Classic bread pudding gets a soulful upgrade with roasted sweet potato and warm spices, plus pecan praline sauce. My sweet potato bread pudding with praline sauce is your new favorite Thanksgiving dessert recipe. Let's get into how to make bread pudding with sweet potatoes!
If you're planning your 2024 Thanksgiving dinner, make sure to download my Stress-Free Thanksgiving Guide. I promise, it will make your life much easier this time of year!
Jump to:
What does it taste like?
I grew up in a sweet potato pie household and this is basically a sweet potato pie bread pudding topped with my ultra decadent praline sauce. You'll taste sweet warming spices, caramelized pecan flavor, buttery bread and, of course, sweet potato.
And if you enjoy this easy sweet potato bread pudding, you'll love my classic Soul Food sweet potato pie , praline sweet potato gratin, and my bourbon sweet potato & pecan pie!
What You'll Need for this Recipe
Sweet Potatoes are the flavor star here. Use Jewel or Garnet varieties for the best results in your roasted sweet potato puree.
Bread - I like French bread in this recipe but you can also use brioche or challah. Preferably day-old but you can get away with fresh bread--just note that it won't be as easy to tear or cut without sticking together because it has more moisture.
Pumpkin Puree adds a boost of orange color to this recipe but will not impact the taste much if at all. Be sure to use pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling here.
Check out the recipe card below for full ingredients list, measurements, nutrition facts, and step-by-step instructions!
Substitutions & Variations
Pecans - You can use pecan halves, pieces, or even cookie pieces (crushed pecans) in the praline sauce.
Size and Servings - This recipe is for a crowd since we tend to have more people around the table during the holidays, however, you can easily half or double it using the recipe card function below!
Sweet Potatoes - Can I use canned sweet potatoes in bread pudding? Yes, you can use canned sweet potatoes as a shortcut because they won't need to be roasted. I recommend reducing the sugar by half since canned sweet potatoes are typically already heavily sweetened.
How to Make Sweet Potato Bread Pudding
Step One: Prick the sweet potato multiple times with a fork or knife and roast until tender.
Step Two: Mash the sweet potato to your preferred texture--from soft chunks to a smooth puree--it's up to you!
Pro Tip: Use a heavy duty spatula to quickly mash your sweet potato or a food processor to easily puree it.
Step Three: While the sweet potato is roasting, cut or tear up the loaf of bread into about one-inch pieces.
Step Four: Combine the remaining bread pudding ingredients with the prepared sweet potato to make a custard.
Step Five: Toss the bread pieces in the custard until evenly coated.
Step Six: Bake the sweet potato bread pudding until golden brown and firm to the touch.
Pro Tip: You don't have to soak the bread for bread pudding! While soaking does allow more of the custard to infuse with the bread, I've found that the difference is not noticeable after making different flavored bread puddings many times over the years.
Making the Praline Sauce for Bread Pudding
Step Seven: Melt the butter in a small saucepan.
Step Eight: Stir in brown sugar and heavy cream until dissolved and uniform. There's no condensed milk in this bread pudding sauce!
Pro Tip: To be efficient with your time, you can either make the praline sauce while the bread pudding bakes or while it cools and sets.
Step Nine: Bring the sauce to a light boil then reduce heat and simmer. Stir in pecans before serving.
Step Ten: Pour praline sauce over top of bread pudding to serve.
If you have any leftover praline sauce, make my Sticky Apple Monkey Bread with it!
Frequently Asked Questions
French bread, challah, and Texas toast are all great options for making bread pudding from scratch. Note that you can't use regular sandwich bread. it's just not dense enough. Whichever kind of bread you choose, try to use day-old breadu002du002deven a few days old is fineu002du002dso that it soaks up the custard and you get an even flavor and texture throughout.
This easy sweet potato bread pudding recipe makes enough for a large holiday-type crowd with leftovers for to-go plates and can be easily halved for smaller gatherings.
Yes, definitely. You can complete the prep ahead of time by tearing up your bread and storing it in a sealed container until ready to go. You can make the praline sauce ahead of time and seal it up, as well (make sure you store it in the fridge). You can even mix the custard up and chill it until go timeu002du002dup to 48 hours.
You have options when serving this bread pudding for Thanksgiving (or anytime). The easier way is to pour the praline sauce over all the bread pudding at once. If you want a little more control you can spoon the praline sauce on each piece as it's cut. This option is better for when all the bread pudding isn't being served or eaten at once.
How to Freeze and Reheat Bread Pudding
Wondering how can I freeze bread pudding for later? You can! Here's how to do it for the best results.
- Allow the bread pudding to fully cool after baking and don't pour the praline sauce over top yet.
- Cut the bread pudding into serving size portions and wrap them in plastic wrap (or place in zip-top freezer bags) then again in foil. I recommend then placing all the servings into an airtight freezer safe container or a large zip-top bag.
- The bread pudding should keep in the freezer for up to two months.
- To reheat an individual serving, place it in the fridge to thaw overnight then heat in the microwave for up to one minute.
- Serve with praline sauce once reheated.
This bread pudding freezing technique works with just about any kind of bread pudding, including my Cranberry Apple Spice Bread Pudding!
More Sweet Potato Desserts for the Holidays
I hope you'll try this Thanksgiving bread pudding at your next gathering. It's always a hit with friends and family and has even come up missing a time or two--it's that good. And sharing is caring so be sure to pin this recipe for later and follow me over on Pinterest. Thanks for reading!
📖 Recipe
Sweet Potato Praline Bread Pudding
Equipment
- 1 oblong pan
- 1 kitchen spoon or whisk or mixing spatula
Ingredients
Bread Pudding
- 2 large sweet potatoes roasted and peeled
- 2 loaves day-old French bread
- 8 eggs
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 15 ounces pumpkin puree
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups half and half
- 6 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Praline Sauce
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 ½ cup pecan halves or chopped pecans
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Poke a few holes in sweet potatoes and place on bottom rack. Bake for about 45 minutes or until easily pieced with a dinner fork.
- While the potatoes roast, prep the bread pudding ingredients: tear or cut bread into one-inch pieces and place into a large bowl. Set aside.
- Remove sweet potatoes and reset oven to 350 degrees. Place in freezer for a few minutes to make them easier to handle then peel off the skin (they should come away easily) and place sweet potatoes in a bowl. Mash to your desired consistency using a wooden kitchen spoon.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs until uniform. Mix in sugar, pumpkin puree, heavy cream, half and half, melted butter, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sea salt then stir in the cooled sweet potatoes. This custard mixture will have some chunks of sweet potato, which is OK.
- Pour custard mixture into bowl of torn bread pieces and use a spoon or rubber spatula to mix and spread the mixture until all pieces of bread are evenly coated. Transfer to a non-stick oblong pan and smooth top of mixture with spoon or spatula until it is relatively flat and even. Place pan in oven to bake for about an hour and thirty minutes.
- While the bread pudding bakes, melt the butter for the praline sauce in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.
- Add brown sugar and cream and stir until mixture is uniform. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for five to 10 minutes in order to allow sauce to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in pecans.
- When ready to serve, you can either spoon the sauce all over the bread pudding before cutting or ladle it on the individual portions. Both ways work fine but the first is easiest with a large crowd.
Notes
-
- Allow the bread pudding to fully cool after baking and don't pour the praline sauce over top yet.
- Cut the bread pudding into serving size portions and wrap them in plastic wrap (or place in zip-top freezer bags) then again in foil. I recommend then placing all the servings into an airtight freezer safe container or a large zip-top bag.
- The bread pudding should keep in the freezer for up to two months.
- To reheat an individual serving, place it in the fridge to thaw overnight then heat in the microwave for up to one minute.
- Serve with praline sauce once reheated.
Catherine Flannigan says
Could you clarify how much bread approximately? Two loaves of French bread- would you say that’s about how many cups cubed?
Jazzmine Woodard says
Hi, Catherine! This would be two pounds of bread, which typically translates to about 8 cups, however, I recommend going by weight as densities can vary.
Lizz Lee says
I never had bread pudding, decided to try it by halving the recipe in August 2025. I omitted the half and half added pecans in the potato mix, it came out pretty good. I made pecan candy with the extra. My husband loved this bread pudding!
Jazzmine Woodard says
Thanks for your note, Lizz! I'm glad to hear y'all enjoyed this bread pudding and that you could make it your own.
Jen says
This sweet potato bread pudding was super yummy! My family loved it and finished it so quickly. They are already asking when I’ll make it again.
Chenée says
I love bread pudding already, but this sweet potato bread pudding is next level! That praline sauce is heavenly.