
With Thanksgiving approaching is the time that many of us will be preparing our holiday menus and thinking about turkey and pumpkin pie as a part of it. Since pumpkin prices have shot up this year, I thought you may want to try a less expensive substitute to replicate that same flavor with my yam pie recipe. You can use yams or sweet potatoes without noticing a difference and the result will be that same delicious taste of pumpkin pie.
The funny thing about yams and sweet potatoes that can cause some confusion is that sweet potatoes have the reddish skin that is smoother in appearance than a real yam with darker and rougher brown skin. When shopping in the supermarket, the sign may say yams when they are really sweet potatoes. The reason for this is because in 1930, sweet potato growers in Louisiana started marketing a new variety of orange sweet potatoes to stand out from their competition and it lingered. Therefore, it doesn’t matter if you use yams or sweet potatoes for this recipe.
If you want to do yourself a real favor, I suggest trying my healthier oil pie crust recipe. This will speed up preparation and will be so flaky and tender unlike attempting a pie crust with shortening that can be tricky.
Furthermore, yam and sweet potatoes do possess slightly fewer calories than their pumpkin counterpart with about four grams of fiber, 26 grams of carbohydrates, zero fat along with about two grams of protein. On the other hand, pumpkin has a slight edge on the protein content at three grams but also have seven grams of fat, seven grams of fiber and 19 grams of carbohydrates.
This yam pie is one that I have been making for years. I hope that you will print out my recipe and try it because it is truly good.
Yam Pie
½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
½ teaspoons of allspice
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
½ teaspoons of salt
1 ½ cups mashed cooked yams or sweet potatoes
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 can evaporated milk (12-oz.)
unbaked crust for two nine-inch pie shells (use my oil pie crust recipe and double it)
Mix the sugar, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and salt in your mixing bowl.
Stir in cooked, mashed yams or sweet potatoes.
Add the eggs and milk and combine well with your electric mixer until smooth.
Pour into two unbaked nine-inch pie shells.
Bake at 450-degrees for about 10 minutes before reducing the oven temperature of 350-degrees for about 35 more minutes.
Test for doneness by sticking in a toothpick or slender knife to see if anything sticks.
Cool thoroughly.
ENJOY!

- ½ cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- ½ teaspoons of allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
- ½ teaspoons of salt
- 1 ½ cups mashed cooked yams or sweet potatoes
- 2 large eggs slightly beaten
- 1 can evaporated milk 12-oz.
- unbaked crust for two 9-inch pies use my oil pie crust and double the recipe
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Mix the sugar, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and salt in your mixing bowl.
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Stir in cooked, mashed yams or sweet potatoes.
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Add the eggs and milk and combine well with your electric mixer until smooth.
-
Pour into two unbaked nine-inch pie shells.
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Bake at 450-degrees for about 10 minutes before reducing the oven temperature of 350-degrees for about 35 more minutes.
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Test for doneness by sticking in a toothpick or slender knife to see if anything sticks.
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Cool thoroughly.
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ENJOY!
I definitely love yams but I’ve never had yam pie before. I love to give this a try sounds and looks delicious!
Author
Hi Gina,
It really tastes close to pumpkin pie.