Add an elegant yet easy dessert to your traditional Thanksgiving table or any special occasion with this creamy Purple Sweet Potato Pudding.

Did the title get your attention? Did it make you want to read this post or did you think there was a typo?!! I always like to mix things up and throw in something wild out there for my friends and family to try. My daughter was watching me make this pudding and commented, “Mommy, you always make the most interesting things.”
Of course, when my family calls a dish “interesting,” it usually means the kiss of death. But this pudding is not only interesting, but pretty delicious, too.
I was tasked to make a fall dessert to grace the Thanksgiving table, and I have to admit, my head was spinning. Should I do a cake, a pie, a cookie or a tart? Should it be a crêpe, a pudding, a crisp or a bar? Pumpkin? Cranberry? Apple or Pear? I had a severe case of ADD.
A few cake flops later and since I still had some purple sweet potatoes leftover from making purple sweet potato soup, I had a light bulb moment. I’ll make some purple sweet potato pudding.

It’s not as funky as you think. You’ve heard of Pumpkin Pudding? So, why not sweet potato pudding? And finally, why not PURPLE sweet potatoes.
The milk base is the same for most puddings. I tempered the eggs and stirred them into the hot milk. Spiced with cinnamon and cloves, my kitchen smelled like fall. I microwaved the sweet potato, peeled it and mashed it, and then added to the hot cream.
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Because purple sweet potatoes are drier than their orange cousins, I added more milk. Then, I pulverized it all in the blender, for a smooth pudding.
And for my ultra-easy garnish, I topped it with spicy candied pecans and itty bitty marshmallows.
This dessert fills my requirement for a Thanksgiving dish: it’s simple, it’s fresh, it’s made with real ingredients and it has a creative twist.
Storing/Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: Store your pudding in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
TO FREEZE: You can also freeze leftovers, but the cream might split after thawed. Transfer to a resealable bag or freezer safe container and freeze for up to 4 months.
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Purple Sweet Potato Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 lb purple sweet potatoes
- 3 cup milk
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed plus 1 TBS
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 oz chopped pecans
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon red chile powder
Instructions
- Wash and scrub clean sweet potatoes. Pierce with a fork and cook in the microwave until tender, about 4 minutes on high temperature.
- Reserve potato until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, in a small pot over medium heat whisk together milk, ½ cup brown sugar, vanilla, ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon and cloves.
- Continue whisking the milk until just before the milk begins to boil. You do not want the milk to boil, as it will curd and produce a lumpy pudding.
- Remove the pot from heat.
- In a small bowl, whisk together eggs.
- Whisk in with the eggs 1 tablespoon of the hot milk.
- Whisk in with the eggs another 2 tablespoons of hot milk, one tablespoon at a time. This will keep the eggs from curdling.
- Slowly whisk in the tempered eggs with the hot spiced milk in the pot.
- Heat the pot over medium heat, whisking continuously until the cream mixture thickens, about 5-10 minutes.
- Remove the pot from heat.
- Peel and mash the cooked purple sweet potato in a small bowl. Mash in approximately ¼ cup of the hot cream with the potatoes to help soften the potatoes.
- Using a hand mixer, whisk in the mashed sweet potatoes into the pot of hot cream until smooth.
- Continue mixing over medium heat for 3 more minutes.
- Using an immersion blender, blend the pudding until completely smooth. You can also use a stand blender, just let the pudding cool before pouring into the blender.
- Once smooth, transfer pudding into serving cups or bowls, cover and chill until firm, about 4 hours.
- For the candied pecans, heat a small nonstick skillet over medium heat and add pecans and butter.
- Gently heat the pecans for 3 minutes, then add 1 TBS brown sugar.
- Stir until brown sugar has melted and coated the pecans. Season the pecans with salt, ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon and chile powder.
- Let the pecans cool and then top the pudding with them.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
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Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
Hi Laura! I just made this and it’s amazing! Thank you! Just one thing, I followed the recipe exactly, but ended up with 6 cups instead of 8… Just wondering where I went wrong! ♀️
I’m actually in the end part of making this… The emersion blending part and wondering about the consistency. It’s like smooth mashed potatoes at the moment. So should it be like that? And when it sets should it be like a normal silky pudding or is it supposed to be a bit thicker than the usual pudding? Just wondering so when it’s done I’ll know if I did it right.
Hi Katt-
It should be a little thicker than regular pudding but not so thick like a slice of pie. Make sense. And yes, it is smooth. Did you thicken the cream before adding the potatoes? You sound like you are on the right track.
Laura
This would be such a fun dessert to surprise your Thanksgiving guests with!
Yet another delicious, festive and pretty use of purple potatoes. Yum!
This sounds great! I haven’t eaten a purple sweet potato for many years!
Great recipe and shots – I got some of these beauties in the mail a few days ago and am planning on a casserole with a crunchy topping. Eager to try these!
We actually do make sweet potato pudding (and pie),but never used purple sweet potatoes. I don’t think I’ve even had one before! Your daughter is right – do you make the most interesting stuff!
Let me repeat – very interesting. 🙂
I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a purple sweet potato – not one that was purple all the way through. I want to!