Baked Sweet Potato Pudding

By
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Southern-cuisine expert and cookbook author Diana Rattray has created more than 5,000 recipes and articles in her 20 years as a food writer.
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Updated on 11/9/22
Tested by
Tracy Wilk
Photo of Tracy Wilk
Tested by Tracy Wilk
Tracy Wilk is a professional pastry chef, recipe developer and chef instructor, and, most importantly, a firm believer in sprinkles.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Baked sweet potato pudding

The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 40 mins
Total: 55 mins
Servings: 6 to 8 servings
Yield: 1 pudding

Although in some parts of the country sweet potatoes are only considered a side dish, down South this root vegetable is also popular on dessert menus in the form of pies and puddings. These smooth and delicious individual sweet potato puddings—think sweet potato pie but a bit lighter without the crust—combine brown sugar and spices to make a dessert flavorful enough to follow a holiday dinner. Serve them still warm from the oven in the fall or winter, but don't restrict this nutritious treat to your cold-weather menus; the homey dish tastes just as delicious served chilled in the spring and summer.

This recipe works with both freshly cooked and mashed sweet potatoes or canned sweet potato puree. Top each serving with a dollop of whipped cream or a favorite dessert topping and a light sprinkling of cinnamon sugar.

“This recipe is almost like a crustless sweet potato pie! I really like how this would work well if you are gluten-free or looking for an individual serving serve dessert.” —Tracy Wilk 

sweet potato pudding
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Ingredients

  • Unsalted butter, for greasing ramekins

  • 5 large eggs

  • 1 1/2 cups cooked mashed or pureed sweet potato

  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

  • Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

  • 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

  • 1 dash allspice

  • 1 1/4 cups milk

  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

  • Whipped cream, or frozen whipped dessert topping, for serving, optional

  • Cinnamon sugar, optional

Steps to Make It

Expert Notes

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients to make baked sweet potato pudding

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

  2. Butter six 8-ounce or eight 6-ounce ramekins and place them in a larger baking dish or roasting pan. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 350 F.

    Six buttered ramekins in a baking dish

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

  3. In a medium bowl with an electric hand mixer, beat the eggs until blended. Set aside.

    A bowl of blended eggs

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

  4. In another bowl, combine the sweet potato, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice. Beat well and, with the mixer on the lowest speed, gradually add the milk and vanilla; blend well. Add the beaten eggs and blend thoroughly.

    Sweet potato, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, vanilla, and milk added to the blended eggs

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

  5. Fill the ramekins almost full.

    Ramekins filled with sweet potato pudding mixture

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

  6. Place the pan with the ramekins into the oven and pour about 1 inch of near-boiling water into the pan (avoid getting water into the ramekins). Bake until the puddings are set, about 40 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven and let the ramekins cool.

    Ramekins of baked sweet potato pudding in a water-filled baking dish

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

  7. Serve the puddings warm, at room temperature, or chilled with whipped cream or thawed frozen whipped topping and a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar, if desired.

    Baked sweet potato puddings topped with cinnamon sugar and whipped cream

    The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

Tips

  • To prepare fresh sweet potatoes for the recipe, peel and slice two to three large or three to four medium sweet potatoes. Put them in a saucepan and cover them with water. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook the sweet potatoes until tender, about 12 to 15 minutes. Drain and mash them. Alternatively, you can bake the whole sweet potatoes until soft, then scoop the flesh from the skins into a bowl and mash them.
  • If you want to cut the preparation time, use canned sweet potatoes. You need two 15-ounce cans of pureed, mashed, or whole sweet potatoes for this recipe, but avoid those packed in syrup or with added sugar.
  • For an effective hot water bath, also called a bain marie, allow only about an inch of space between each of the ramekins and around the edges of the pan. This keeps the ramekins from sliding and splashing water into the puddings when you take the pan out of the oven. The water should come up the ramekins about halfway; you can add more hot water while they bake if necessary to keep the level consistent.
  • If you don't have individual ramekins, you can make the pudding in a 1 1/2-quart glass or porcelain baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Which is better for you: boiling or baking sweet potatoes?

If looking for the most nutritious way to cook sweet potatoes, boiling is a better choice than baking. Long, slow cooking times at high heat will deplete the nutrients from the potatoes, whereas boiling has shown to preserve most of the healthy benefits of this root vegetable.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
157 Calories
5g Fat
21g Carbs
6g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6 to 8
Amount per serving
Calories 157
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 5g 7%
Saturated Fat 2g 12%
Cholesterol 123mg 41%
Sodium 223mg 10%
Total Carbohydrate 21g 8%
Dietary Fiber 1g 5%
Total Sugars 16g
Protein 6g
Vitamin C 7mg 37%
Calcium 90mg 7%
Iron 1mg 5%
Potassium 293mg 6%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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