Sweet Potato Chess Pie Recipe (2024)

by Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes) · Updated

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In this Sweet Potato Chess Pie Recipe, roasted sweet potato is mixed with a deliciously rich custard and poured into a homemade pie crust and baked to perfection.

Sweet Potato Chess Pie Recipe (1)

My big mama’s sweet potato pie is a highlight that truly represents our heritage. It is a recipe that has been passed down from generation to generation. It never fails to make an appearance on our holiday dessert table. It means a lot to the tradition of our holiday season. Her sweet potato pie is also quite famous. I remember seeing locals drop by her home to get a pie for their own holiday. Nothing is better than my big mama’s sweet potato chess pie, and the whole neighborhood of Winona seemed to agree.

Table of Contents

Ingredients

Here are some of the key ingredients that will work:

  • Eggs
  • Butter
  • Sugar
  • Cornmeal
  • Vinegar

Eggs are truly the stabilizer in this key. It creates the creamy custardy texture that makes this pie so delicious. Coupled with the richness of butter and sugar, you are already starting something super special!

Cornmeal and vinegar are the ingredients that really set chess pie apart. It adds grit and a uniqueness that is absolutely delicious. Finally I add roasted sweet potato along with some flavors like cinnamon and vanilla.

Tip: To roast my sweet potato, I pierce the skin then lightly oil the outsides and add to foil. I bake at a high heat of about 400 F for about an hour. When the sweet potato is completely tender, I mash it and set it aside. It should be very easy to mash at this point.

Tip: The key for these ingredients to work wonderfully is for them to be at ROOM TEMPERATURE. Trust me, I have tried to bake a chess pie with cold eggs or colder butter and the custard didn’t set.

Sweet Potato Chess Pie Recipe (2)

How to Make Sweet Potato Chess Pie

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Beat butter and sugar together on high until light and fluffy (about 4-5 minutes).
  • Add eggs one at a time and mix together until well incorporated.
  • Next add cornmeal, flour, cinnamon, vinegar and vanilla and finally slowly add mashed sweet potatoes into batter and beat until completely smooth.
  • If using my pie crust, roll one of the disks out into the pie plate then use a fork to poke holes along the sides and bottom of the pie crust. Line the pie crust with parchment paper. Fill with pie weights, making sure the weights are evenly distributed around the pie dish. Pre-bake the crust for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the parchment paper/pie weights. If you would like, you can brush some egg wash on the outside of the crust as well (just take 1 egg and whisk together with a teaspoon of water).
  • Pour batter into prepared pie shell and bake for 45-50 minutes. If you find that your pie crust is browning quickly, add a pie shield or foil around the outside halfway through the bake.
  • Cool for at least 4 hours and serve.
Sweet Potato Chess Pie Recipe (3)

How to Serve

Sweet potato chess pie is fantastic on its own but here are a few ways you can serve it:

  • Make some homemade whipped cream and serve along with it.
  • You can also make a caramel sauce or even a ganache for something decadent to serve with.
  • Ice cream! I love a classic vanilla ice cream or even something more fun like this sweet potato ice cream with toasted marshmallows.
  • Finally you can add it to a sweet potato trifle.

How to Store

To store sweet potato chess pie, cool it to room temperature, then wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate for up to 4 days. For longer storage, freeze the wrapped pie for up to a month. Thaw in the fridge overnight before enjoying.

Favorite Holiday Pie Recipes

  • Buttermilk Pie
  • Chess Pie
  • Egg Pie
  • The Best Sweet Potato Pie
  • Sweet Potato Cobbler
  • Sweet Potato Pecan Pie

Sweet Potato Chess Pie Recipe (4)

Sweet Potato Chess Pie

In this Sweet Potato Chess Pie Recipe, roasted sweet potato is mixed with a deliciously rich custard and poured into a homemade Pie Crust.

4.84 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Southern

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 servings

Calories: 396kcal

Author: Jocelyn Delk Adams

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup Land O’ Lakes unsalted butter room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons yellow cornmeal
  • 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cups mashed sweet potatoes About 1 ½-2 medium sized sweet potatoes peeled, diced, boiled until tender and mashed
  • 1 prepared pie crust in pie pan

US CustomaryMetric

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  • Beat butter and sugar together on high until light and fluffy (about 4-5 minutes).

  • Add eggs one at a time and mix together until well incorporated.

  • Next add cornmeal, flour, cinnamon, vinegar and vanilla and finally slowly add mashed sweet potatoes into batter and beat until completely smooth.

  • If using my pie crust, roll one of the disks out into the pie plate then use a fork to poke holes along the sides and bottom of the pie crust. Line the pie crust with parchment paper. Fill with pie weights, making sure the weights are evenly distributed around the pie dish. Pre-bake the crust for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the parchment paper/pie weights. If you would like, you can brush some egg wash on the outside of the crust as well (just take 1 egg and whisk together with a teaspoon of water).

  • Pour batter into prepared pie shell and bake for 45-50 minutes. If you find that your pie crust is browning quickly, add a pie shield or foil around the outside halfway through the bake.

  • Cool for at least 4 hours and serve.

Notes

Tip: To roast my sweet potato, I pierce the skin then lightly oil the outsides and add to foil. I bake at a high heat of about 400 F for about an hour. When the sweet potato is completely tender, I mash it and set it aside. It should be very easy to mash at this point.

Tip: The key for these ingredients to work wonderfully is for them to be at ROOM TEMPERATURE. Trust me, I have tried to bake a chess pie with cold eggs or colder butter and the custard didn’t set.

To store sweet potato chess pie, cool it to room temperature, then wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate for up to 4 days. For longer storage, freeze the wrapped pie for up to a month. Thaw in the fridge overnight before enjoying.

Nutrition

Calories: 396kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 100mg | Sodium: 129mg | Potassium: 130mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 3995IU | Vitamin C: 0.6mg | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 1mg

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Sweet Potato Chess Pie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between a pie and a chess pie? ›

The major difference in a chess pie from other custard pies is most chess pie recipes call for a small amount of cornmeal (or sometimes flour) to be added to the batter. This step not only helps the pie set, but adds texture as well.

Why is it called chess pie? ›

Another story that points to chess pie's English roots says that English cooks combined spoil-prone ingredients like butter and eggs with sugar to keep them from going bad and used that to create a pie that could be kept unrefrigerated in a chest. “Chest” became “chess,” and the rest is pie history.

Can I use sweet potato instead of Irish potato for meat pie? ›

Obviously it will have a different taste, but that's not a reason to not give it a try. I think sweet potatoes would make a tasty Curried Beef and Sweet Potato pie. Try making a thick beef curry with sweet potatoes, green peas and cilantro and putting that in your pie.

How do you keep a sweet potato pie from getting stringy? ›

Blending the sweet potato puree with the heavy cream until smooth ensures that the filling is not stringy at all!

What is the pie rule in chess? ›

The player who made the first move becomes the second player and makes the second move on the board. This is demonstrated in the chess diagrams shown here. Switching the first piece can occur in games where the board starts empty and the first move consists of placing one piece.

What is shoo fly pie made from? ›

What is in shoofly pie? The star of the show is molasses, but shoofly pie is also typically composed of flour, brown sugar, water, spices, and sometimes egg. The pie is topped with a crumb mixture and served in a flaky pie crust. Shoofly pie is similar to a coffee cake but with a gooey molasses bottom.

What is crack pie made of? ›

Since it was invented it has become one of the most popular desserts in the world probably. Crack Pie is made of an oatmeal cookie crust filled with rich buttery pudding made mostly out of sugar, butter, cream and egg yolks. After baking it receives a golden top that is especially attractive and tempting.

Can you leave chess pie out overnight? ›

Yes, chess pie can be stored up to 2 days room temperature. Does chess pie have to be refrigerated? No, it does not. Chess pie can be stored at room temperature or refrigerated, whichever you prefer.

Why is my sweet potato pie watery? ›

Many recipes for sweet potato pie call for steaming or boiling the sweet potatoes before making the filling. This leads to water-logged sweet potatoes. Instead, baking sweet potatoes whole concentrates their flavor and sweetness.

Which is healthier sweet potato pie or pumpkin pie? ›

However, if you place the two in a side-by-side comparison, sweet potato generally outpaces pumpkin in its nutritional makeup from vitamin A to fiber to protein. While pumpkin is a light, low sugar option, sweet potatoes do more heavy lifting and will ultimately feed your body more essential nutrients.

Why do pumpkin pie and sweet potato pie taste the same? ›

If you were to take a bite of both sweet potato and pumpkin pies, you'll notice that there are more similarities than differences. They're both made with eggs, vanilla, and milk (either whole or condensed), and they're both seasoned with warm spices including cinnamon and nutmeg.

Can you leave sweet potato pie out all night? ›

Note: Sweet potato pie can be left at room temperature up to two days without refrigeration. Can be refrigerated up to one week and remain fresh.

How do you keep sweet potato pie crust from getting soggy? ›

Often, blind-baking solves this problem. If you're making a single crust custard-filled pie, like a pumpkin pie, bake the pie dough first before adding filling to allow some of the moisture in the crust to evaporate. You can also totally blind-bake fruit pies.

Should homemade sweet potato pie be refrigerated? ›

Sweet potato pies usually contain milk and eggs, so they are essentially baked custard pies and should be stored in the refrigerator. Rule of thumb: If a pie contains milk, cream and/or eggs, refrigerate it. You'll also want to refrigerate pies containing evaporated or condensed milk products.

Are buttermilk pie and chess pie the same? ›

Though it's not always called upon to thicken the filling, cornmeal is frequently what gives a chess pie it's velvety texture and yellow color. Buttermilk pie, meanwhile, always has buttermilk. More acids, like lemon juice or vinegar, are also frequently added to brighten up the recipe even more.

Why is it called chess squares? ›

Some suggest the dessert could be named after a pie chest or a town named Chester. But the most popular origin story for the name chess pie (and in turn chess squares) is that the dessert was made using easy-to-find ingredients around the house and called "jus' pie" which turned into chess pie.

What's the difference between a pie and a cheesecake? ›

Think about a classic fruit pie (like cherry or apple) and there are some big differences to cheesecake. For one, pies are always baked. Even the dictionary definition of "pie" notes this. Meanwhile, it's relatively normal to have an unbaked cheesecake that simply sets in the refrigerator.

What is similar to chess pie? ›

Buttermilk pie, true to its name, has a creamy dairy-based filling that's both sweet and tangy. Like chess pie, it has a buttery pastry crust and the filling is also made with sugar, butter, and eggs.

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