Old-Fashioned Grated Sweet Potato Pudding tastes a little like a pumpkin, or sweet potato pie, with the full-bodied flavors of molasses, cinnamon, and freshly grated nutmeg. It's a rustic dessert that is easy to make using simple ingredients and requires no fancy equipment.

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**Note - I'm updating this recipe for Old-Fashioned Grated Sweet Potato Pudding which I originally posted back in October of 2011. I've added new photos, a fun, and fast-paced video, plus a printable recipe card for your ease of use and enjoyment.
The ingredient list:
- grated sweet potatoes
- molasses
- brown sugar
- milk
- eggs
- salt
- ground cinnamon
- grated nutmeg
- vanilla extract
What I wrote in 2011:
I've recently become smitten with all things vintage. Especially cookbooks and aprons. To me, everything old is new again, and I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself!
It must be because I'm getting up there in age that I'm having a ball imagining myself in simpler times, and then transporting myself there via my love of cooking and baking.
Food is the great equalizer that unites us in time and space. It encompasses our true love of family, friends, and culture.
Friends, Food, and Kindness:
That being said, the other day on twitter I had mentioned how I had recently discovered my newfound passion for vintage cookbooks. Within mere seconds of me putting my original tweet out, Michele of @FunkyChunkstweeted me back asking me what my favorite time period was for my collection? Having just started collecting, I told her I had not yet discovered it, and I was anxious to see where my collection would take me.
Michele had also told me that she'd been collecting vintage cookbooks for many years, so I was thrilled to find out that she and I now had something new in common. We ended our tweet conversation, and that was that. Or so I thought. Much to my surprise, look what arrived at my front door a few days later...
If you don't know of Michele and her wonderful company Funky Chunks Soap Company, you certainly should. Her soap scents are the best I've ever smelled, and they lather like crazy! If you like to lavish yourself if luxury and let the sweet and sensual aromas overtake your senses, check out Michele's soaps.
Now that we've lathered and washed, let's get cooking!
This Old-Fashioned Grated Sweet Potato Pudding is the first recipe I've chosen to blog about in my new "Vintage Series" of recipes. I took this from one of the books Michele sent me called "Everyday Foods," which I found on page 518.
The recipe sounded simple, unusual, along with being quick and easy to make, and with a good combination of fall flavors. I thought would be a perfect choice for me to make on a lazy autumn Sunday afternoon.
You'll notice from the listed ingredients (at the top of this post) the additional items I've added to the original recipe for Old-Fashioned Grated Sweet Potato Pudding (ground cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, and vanilla extract), and I've omitted the milk entirely (in the video version it was strictly by accident) to make this recipe my own.
I must admit, Old-Fashioned Grated Sweet Potato Pudding isn't the most attractive recipe for my first time out of the vintage gate, but the smell was pretty intoxicating as it was baking and caramelizing in the oven.
The reviews for Old Fashioned Grated Sweet Potato Pudding recipe were mixed. Below are some pictures of my son Adam doing me a favor and giving it a taste. The cookbook suggests serving the pudding with whipped cream or lemon sauce. They both sound good but we opted for frozen vanilla yogurt instead because that's what we had on hand.
We all decided that, while the flavor of Old Fashioned Grated Sweet Potato Pudding is pleasant, much like a pumpkin or sweet potato pie, the texture and overall eye appeal left something to be desired.
The frozen vanilla yogurt helped... A LOT, so don't forget to add some frozen yogurt or ice cream to the pudding before serving. You'll be glad you did.
How to make Grated Sweet Potato Pudding:
- Peel and grate enough sweet potatoes to make 5 cups.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, molasses, butter, brown sugar, milk, salt, ground cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- Stir in the grated sweet potatoes and pour the mixture into a 3-quart casserole dish that has been sprayed with baking spray.
- Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for approximately 70-80 minutes.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream, or whipped cream to top.
Ice cream flavors for topping this pudding:
- No-Churn Banana Walnut Ice Cream
- Luscious Lemon Ice Cream with Blueberries and Malibu Rum
- Toasted Coconut Pecan Ice Cream
When you make this recipe (and I hope that you will), I'd appreciate it if you'd take the time to come back and give it a star rating along with a comment on why you rated as you did. Search engines such as Google appreciate comments and ratings and, in turn, will show my recipes to more people. Please look for the pink star rating box within the printable recipe card. Thank you!!
Printable Recipe Card
Grated Sweet Potato Pudding
Equipment
- box grater optional
- food processor optional
Ingredients
- 5 cups grated sweet potato, peeled
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ½ cup butter, melted
- 1 cup molasses
- ½ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees F (175 degreed C)
- Spray a 3-quart baking dish liberally with baking spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, butter, molasses, milk, vanilla, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- Stir in the grated sweet potato and mix well.
- Pour the sweet potato pudding mixture into the prepared baking dish and bake for 70-80 minutes (or until the center is set), making sure to remove the pudding earlier if it becomes too dark.
- Remove and cool.
- Top with ice cream or frozen yogurt and serve warm or at room temperature.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Thank you so much for visiting me today in my Kudos Kitchen. I hope you found something you'll love and that you will come back and visit me often. Please know that there is always room for you around my kitchen table!
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Until we eat again, I hope you have a delicious day!
Vicki says
Oh I forgot the sweet potato pudding has a grated white Potato in it to. Then it is steamed, baked or carefully microwaved.
Vicki says
This reminds me of our Christmas pudding. It survived many years as my mom’s carrot pudding but being allergic to carrots I substituted grated sweet potatoes. Then our recipe resembles the one Lena’s relative helped her with- has flour and sugar plus a grated apple, currants, raisins and golden raisins . Some people add nuts. We then serve it with homemade caramel sauce or Lemon sauce and whipped cream (I like it drizzled with caramel and lemon sauce and whipped cream. Good thing we only take in all those calories once a year.
Erin Clarkson says
I am intrigued by this! I'm from NZ and we never use sweet potato in sweet things - I am going to check this out!
Megan @ MegUnprocessed says
Sweet potato pudding sounds amazing!
Jersey Girl Cooks says
I am not too familiar with this recipe, but I certainly want to try it out!
Alexusmama says
I recently found your blog and I have been just slowly sifting through and reading posts that catch my eye. I also love old cook books (my husband is ready to build me a separate room just for books) and I like to play around with the recipes just to see what I can tweak to make them fit into our more modern palates. I thought with this one, maybe if you cooked the potatoes half way before grating and then made a streusel topping or something similar that might help with texture and appearance. I will have to test it and see if it works. 🙂
Renée says
That does sound like a fabulous idea. The streusel topping would be fantastic!
Lena says
I have the same cookbook you used for this recipe but I must admit I also don't like this recipe for Grated Sweet Potato Pudding. However, being the lucky daughter in-law to an old southern gentleman who used to help his mommy cook back in the days when she was a midwife in North Carolina paid off handsomely. Pa (as I lovingly called him) taught me this recipe instead. 4 large grated sweet potatoes, 1.5 cups sugar, 1.5 cups flour, 2 eggs, 1.5 cups milk, 2 teaspoon of cinnamon and nutmeg (or to your preference), 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Follow same prep as above but bake at 325 degrees for 1.5 to 2 hours in 9x13 pan. Stir pudding at 25 and 45 minutes while in oven. This recipe lightens the pudding but keeps it carmelized. Top with vanilla ice cream or yogurt.
Renee Goerger says
Hi Lena! Thanks for the visit and your comments.
I especially appreciate the help with a new sweet potato pudding recipe. I will definitely have to try yours. I really like the concept of sweet potato pudding but not so much the flavor. Haha. What I find really funny about this recipe (and post) is that it has been one of my most popular. Go figure :-/
Anonymous says
Thanks for this recipe. It sounds like what my mother used to make many years ago.
Renée says
My pleasure. I hope it is similar. Enjoy.
Unknown says
I have the ingredients on the counter to make the recipe I shared above again this year. Since first tasting this pudding 23 years ago, I still love it. Sadly, my mother in law who always assisted Pa with this recipe is no longer with us. It will be our first Thanksgiving without her. I wonder how many times in her 92 years she made this recipe.
Renée says
That is quite an amazing story. I hope this recipe brings back a lot of wonderful memories.
SweetSugarBelle says
How fun!!!! Guess what you made me want to track down! I only have one vintage cookbook and its from the 30's. I hope you keep this up! 🙂
Paula says
How thoughtful of Michele to send you those cookbooks and her soaps! Your first recipe from them may have been so-so but it will always remind you of the kindness of Michele and the fact that you made a new friend. That's surely always to be sweet memory. Enjoy your new books, your new hobby and all the friends you will make along the way.
Michele says
So glad that you are getting enjoyment and adventure from my old cookbooks! Hopefully one so-so recipe doesn't hold you back from trying more. We've uncovered a lot of gems in vintage cookbooks. 🙂