Give your classic bread pudding a soulful upgrade with real roasted sweet potato, warm spices, and pecan praline sauce. My sweet potato bread pudding with praline sauce is sure to become your family's new favorite Thanksgiving dessert recipe. Let's get into how simple it is to make!
And if you enjoy this recipe, you'll love my sweet potato cake with praline cream cheese frosting, too!
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Featured Reader Review
★★★★★
"This is the BEST bread pudding I've ever had. The sauce is AMAZING. Thanks for sharing!!!"
-Shandra
❤️ Why You'll Love this Recipe
Extra Special Flavor - The holidays are prime time for pouring extra love into your favorite desserts. This dessert tastes kind of like caramelized Soul Food sweet potato pie, and the rich, sweet, and buttery notes from the easy Louisiana praline sauce take it over the top.
Fit for a Crowd - This sweet potato praline bread pudding recipe makes a big pan of bread pudding, so you'll have more than enough to serve your whole family and pack up to-go plates!
👉🏾 I grew up in a sweet potato household, so I have plenty more to share with you, like praline sweet potato gratin, bourbon sweet potato & pecan pie, pecan sweet potato casserole, and even sweet potato pie ice cream!
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, challah, or Texas toast. Regular sandwich bread is simply not dense enough. Day-old bread is preferable, 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 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 halve or double it using the recipe card function below!
With Canned Yams - Wondering 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 a Sweet Potato Pecan Bread Pudding
Make the Bread Pudding
- Step One: Roast the sweet potato, then break it down into either a chunky mash or a smooth puree--whichever you prefer! (Photos 1 and 2)
- Step Two: Cut or tear up the loaf of bread into about one-inch pieces. (Photo 3)
- Step Three: Combine the remaining bread pudding ingredients with the prepared sweet potato to make the custard. (Photo 4)
Pro Tip #1
Use a heavy-duty spatula to quickly mash your sweet potato to a chunky texture, or a food processor to make puree with no strings!
- Step Four: Toss the bread pieces in the sweet potato custard until coated, then spread the mixture into your baking pan. (Photo 5)
- Step Five: Bake until golden brown and firm to the touch. (Photo 6)
Pro Tip #2
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.
Make the Praline Sauce for Bread Pudding
- Step Six: Melt the butter in a small saucepan, then stir in the brown sugar and cream, and bring to a boil. (Photos 7 and 8)
- Step Seven: Simmer the sauce, then stir in the pecans off heat. (Photo 9)
- Step Eight: Serve the sauce over the bread pudding as a whole or on each individual serving--up to you! (Photo 10)
Pro Tip #3
To be efficient with your time on the day of your meal, make the praline sauce either while the bread pudding bakes or as it cools and sets. You can also make it several days ahead of time!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, for a quick and easy experience the day of: you can complete the prep ahead of time by tearing up your bread and storing it in a sealed container until ready to go. Make the praline sauce up to a week ahead, and store in the fridge. You can even mix the custard up and chill it until go time--up to 48 hours.
Store in an airtight container--with or without praline sauce--and refrigerate. Keeps for up to four days.
To freeze, cool the bread pudding to room temperature, and don't add the praline sauce to it. Cut the pudding into serving-size portions, and wrap each one in plastic wrap, then again in foil. Place the wrapped pieces into an airtight, freezer-safe container or large zip-top bag. Keeps for up to two months. To reheat, thaw in the fridge overnight, then reheat in the microwave for up to one minute.
How to Serve
Temperature: You can enjoy this at room temperature or even cold, but it tastes the best when eaten warm, which makes the praline sauce extra gooey!
Pairings: Add a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream or southern butter pecan ice cream for extra indulgence.
Occasions: Of course, you can serve this bread pudding for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. And it is always a hit when I bring it to Friendsgiving parties!
More Sweet Potato Desserts for the Holidays
Looking for more recipes like this? Try these:
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 kitchen spoon or whisk or mixing spatula
- 1 large oblong pan or two 9 x 13-inch baking dishes
Ingredients
For the Sweet Potato Bread Pudding
- 1 pound sweet potatoes about two large sweet potatoes, around six inches long and three inches thick
- 2 loaves French bread preferably 1-3 days old
- 8 eggs
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups half and half
- 15 ounces pumpkin puree
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
For the Praline Sauce
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 ½ cup pecan halves or chopped pecans
Instructions
- Prepare the Sweet Potatoes: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Poke a few holes in sweet potatoes and place directly onto oven rack with a sheet pan underneath to catch any drips. Bake for about 45 minutes or until easily pierced with a dinner fork.*This can be done several days in advance. See notes.1 pound sweet potatoes
- 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 (it should come away easily) and place sweet potatoes in a bowl.Mash them to your desired consistency (by hand for chunky texture or with a food processor for smooth puree).
- Assemble the Bread Pudding: Meanwhile, tear or cut bread into one-inch pieces and place into a bowl. Set aside.2 loaves French bread
- In another mixing bowl, beat the eggs until uniform. Mix in sugar, heavy cream, half-and-half, pumpkin, melted butter, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sea salt, then stir in the cooled sweet potatoes. Depending on how much you processed the sweet potatoes, this custard mixture may have some chunks of sweet potato, which is OK.8 eggs, 2 cups granulated sugar, 2 cups heavy cream, 2 cups half and half, 15 ounces pumpkin puree, 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 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.
- Bake Bread Pudding: Transfer to oblong baking 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.
- Make the Praline Sauce: While the bread pudding bakes, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.1 cup unsalted butter
- Add brown sugar and cream and stir until mixture is uniform. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 5-10 minutes in order to allow sauce to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in pecans.2 cups brown sugar, 1 cup heavy cream, 1 ½ cup pecan halves
- 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.
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.