This rich and creamy vegan sweet potato pie is infused with the flavors of chai tea and and topped off with whipped coconut cream topping!
My brother makes pies. Not sweet potato pies. Apple raspberry pies are his thing. It’s been his traditional Thanksgiving contribution for a few years now. His inspiration came from a little gourmet-type shop up near where my parents live. They sell all kinds of goodies, including pies.
If I recall correctly, he made his first pie to take to a social event. I can’t remember if it was to impress girls or if he was just super happy about the fact that it unexpectedly resulted in impressing girls, but he did do a great deal of bragging about the ladies’ responses to his pie. He was pretty proud of his newfound baking skills and from that point forward has brought pie to Thanksgiving dinner, year after year. So proud in fact, that he’s apt to order every person at the table to try his pie as soon as he arrives.
“Dude, we haven’t eaten dinner yet. Not ready.”
“I don’t care! Taste the damn pie! It’s fantastic!!!”
My family has pie covered. This year and every year. In fact, my mom will in all likelihood bake a pumpkin pie as well. Assuming that happens, we’ll have two pies for six people.
So, I opted to serve this one to some friends, pre-Thanksgiving. Interestingly, I almost didn’t serve it to them, initially thinking I didn’t like it. Hasty me, I baked this pie on a Friday afternoon and started slicing it up within minutes of taking it out of the oven. I was in a rush to get some photos snapped before the daylight ran out.
I was a bit disappointed with the texture. I set it aside, thinking I needed more time to consider this problem, gave it a little taste later on and was pleasantly surprised. It totally transformed into deliciousness. I had to ask for honest confirmation when I served it the next day and everyone seemed to dig it as much as I did. Oh, and it was even more improved by the addition of some coconut whipped cream, which I highly recommend serving it with. So, the verdict? This vegan sweet potato pie is awesome, and doubly so with topping.
I didn’t add much sweetener. This is really a personal thing. In fact, I was initially all excited, thinking I could get away with a no-sugar-added vegan sweet potato pie. Upon tasting the batter I realized at least a little extra sweetness would be needed. I recommend tasting your batter to decide if you’d prefer a little more or less.
Finally, if you buy a premade crust, watch out. Most store bought pie crusts contain either dairy and/or lard. If you can’t find a suitable vegan crust, go and make your own. Most recipes are as simple as flour, salt, water and vegetable shortening. If you can find yourself some vegan graham crackers, they would make a nice crust for this as well, given the not too sweet-spicy flavor.
Chai-Spiced Vegan Sweet Potato Pie
Ingredients
- 2 large sweet potatoes
- 3/4 cup coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon*
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger*
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom*
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg*
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves*
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 vegan pie crust of choice
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400°. Poke a few holes in each sweet potato using a sharp knife. Place the sweet potatoes directly on the oven rack and bake until very soft, about 45 minutes. Alternatively, you can microwave them for about 8 minutes, checking every minute or so after the first 5 minutes.
When the sweet potatoes are done baking, slice them open to allow the steam to escape. Allow them to sit for a few minutes to cool.
Lower the oven temperature to 375°. When the sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, scoop out the insides and place them into food processor bowl. Add the coconut milk, maple syrup, vanilla, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Process until smooth, stopping to scrape the bowl as needed. Pour the batter into the pie crust and smooth out the top with a rubber scraper.
Bake for about 40 minutes, or until set. Remove the pie from oven and allow it to cool completely before slicing.
- Serve with coconut whipped cream and a spinkle of cinnamon if you like.
Recipe Notes
This amount is for a just slightly sweet pie. If you like a sweeter pie, add a bit more maple syrup. Taste test the mixture until you're happy with the flavor.
* I've updated the spice amounts since originally posting the recipe, after getting quite a few comments that it was too spicy. But feel free to taste test the sweet potato mixture and adjust them based on your taste.
it looks delish!
Thank you!!! :)
My gosh, it looks heaven!
Thanks so much!!!
I had a similar problem with a pumpkin pie I made years ago with my friend! It tasted fine when it was just baked but I couldn’t understand why it didn’t taste like other pumpkin pies. Then we stuck it in the fridge and the next day, it was amazing!
This looks really really good. I love anything chai. Also if anyone lives near Whole Foods, I think they make their own vegan pie shell and put it in the frozen section. :D
Yeah, suppose the need to refrigerate custardy-type pies is key, but because these pies usually contain eggs, I’m still a bit of a novice as far as they’re concerned.
Good call with the whole foods crust! Thanks Aya!
How many cups of sweet potato does 2 medium sweet potatoes make?
Hi Cassi! You should get about 1 1/2 cups of mashed from 2 sweet potatoes.
Do you think agave syrup would work just as well, I have almost all the other ingredients already on hand is why I ask :d
It should work just fine – these days I use agave and maple pretty much interchangeably. The stores are bound to be crazy today so I don’t blame you for avoiding a trip out for ingredients! Enjoy!!!
Question, I’m making my vegan pie crust and was wondering if you are using already baked crust or just raw then baked all together?
No need to bake it! Just line your pie pan with the dough, pour and bake. Hope you enjoy it!
hey Alissa, just making sure it is supposed to be 2 tablespoons of cinnamon?
Hi Courtney! Yeah, 2 tablespoons is correct! It does seem like a lot, but I was going for something very flavorful – I actually just checked my notes on the recipe to confirm, and it looks like I kept bumping up the amount of cinnamon (and the other spices) for just that reason. :)
Hi! I love your recipe, and I featured it in my blog post: 5 Sweet Potato Recipes To Brighten Your Winter (I credited you and linked to your website.) Thank you! – Lily
Thanks Lily! Just checked out your blog post, and I’m totally with you on purple sweet potatoes – I just tried them for the first time myself and they’re fantastic. :)
Hey Alissa! Thanks for the recipe looks amazing! Question though, I am actually allergic to coconut is there anything I use instead of that? Thanks!
Thanks Jessica! You might be able to get away with another non-dairy milk, like soy or almond, I can’t be totally sure without trying it myself. Another thing that might work is a mix of silken tofu and another non-dairy milk, perhaps in equal parts.
Is the coconut milk lite or full fat that you used?
It was full-fat. Enjoy!
My pie was still not solid after 40 min. Is this normal? Does it need to go in the fridge after, or does it just set cooling down?
An absolute gorgeous recipe. Thank you for posting.
Thanks Diane!
do you store this pie at room tempt or do you keep it in the fridge?\
It’s fine at room temperature for about a day – if you keep it around longer I’d stick it in the fridge. :)
How would I adapt this recipe to leave out the crust and make a casserole? Would it burn on the bottom without the crust?
I’ve never made a crustless pie, but I think if you just pour the batter into a lightly oiled pie plate it should work. I’d keep an eye on it incase the cook time is a bit different.
hmm. first off, i’ve made a ton of your recipes, and they’re ALWAYS amazing.. I hesitate to post something negative, but in the interest of learning…. I made this last night and it turned out SO bitter it was inedible.. :( not sure what it was, but it’s possible to troubleshoot or figure out why? just wondering if anyone else ran into this…
I’m sorry to hear that! I’ve made this a couple of times and never had that problem! Did you happen to taste the mixture or even just the sweet potato itself before baking the pie? The only thing I could think of is that you got a bad one, so I did some googling and found this – https://www.leaf.tv/articles/how-to-tell-sweet-potatoes-are-spoiled/ and this https://www.reddit.com/r/AskCulinary/comments/1n4xsm/why_do_orange_sweet_potatoes_sometimes_taste/
tasted ok raw, maybe not sweet enough, but that sounds like what happened… like when you get that one bad pistachio :)) yuk.. i’ll make it again sometime.. and I LOVE all your recipes. you are awesome!!
Thank you so much! I hope you give this another shot and it works out! :)
I just wanted to thank you for this AMAZING recipe! I’m still stunned that it came out PERFECTLY! Had I not made the pie myself I never in a million years would have guessed it was vegan and refined sugar free! We adjusted the spices to taste and added in a bit of fresh lemon juice. We also used a combo of maple syrup, agave, and a bit of stevia. This pie recipe is absolutely perfect and I am already raving about it to friends and family! Thanks again!
Yay!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks Marisa!
I made this pie over the holiday, but it was way too spicy for me (even with additional maple syrup). I really want to try it again though because I think it will be really yummy if I cut down on the spices. The consistency was perfect – just needed some adjustment on the spices for my taste. Looking forward to giving it a second try at Christmas!
It is pretty spicy! I hope you enjoy it when you give it another try!!
Hi there, I agree the recipe is WAY too spicy for me and my partner. So i actually saved th batch and instead took a third cup of it to mix with four small sweet potatoes plain and mashed. Out of that I made a pie. It was much milder and palatable to me. However just a bit too mild. I like the ratio, though the nutmeg stood out a bit to me, and it was just too much quantity of each. Just a heads up to others on this.
Thanks for the feedback! This is quite a spicy pie and I understand that’s not for everyone.
Thanks for recipe. Made it. Lovely. But take heed. It is very spicy in these amounts. Not subtle. I would reduce spice next time as it overwhelms.
Thanks for the feedback! Next time I make it I’ll play around with the amounts so I can suggest some ranges. :)
Hello!! Is it canned coconut milk? Or regular?
Canned coconut milk, although the kind in a carton will work as well!
Thank you so much! I’ll be doing it today 😍😘👏🏼 Ill let you know how it works 😁
Hi! Sweetened or unsweetened coconut milkv
Unsweetened. :) Enjoy!
In the oven! Love all your ingredients, perfect balance of flavors. a vegan delight. Thank you!
Thank you!! I hope you enjoy it!