Sweet Potato Pie Recipe – A Welcomed Thanksgiving Side Dish

As a Thanksgiving side dish, sweet potato pies are a delicious tradition with their natural sweetness and health benefits. Start your own tradition.

Sweet potatoes have become an American tradition especially as a Thanksgiving side dish. As part of our holiday meals we’ve used them in pies, casseroles and other side dishes. They’ve been mashed, boiled and baked; covered with marshmallows, smothered in molasses or brown sugar or just salted and peppered.

Thanksgiving Tradition

There’s a long history of sweet potatoes throughout our holiday seasons especially as a Thanksgiving side dish. But these naturally sweet vegetables have been a daily side dish and a staple on Southern tables for years. With the increasing facts of their health benefits these sweet potatoes should been cooked and eaten often by everyone.

Sweet Potatoes

One of the most noted attributes for these sweet potatoes is that they contribute to our daily diet for weight loss. Yep, you read correctly. Eating sweet potatoes regularly will actually help in the loss of body weight. Their secret is the glycemic index, which slows down the process of breaking down the foods we eat, causing us to feel full longer.

With the holidays just around the corner, be sure to include a serving of sweet potato pie as you go back for our ritual of seconds and thirds. It won’t stop us from eating all of our favorite foods, but it may help us to eat less, reducing our calorie intake for the day.

Health Benefits

Sweet potatoes are filled with vitamin A, C and B6 including dietary fiber requirements and carotene. Relish in the natural flavors of sweet potatoes as a Thanksgiving side dish and take advantage of the amount of nutrients they offer. You can’t pass them up.

Two Versions of Sweet Potato Pies

In our house we are divided between these two versions of this delicious sweet potato pie recipe. So we make them both. They are so easy to make and so delicious that you will want to make these throughout the year!

For those who love the natural sweetness and fall spices, try the sweet and spice with cream. This one has the cinnamon and nutmeg spices in it. And for those who prefer a taste of herbs and sour cream try the herb mixture. In this version it’s the herbs of rosemary and thyme that give this pie a taste of its own.

I like it serve baked in a simple pie crust or a tart crust, served as a slice of heaven topped with a spoon of whipped cream or a dab of sour cream. You can also serve it in its own dish without the crust and save the calories for a second helping.

Ingredients:

Sweet and Spice Sweet Potato Pie

• 3 sweet potatoes
• ½ cup cream
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. of nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon
• ¼ cup of brown sugar

Herb Flavored Sweet Potato Pie

• 3 sweet potatoes
• ½ cup sour cream
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. of rosemary, thyme and sage
• ¼ cup of brown sugar

Preparation:

1. You’ll need a large pot with salted water. Add in the sweet potatoes after you have peeled them and let the water come to a boil. Once the sweet potatoes are soft, remove them from the pot and transfer to a bowl.
2. If you are making both of the pies, this is where you need to separate the sweet potatoes into two bowls.
3. Make up your spice or herb bowls. Combine two separate bowls; 1 bowl with nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon and 1 bowl with rosemary, thyme and sage. Set them both aside.
4. In the bowls with your sweet potatoes, add in the cream or sour cream, butter, salt and pepper and mash everything together until you have smooth texture in each bowl.
5. Add into each bowl the eggs and spice or herb bowls that you set aside earlier. And mix so that you have a smooth mixture. This mixture is not liquid it’s thick and delicious.
6. Pour each of your mixtures into an unbaked pie shell and bake at 375 for 35 minutes.

Serve:

Slice and serve with your favorite entrees or all alone as a midnight snack.

Enjoy!