I’ll be serving my family a brand new dish at Thanksgiving dinner in a few days, and I’m so excited. Sweet potatoes (a.k.a. yams) topped with marshmallows is a pretty classic dish, and certainly a standby with my family, so it’s got to be there. But when it’s my year to host dinner and I get to call the shots, I like to mix things up a bit. So I got to thinking… Everybody always puts the marshmallows on TOP of the sweet potatoes, but what if you mixed them inside? Would it work? Would it taste good? And what if I added a crust and made it into a savory pie, too?

I knew the results would be either brilliant or a disaster. I did a test run a few weeks ago and fortunately, it gave brilliant results, so the dish is on the menu for Thursday. Here’s the recipe, in case you want to mix your old classics up a bit!

Chica’s Sloppy Sweet Potato Pie

• 3 lbs sweet potatoes
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups mini marshmallows

Start by boiling the sweet potatoes until fork tender. While still hot (it will be easier that way), peel them with a knife or the edge of a spoon. What? Boiling potatoes is not your thing? It’s okay, you can used canned stuff. If you don’t tell anybody, neither will I.

Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle (or the cans are all opened), cut them into chunks about 1/2″ to 3/4″ in size.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Add the brown sugar, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, butter, and condensed milk to a large bowl. (Make sure the butter is soft, or else you’ll never get it mixed in. And for heaven’s sake, don’t let me catch you using margarine or spread instead of real butter!)

I would show you what this looks like all mixed up, but I’m sparing you the gory details. It’s not pretty or appetizing to look at at this stage. It will taste good though, I promise!

Add the chunks of potato and the mini marshmallows to the gooey goo and stir gently until combined.

Pour the mixture into a waiting, unbaked pie crust. I am a huge fan of the refrigerated pie crusts that you roll out, and I never bother attempting a from-scratch crust. If you’d like to make a pretty fluted edge, be sure to check out my tutorial to learn how.

Bake at 350 F for about 25 minutes, or until bubbly and golden.

Let it sit for at least 15 minutes before attempting to serve. The longer it sits, the firmer the pie will be. You’ll see as soon as you cut into it why I call it “sloppy” sweet potato pie. But sloppy tastes good! Oh, so good!

Now dish it up along with the turkey and all the fixings. This is no dessert pie, that’s for sure!

Do you have a dishes on your Thanksgiving menu that are a twist on an old classic? If so, let us know all about it in the comments. We love new ideas!