This southern sweet potato pudding recipe is made the old fashioned way and baked until golden brown. It’s an easy dessert that’s perfect for the holidays.
This easy southern baked sweet potato pudding recipe is made the old-fashioned way. Sweet potatoes are the base of a naturally sweet dessert that’s perfect for the fall, Christmas and Thanksgiving.
Tater bread … like Grandma made
If you know me at all, you know that I have a pretty serious love affair with sweet potatoes. I reminisced over one of my favorite treats from my grandma’s kitchen. I loved waking up to the thick cinnamon-sweet aroma of sweet potatoes baking into what grandma called “tater bread.”
Now before you start thinking about loaf pans and flour, there’s no actual bread involved. Grandma’s tater bread was more like a baked sweet potato pudding. It was a blend of pureed sweet potatoes, sugar, butter, eggs and milk baked until the edges turned golden brown. Simple and delicious.
Although my grandma is not able to walk me through how she made her original “tater bread” today, I am grateful to have spent time with her learning. If only I’d known how valuable that time was as a child – I would have taken notes.
Though this is not sweet potato casserole or souffle, it has all of the flavors.
Is this like sweet potato casserole?
The version of the recipe I’m sharing today is a little lighter than a traditional sweet potato casserole. Instead of a stick of butter, three tablespoons does the trick.
Roasting brings out the natural sugars in the sweet potatoes, so I cut the sugar in half. I use plenty of spices to add that warm, inviting flavor and aroma.
This one also skips the marshmallows. So, maybe this one is not really that close to casserole anyway. But it’s still delicious.
To make this recipe without eggs or milk, try my Vegan Sweet Potato Pudding in Jars.
Best sweet potatoes for pudding
As a Carolina girl, I’m partial to North Carolina sweet potatoes. The thin skin and sweet flesh make them perfect for roasting. But you can likely use orange-flesh potato. I prefer to make this recipe in the fall when sweet potatoes tend to have the best flavor.
Also, one of the best ways to make this recipe is with leftover sweet potatoes. Simply mash or blend the leftover cooked sweet potatoes with the other ingredients and bake!
I make this dish every Thanksgiving and Christmas and anytime I have some extra mashed sweet potatoes hanging out in the fridge.
Tips for success
- Bake the sweet potatoes with the skin on for easy clean-up and a rich, caramelized flavor.
- You can roast the sweet potatoes up to 3 days in advance.
- Adjust the sugar in the recipe according to how sweet your potatoes are.
- This recipe is the perfect way to use up leftover sweet potatoes.
This was the original photo for this recipe years ago. I have since updated the photos as you can see above.
Twice Baked Sweet Potato Pudding
Ingredients
- 1-1½ lbs. sweet potatoes (about 3 medium)
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup milk
- 3 tbsp butter, softened
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Prepare a small casserole dish with cooking spray, butter or oil to prevent sticking. Set aside.
- Roast the potatoes at 400°F in a single layer on a sheet pan for an hour, or until fork-tender. Remove the potatoes from the oven. Reset the oven to 350°F.
- Once cool enough to handle, peel and lightly mash the sweet potatoes in a medium mixing bowl.
- Using a hand mixer or heavy whisk, mix the softened butter into the mashed sweet potatoes until well blended.Add the remaining ingredients to the sweet potatoes. Mix until smooth. Pour the sweet potato pudding mixture into the prepared casserole dish.
- Bake at 350ºF for 35 minutes or just until a fork inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm as is or with a drizzle of maple syrup and pecans.
Notes
- Bake the sweet potatoes with the skin on for easy clean-up and a rich, caramelized flavor.
- You can roast the sweet potatoes up to 3 days in advance.
- Adjust the sugar in the recipe according to how sweet your potatoes are.
- This recipe is the perfect way to use up leftover sweet potatoes.
- This recipe is kind of like sweet potato casserole but without the toppings. It's also similar to sweet potato souffle but with fewer eggs.
Diane
Great food memory, learning to cook with your Grandmother! I too am a sweet potato fan. I love this recipe, because it’s ideal for using leftover baked sweet potaotes. This will be served in my house very soon! Thanks Marisa and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Marisa
Yes. It’s perfect for using up leftover sweet potatoes! A very Happy Thanksgiving to you too!
Becca from ItsYummi.com
This sweet potato pudding looks like a lightened up version of a fattening sweet potato casserole. LOVE this!
Marisa
Thanks, Becca! You’re right. I just never think of it as casserole since we never did the marshmallow or streusel like toppings in my house. Grandma kept things simple!
dixya@food, pleasure, and health
i could do this for all my meals!
Marisa
Believe me. I know.
genevieve @ gratitude & greens
I’ve never had sweet potato pudding, but would love to try it! I have a pretty serious love affair with sweet potatoes, too 😉
Cindys Recipes and Writings
I’m ready for a big helping of these anytime!
Alanna
I think it’s safe to say that sweet potatoes may be my top 2 favorite foods. I could eat them every.single.day. I used to live in NC and that’s when it all started! This recipe looks delicious!!!
Marisa
You are in good company here!
Rachael@AnAvocadoADay
All I can say about this is YUM! And I am so with you about NC sweet potatoes (just don’t tell my SC neighbors!)
Marisa
Thanks Rachael! And I love SC sweets too 🙂
gretchen | kumquat
awww, i love sweet potatoes… and twice baked, YUM! these strange people i live with don’t like sweet potatoes, so that means they’d be ALL mine. 🙂
Marisa
I like your thinking, Gretchen!
Regan @ The Healthy Aperture Blog
Looks so good Marisa! The tater bread sounds so similar to spoonbread that I knew as a child. Glad you were able to recreate some of the spirit of your grandmother’s recipe 🙂
Marisa
Thanks, Regan! And yes.. gotta love the south. Our spoonbread is corn based but uses the same technique and many of the same ingredients. Love that too!
Danielle Omar -- Food Confidence RD
LOVE Grandma stories! They are so precious. And this tater bread looks amazing…comfort food in the making!
Meal Makeover Mom Janice
Marisa, we are both lucky to have food memories from our Grandmothers. I usually make a sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving and I have already bought 10 pounds of the potatoes. I may just have to shake things up this year and try your recipe!
EA-The Spicy RD
Yum-love this recipe! Although my grandma was a very simple cook, I remember she always made the gravy and cranberry sauce every Thanksgiving. But the best memory I have of her was eating 1 full size piece of every single dessert served, with whipped cream of course! The fun thing about this memory, was that normally she was VERY careful about what she ate to keep her weight stable, but she would eat her desserts with abandon on Thanksgiving and all the other holidays we celebrated together 🙂
Anne|Craving Something Healthy
Delicious recipe! I too wish I took notes on many of my grandma’s recipes 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Francesca
Looks absolutely delicious!!
Sarah
Definitely craving some sweet potato now!
Emily @ Zen & Spice
Ohh, yum! What a great use for sweet potatoes!
Katie Serbinski
I’m the only one who eats sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving— so I think I’ll be using YOUR recipe!! Can’t wait to keep it to myself 😉
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
There is no recipe out there that can beat a sweet potato recipe 😉