Sweet potato

A starchy root vegetable with sweet, moist flesh, most often orange in American baking, used mashed or pureed in pies, cakes, breads and custards.

Sweet potato: Whole orange-fleshed sweet potatoes with one roasted and split open showing soft bright orange flesh
  • Baking ingredients and additives

Sweet potato pie is a Southern American classic: a custard pie made with mashed sweet potato, eggs, sugar, butter and warm spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg. It is similar to pumpkin pie but usually denser and sweeter. Sweet potato puree also adds moisture and color to muffins, quick breads and cakes.

Roasting sweet potatoes whole in their skins until very soft gives the sweetest, most concentrated flavor. Boiling works but adds water, which can make fillings looser. Push the flesh through a sieve for the smoothest pie.

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Sources

Written by VanillaGoods in our own words from these sources. Last reviewed October 15, 2026.

  1. Sweet potato (Q37937), Wikidata