smoothie.
- Refined-sugar free option: Replace the packed brown sugar with coconut sugar.
- Air fryer option: Instead of oven-roasting the sweet potatoes, roast them in the air fryer. Place the pierced potatoes directly in the air fryer basket and cook at 400F for 35 to 40 minutes, or until easily pierced through with a fork or knife.
- Microwave option: Instead of oven-roasting, microwave the potatoes on a plate for 4 minutes. Flip, and microwave for 4 to 6 additional minutes, or until fork tender.
Recipe FAQs
Despite common confusion, sweet potatoes and yams are not the same thing. Sweet potatoes are generally sweeter, moister, and softer in texture than bumpy, scaly yams. If you live in the United States, it’s likely you’ve never eaten yams because what is commonly labeled as yams here is actually a type of sweet potato. Weird, right?!
The crust does not need to be baked ahead of time, so put away those pie weights! Simply press the pie crust into a greased pie dish, shape the edges, and refrigerate until the filling is ready.
A large cup food processor will work well. If you’re interested in purchasing one, I have used this 14-Cup Food Processor for years and highly recommend.
Eating raw sweet potatoes is not recommended. For this reason, it is important to make the sweet potato pie filling with cooked sweet potatoes only.
Enjoy! If you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I would also love it if you could leave a comment below with a recipe rating! Thank you for the support 😊
Vegan Sweet Potato Pie
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 pounds sweet potatoes (about 3 medium)
- 1/4 cup butter melted (I used dairy-free)
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup coconut cream*
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup cornstarch or arrowroot powder
- 1 9-inch unbaked pie crust store-bought or homemade; see notes
Instructions
- Cook the Sweet Potatoes: Preheat the oven to 425F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scrub each potato well and place on the baking sheet. Carefully use a sharp knife to poke holes around the surface of the potatoes, then bake in the middle rack of the oven for 55 to 60 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and oozing. Set aside for 10 minutes to let cool; you can also cook the potatoes the day before and store in the refrigerator overnight.
- Air Fryer Option: Roast the potatoes in the air fryer; place pierced potatoes directly in the basket and cook at 400F for 35 to 40 minutes
- Microwave Option: Microwave potatoes on a plate for 4 minutes. Flip the potatoes and microwave for an additional 4 to 6 minutes, until tender.
- Prep: While the sweet potatoes cool, reduce the oven temperature to 350F (or preheat to 350F if you have pre-cooked your potatoes). Grease a pie dish with butter or cooking spray and shape your crust; keep in the fridge until step 4.
- Filling: Carefully peel off the outer skin from each sweet potato and place in a large bowl. Use a handheld electric mixer* to beat the cooked sweet potatoes until they form a smooth puree, scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary. Add the melted butter, sugar, coconut cream, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Beat again until smooth, then add in the arrowroot powder and beat until combined.
- Bake: Transfer the filling to the prepared (unbaked) pie crust, using a spatula to smooth out the top. Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 55 to 60 minutes, until the pie is slightly puffy and browned on top.
- Cool: Transfer the entire pie dish to a wire rack and let cool completely. Let the pie sit for at least one hour before slicing and serving.
- Serve: Slice, serve, and enjoy with coconut whip, ice cream, or as-is! Cover leftovers with foil or plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can also pre-slice this Vegan Sweet Potato Pie and freeze the slices for up to 2 months, defrosting overnight in the fridge when needed.
Recipe Notes
- Pie Crust: You can use a store-bought pie crust, or make your own — I like to use this all-butter recipe and make it with vegan butter. If you’re gluten free you can use my Healthy Pie Crust! Do not pre-bake the pie crust for this recipe.
- Electric Mixer: If you don’t have a handheld mixer, a food processor will work as well!
- Coconut Cream: You can find canned coconut cream in most grocery stores in the International/Asian aisle. Flip the can upside down, drain off the liquid (save for smoothies!) and scoop the remaining solid “cream” out to use in the recipe. If you cannot find coconut cream you can purchase full-fat coconut milk instead; I recommend refrigerating the canned milk overnight to help the cream separate out more, but you don’t need to do this for the canned cream.
Do you have any particular suggestions for making this ahead of time? I’d like to prepare it for Christmas Day but make it a day or two before; would you reheat before serving?
Certainly! Here are some suggestions for making the Vegan Sweet Potato Pie ahead of time for Christmas Day:
Preparing Ahead:
Cooking Sweet Potatoes:
Option 1: Roast sweet potatoes in the oven the day before and store them in the refrigerator overnight.
Option 2: Use an air fryer or microwave for a quicker cooking alternative.
Pie Crust:
Prepare the pie crust and shape it in the pie dish. Keep it in the fridge until ready to use.
On Christmas Day:
Preheat Oven:
Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F on Christmas Day or preheat if you’ve precooked the sweet potatoes.
Prepare Filling:
Peel the cooked sweet potatoes and make the filling by blending them with other ingredients.
Assemble and Bake:
Transfer the filling to the prepared pie crust and bake in the preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes until the pie is slightly puffy and browned on top.
Cooling:
Let the pie cool completely on a wire rack. Allow it to sit for at least an hour before slicing.
Serving:
Slice, serve, and enjoy! Pair it with coconut whip, ice cream, or enjoy it as-is.
Storage:
Short-Term: Cover leftovers with foil or plastic wrap and store them in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Freezing: You can pre-slice the pie and freeze the slices for up to 2 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge when needed.
Additional Tips:
Crust: If using a store-bought or homemade pie crust, there’s no need to pre-bake it for this recipe.
Electric Mixer: If you don’t have a handheld mixer, a food processor will work as well.
Coconut Cream: Use canned coconut cream or refrigerate full-fat coconut milk overnight, then scoop out the solid “cream” for the recipe.
You can have a delicious Vegan Sweet Potato Pie ready to impress on Christmas Day without the last-minute rush!
Absolutely loved this recipe! I’m a huge fan of pumpkin pie and I don’t think I’d ever tried sweet potato pie before, but I must say I liked it better than pumpkin pie! I will be making this from now on instead 🙂
I agree, Christina! Thanks for the review 🙂
made this today, but halved it, to test out if i wanted to make it for thanksgiving or not since i’ve never had/made sweet potato pie before 🙂 it came out really well! i wish it came out a little firmer, but that might be because my coconut cream was pretty thin and watery. still good, ended up being a thick pudding texture. maybe it’ll firm up a little more in the fridge over night too 🙂 oh, i also added ground cloves to the mix of spices bc i am a clove enjoyer myself, personally… i will simply add cloves to a spice mix… that’s just who i am………
also a nice recipe to make bc my bird got to eat a little slice of the sweet potato i roasted for it and she seemed to enjoy it hehe :]
Happy you and your bird got to enjoy it!