Savory Sweet Potato Pie
By Hannah Healy
Updated October 20, 2024
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This savory sweet potato pie is rich and flavorful with creamy orange sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, herbs, and cheese. The flaky crust adds a buttery crunch that pairs well with the creamy pie filling. It’s a satisfying and filling recipe that makes for the perfect hearty meal.
There’s something so satisfying about a savory pie (in fact, one of my favorites is shepherd’s pie). We’re so used to pies being at the end of a meal to satisfy your sweet tooth, but having your whole dinner bundled up in a delicious slice is a fun departure from the norm. Don’t get me wrong, I love sweet pies like my chocolate cream pie, but what’s better than a creamy, cheesy potato pie that fills you up so well that you’re not even thinking about dessert?
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- This sweet potato pie is the best comfort food. Its flavor is divine, with rich sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, spinach, and cheese. The creamy potatoes, along with the buttery, flaky pie crust, create a heavenly texture.
- Sweet potatoes are one of the few root vegetables brimming with the antioxidant known as beta-carotene, which promotes healthy skin, eyes, and brain. Since beta-carotene is fat-solule, that means the body absorbs it better with the aid of healthy fats, like the butter and eggs in this recipe!
- This dish is perfect for meal prep or leftovers. It keeps well in the refrigerator and can be frozen and reheated. See below for instructions.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Crust
All-Purpose Flour: Regular all-purpose flour is the best choice for a flaky, buttery crust. There is a gluten-free crust alternative in the recipe card if you’d prefer not to use wheat flour.
Butter: The butter is critical for the texture of the crust. Make sure you use cold butter, not melted or room temperature. It’s best not to substitute this with any other kind of oil, like olive oil or vegetable oil. However, if you want a dairy-free alternative, you can use a good vegan butter substitute that is solid when cold but melts when heated.
Salt: A pinch of salt improves the pie crust flavor. I like using sea salt or kosher salt, but any kind will work.
Sugar: The sugar improves the flavor a bit, but it’s not a make-or-break ingredient. You can omit this if you prefer.
Ice Water: The ice water helps keep the butter from melting and supports the flaky pie crust texture.
Filling
Sweet Potatoes: There is a lack of consensus on what constitutes sweet potatoes or yams, but this recipe requires what is usually marked in the grocery store as sweet potatoes. These root vegetables are tubular in shape with pointed ends, brownish-orange outer skin, and bright orange inner flesh. This type of sweet potato works best texture-wise. You could substitute it with other types like Japanese white flesh sweet potatoes or purple sweet potatoes, but the cooking times and texture of these types vary, so it may change the dish.
Yellow Onion: Yellow onions work best here, but you can also substitute these with sweet onions or white onions. Red onions would not work well here.
Garlic: The cloves of garlic add a nice umami flavor to the pie, but if you’re not a fan, you can omit them.
Spinach: I used regular fresh spinach for this recipe, but you can substitute it for baby spinach, which will cook quicker, so it requires less cooking time. You can also use frozen spinach, but it should either be defrosted or added to the saute pan earlier than fresh spinach since it will take longer to cook.
Butter: The butter is used to sautee the onions and spinach as well as make the sweet potatoes creamier. To sautee the vegetables, you can substitute any cooking oil. For the sweet potatoes, you can omit the butter or use a non-dairy butter alternative that melts.
Eggs: The eggs are a crucial part of the recipe to bind the filling ingredients together and solidify them into a pie, so there’s no substitute here; they must be included for the recipe to work.
Sage and Thyme: These herbs add flavor. I used dried sage and thyme, but you can also use fresh for a brighter flavor, but you may want to add a bit more than is called for in this case. Marjoram, oregano, and chives would all work well in this dish if you need to substitute.
Cheddar Cheese: I love a nice sharp white cheddar cheese, but I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Any type of shredded cheddar would work well in this recipe, depending on your preference. Other types of shredded cheese you can substitute include mozzarella, gruyere, or gouda.
Parmesan: The parmesan is sprinkled on top for an added nutty, salty garnish. You can omit this if you prefer or garnish it with another type of cheese or a non-dairy alternative.
Leftover Storage and Reheating
To store this savory sweet potato pie, cover it with plastic wrap or aluminum foil in the pie dish or transfer it to an airtight storage container. It will keep in the refrigerator for about 3-5 days.
You can also freeze the leftovers or even make a double recipe and save an entire sweet potato pie in the freezer for easy meal prep later. Either way, make sure to store in an airtight storage. I find that the pie wrapped in plastic wrap and added to a large ziplock freezer bag works best. It will last in the freezer for about 2-4 weeks.
Reheating from the refrigerator:
- Microwave single slices of pie for about one to two minutes, depending on the power of your microwave. Start with one minute and continue in 30-second increments until it’s warm all the way through.
- To reheat a large portion of the pie, set the oven to 375°F and cook for about 15-25 minutes until the center is warm.
Reheating from frozen:
- If you’re reheating an entire pie, allow it to defrost and come to room temperature, then heat the oven to 375°F and cook for about 20 minutes, then bring the oven to 425°F and cook for another 10 minutes.
How to Make
Preheat the oven to 350°F (if you’re making the gluten-free crust instead of the regular crust, preheat the oven to 400°F).
Add water to a medium or large pot over high heat with a steamer basket placed inside. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the skins off of the sweet potatoes. Cut the sweet potatoes into small cubes and add them to the steamer basket, then cover the pot. Steam the cubed potatoes until they are very soft and can be easily smashed with a fork.
When finished steaming, put the sweet potatoes into a large bowl, add a tablespoon of butter, and use a potato masher, immersion blender, or food processor to mash the sweet potatoes until it’s a smooth puree. Set them aside to cool.
Dice the onion and garlic. Then add two tablespoons of butter to a saute pan over medium heat and let it melt. Once melted, add in the diced onions and cook for a minute, stirring occasionally. Add in the garlic and continue to cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are almost see-through.
Add in the spinach and cook until it’s soft and wilted. Turn off the heat and set aside the vegetable mixture to cool.
Make the crust while the sweet potato and vegetables cool. In a medium bowl, add flour, salt, and sugar and mix. Using a cheese grater, grate 1/2 cup of cold butter into the flour mixture, then press and mix the butter and flour mixture with your hands. It should be a chunky mix. Add the cold water to the bowl and mix, then knead the dough together into a ball with your hands.
You can optionally line the pie tin with parchment paper to make serving the pie easier. You can use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into a circle and place it into the pie dish, or you can simply press the dough evenly into the pie tin. Set aside.
Before adding the eggs to the sweet potatoes, make sure they have cooled to lukewarm or room temperature so they don’t cook the eggs. Add the salt, sage, thyme, and eggs to the sweet potato puree bowl and beat them into the puree until they’re evenly mixed. Add the cooled spinach mixture and shredded cheese to the sweet potato mixture and mix together.
Pour the sweet potato filling into the pie pan over the crust. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350°F degrees. Then, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bake for 10-20 minutes more. A toothpick or butter knife inserted into the middle of the pie should come out clean when it’s done. If it’s not done, bake for five-minute increments until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and let cool for several minutes before serving.
Savory Sweet Potato Pie
EQUIPMENT
- 1 9 inch pie dish
Ingredients
Pie Filling
Regular Crust
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 cup cold butter
- 1/3 cup ice water
Gluten-Free Crust
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (if you’re making the gluten-free crust instead of the regular crust, preheat the oven to 400°F).
- Add water to a medium or large pot over high heat with a steamer basket placed inside. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the skins off of the sweet potatoes. Cut the sweet potatoes into small cubes and add them to the steamer basket, then cover the pot. Steam the cubed potatoes until they are very soft and can be easily smashed with a fork.
- When finished steaming, put the sweet potatoes into a large bowl, add one tablespoon of butter, and use a potato masher, immersion blender, or food processor to mash the sweet potatoes until it’s a smooth puree. Set them aside to cool.
- Dice the onion and garlic. Then add two tablespoons of butter to a sauté pan over medium heat and let it melt. Once melted, add in the diced onions and cook for a minute, stirring occasionally. Add in the garlic and continue to cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are almost see-through. Add in the spinach and cook until it’s soft and wilted. Turn off the heat and set aside the vegetable mixture to cool.
- While the sweet potatoes and spinach mixture are cooling, make the pie crust using the instructions below.
- Before adding the eggs to the sweet potatoes, make sure they have cooled to lukewarm or room temperature so they don’t cook the eggs. Add the salt, sage, thyme, and eggs to the sweet potato puree bowl and beat them into the puree until they’re evenly mixed. Add the cooled spinach mixture and shredded cheese to the sweet potato mixture and mix together.
- Pour the sweet potato filling into the pie pan over the crust. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350°F degrees. Then, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bake for 10-20 minutes more. A toothpick or butter knife inserted into the middle of the pie should come out clean when it’s done. If it’s not done, bake for five-minute increments until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for several minutes before serving.
Regular Crust
- In a medium bowl, add flour, salt, and sugar and mix.
- Using a cheese grater, grate 1/2 cup of cold butter into the flour mixture then press and mix the butter and flour mixture together with your hands. It should be a chunky mix.
- Add the cold water to the bowl and mix, then knead the dough together into a ball with your hands.
- You can optionally line the pie tin with parchment paper to make serving the pie easier. You can use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into a circle and place it into the pie dish, or you can simply press the dough evenly into the pie tin. Set aside.
Gluten-Free Crust
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. In a medium bowl, mix the almond flour and salt together, then add room-temperature butter and cold milk. Mix with your hands. The dough should be firm but pliable.
- Press and form the dough into the pie pan. Bake at 400°F for about 10 minutes, so it’s slightly, but not fully cooked. Then, take the crust out of the oven, set it aside, and turn the oven down to 350°F.
Video
Nutrition
This recipe was originally posted in January 2013 but was republished in October 2024 to include updated photos, video, and instructions.
