Move over pumpkin pie, there’s a new favorite in town: sweet potato pie! Okay, maybe not so new, BUT new to some of us. And we’ve all decided this one might even replace pumpkin pie on our Thanksgiving tables (gasp!). It’s rich, creamy, fluffy, and perfectly sweet and spiced!
Bonus? It’s undetectably vegan, naturally sweetened, and (optionally) gluten-free! Just 9 ingredients stand in your way. Preheat your ovens, it’s pie time!
Origin of Sweet Potato Pie
Sweet potato pie is a popular dessert during the holiday season, especially in the Southern United States, where it originated in the African-American community.
It’s commonly made with mashed sweet potatoes, evaporated milk, sugar, spices, and eggs. The ratio of some of these ingredients is what determines whether the pie is more light or denser in texture.
Our inspired version skips the milk and eggs and is naturally sweetened but still light and fluffy like the real deal!
How to Make Vegan Sweet Potato Pie
This EPIC vegan sweet potato pie begins with roasted sweet potatoes. Roasting instead of steaming or boiling brings out their natural sweetness and adds caramelization, yielding a pie with rich sweet potato flavor.
The roasted sweet potatoes take a whirl in a high-speed blender with the remaining filling ingredients: maple syrup, cashews, cornstarch, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and water.
The result is a creamy, luxurious, perfectly sweet filling that goes into a par-baked pie crust. We like using our homemade gluten-free pie crust, but you can use any crust you like (including store-bought)!
The final steps are to bake and let cool (definitely the hardest part!).
We hope you LOVE this vegan sweet potato pie! It’s:
Rich
Fluffy
Flavorful
Perfectly spiced
Sweet but not overly sweet
& Just like the real deal!
It’s best served cold with a scoop of dairy-free whipped cream with family and friends gathered around the table.
More Vegan Thanksgiving Desserts
- 1-Bowl Pumpkin Pie (Vegan + GF)
- Pecan Pie Bars (Vegan + GF)
- Orange Cranberry Crisp (Gluten-Free & Easy!)
- Apple Pie Crumble Bars (Vegan + GF)
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo @minimalistbaker on Instagram. Cheers, friends!
Epic Vegan Sweet Potato Pie
Ingredients
- 1 (9-inch) vegan pie crust (store-bought or homemade // gluten-free as needed)
- 1 ¾ cups roasted sweet potato purée (2 medium sweet potatoes (~2/3 lb or 300 g each) yield ~1 ¾ cups or 425 g sweet potato purée)
- 1 cup water (plus more for soaking cashews)
- 3/4 cup maple syrup*
- 1/4 cup raw cashews*
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch*
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- ROAST SWEET POTATOES: To make sweet potato purée, halve the sweet potatoes lengthwise and place cut side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 375 F (190 C) for ~40-45 minutes or until very tender to the touch (up to ~1 hour if your sweet potatoes are on the larger side). After baking, move to one side of the pan and wrap the parchment paper over top to steam. Let steam for 5 minutes. Then peel away skin and mash in a mixing bowl (or food processor). Set aside.
- SOAK CASHEWS: Add cashews to a heatproof bowl and cover with hot water by at least 1-2 inches. Let them soak for 15-20 minutes, then drain and set aside.
- PIE CRUST: If making a homemade pie crust, prepare it while the cashews soak and par-bake if indicated in the pie crust recipe (or the pie crust package if using store-bought). We used our homemade gluten-free pie crust and par-baked for 20 minutes.
- Before proceeding with the filling, double check that your oven is preheated to 375 F (190 C).
- Place the mashed sweet potatoes into a high-speed blender with the water, maple syrup, soaked and drained cashews, cornstarch, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sea salt. Blend on high until smooth and creamy.
- Pour the filling into your prepared crust and smooth the top with a rubber spatula (if desired). Bake at 375 F (190 C) for 10 minutes. Once the 10 minutes is up, reduce the oven temperature to 325 F (162 C) and bake for 45-50 minutes until the center is just slightly jiggly. The center should be more solid than liquid with a structured jiggle instead of one that looks more liquidy. Remove from the oven and let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooling it completely in the refrigerator for about 3 hours.
Video
Notes
*If you prefer only mildly sweet desserts, you can reduce the maple syrup to 1/2-2/3 cup, but we found 3/4 cup to be the perfect balance between being indulgent and becoming overly sweet.
*If nut-free, you could try replacing the water and cashews with a thick dairy-free milk, but we haven’t tested it this way and can’t guarantee the result.
*We tested with arrowroot starch in place of cornstarch and strongly preferred cornstarch. If you want to use arrowroot starch, use 1 ½ Tablespoons, but know the texture will be different. It’s a bit pudding-like and slightly gluey.
*Loosely adapted from our super talented friend Joy the Baker.
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated with our homemade vegan + gluten-free pie crust and without optional ingredients.
Nour says
I made this using potato starch because I didn’t have any cornstarch – turned out great. I made a gluten free pie crust too. It was DELICIOUS! Already planning to make this again at Xmas. My eldest, who doesn’t usually like to eat sweet potato, loved it too. Thanks for sharing this recipe – it’s a winner!
Yay! Amazing to hear that you both enjoyed it :) Thanks so much for sharing, Nour! xo
Julia S. says
I’m so excited to make this recipe this year for Thanksgiving! I was wondering, can you cook the sweet potatoes earlier in the day or is it best to cook the sweet potatoes when making right before making the pie? I’m curious if they need to be warm to make the filling or if the sweet potatoes can be cool. Thanks for your help! :)
You can definitely make the sweet potatoes ahead! We’re excited for you to try this pie :)
Karen S. says
I played my usual, “Guess what’s in this” game with my guests and all said, “Pumpkin, but better,” so creamy and dense (in a delish way). I cut back on the maple syrup by a few tablespoons and it was still sufficiently sweet. The cashew cream complements perfectly, not sweet, simply a yummy and pretty addition to brown pie. The cream was a bit loose when I served it, though I’d prepared it the day before and according to the directions. But on the 2nd day in the fridge it magically thickened up. Finally, I made the crust in your link (all purpose flour plus plant-based butter) and consider the whole experience, well….epic!
Yay! We’re so happy the pie was a hit. “Pumpkin, but better” is a great description of it. Thanks so much for sharing, Karen! xo
Michelle says
Hi Dana! I do not dabble in baking of ANY kind. But I want to make sweet potato pie for an upcoming family dinner and was wondering your thoughts on swapping out plain ol’ water for brewed chai tea, or ginger tea, or even apple tea. Thanks so much!
Hi Michelle, we think those flavors might compete with the spices here, but let us know if you try it out! Of those options, we think chai sounds most promising :)
Emma says
Hi! I want to try this recipe, and I was wondering if part of the maple syrup can be replaced by brown sugar, agave syrup, or something else. Maple syrup is very expensive in the Netherlands, where I live. I never had sweet potato pie and I am really curious as to how it tastes!
Hi Emma, we think brown sugar could work! The filling will likely be a thicker consistency before baking, but still turn out well. Let us know how it goes!
Isabelle says
The fact that this pie has only four reviews is a travesty. THIS IS THE PIE. I became allergic to eggs several years ago and I’ve never found a vegan pumpkin pie recipe that I liked all that much. I was hoping to finally find a pumpkin pie that was good enough to serve at Thanksgiving (which means it has to be really, really, really good). I tried the vegan, gluten free pumpkin pie recipe from this website and, while good, it just didn’t do it for me. Then I decided to try this sweet potato pie recipe. Despite being from the south, I had never made sweet potato pie and I’m not even sure I’ve ever had it. I used a store bought GF crust, roasted some sweet potatoes, threw everything in the Vitamix and made a sweet potato pie in the sweltering heat of late July and it was absolutely friggin fabulous. Truly Thanksgiving-worthy and highly recommended. I do realize that pumpkin and sweet potato pies are not exactly the same thing, but they check the same box for me. I’m a convert.
Thank you MB! Being GF and egg free I would be a deeply deprived person if this website didn’t exist.
Thank you SO much for this lovely review, Isabelle! We also agree that sweet potato pie and pumpkin pie check the same box at the Thanksgiving table. We are so glad you loved it and are ready to bake one at Thanksgiving. xo
Risa Gluskin says
This is a fantastic recipe! I made it a few weeks ago and am about to make it again for Christmas. I love that all it takes fluff it up is soaked cashews and some cornstarch. Thanks.
We’re so glad it’s a repeat recipe for you, Risa! Thank you for the lovely review! xo
LaTanya says
I love ❤️ love ❤️ love your recipes & this one was amazing as well. It was a major hit with my family. This is the recipe I will be making in the future. I love all your simple recipes, thanks so much.
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, LaTanya! Thanks so much for the lovely review!
Stephanie says
Followed the recipe exactly using a date-pecan-oat crust. Even though the pie didn’t set up well, its flavor was delicious! Everyone wanted seconds of the pumpkin pudding :) Next time I might try covering the pies and not lowering the heat. Love all your recipes!
Thank you for your kind words and for sharing your experience, Stephanie! xo
Candice says
I’d like to incorporate your date and walnut pie crust from the No-Bake Vegan Chai Cheesecake into this recipe. Given that the pie crust is designed for a no-bake dessert, can I use it for this particular recipe?
Hi Candice, we wouldn’t recommend baking that crust. Another option for a wholesome crust would be to use the crust from our Creamy Pumpkin Pie Bars. Hope that helps!
Mayana McDavid says
I have two Graham cracker pie crusts. Would they work or would you recommend against trying them? Thanks!
Hi Mayana, a graham cracker crust should work. Let us know how it goes!
DT says
Hi – can this be frozen then baked?
We don’t think that would work, unfortunately!
Emily says
Could I substitute an egg/eggs for any of the things in this recipe?
Hi Emily, we haven’t tested with eggs, but think if you take out the cornstarch, you could use 2-3 eggs and maybe remove 1/3 of the water? Not positive though. Let us know if you try it!
Joanne says
Looks amazing! Could this be made in a mini muffin pan?
Hi Joanne, that should work! You may not need to bake quite as long. Let us know how it goes!
Jane says
I would love to try this for Thanksgiving! Would I be able to use this filling for your Creamy Pumpkin Pie Bars with the almond-oat crust? That’s my usual go-to for Thanksgiving and I love the crust and ease of it, but would love to try it with this filling. Thanks!
Hi Jane, we think that would work great! Let us know if you give it a try!
Jenny says
Hi! So excited to see this recipe! Is there any chance you tried this with brown sugar? My favorite (not veganized) sweet potato pie recipe calls for brown sugar, and I’m wondering if it would work here (and maybe become my new fav recipe) ;). Let me know what you think!
Hi Jenny, we’re excited for you to try the recipe! We haven’t tested with brown sugar, but we think it should work. Let us know if you try it!
RG says
So excited to try this. Grew up with sweet potato pie and have been mourning its absence. Cannot have cornstarch. Read the notes about arrowroot. Are there any other substitutions you can suggest?
Hi, we’re so excited for you to try it! Possibly potato starch, but we haven’t tested it.