6 Store-Bought Sweet Potato Pies, Ranked

Sweet but nutritious, sweet potatoes usually find their way to Thanksgiving in the form of candied sweet potato casserole, but sweet potato pies are great additions to the dessert spread. These pies are sure to grace tables over the holiday in the South because sweet potatoes grow well in the region. It is a staple food among Black Southerners, but this dessert is also becoming more popular across the U.S. Sure, you can make your own Southern-style sweet potato pie at home, but for those of us who aren't baking-inclined or are short on time before that next holiday party, many grocery stores now offer sweet potato pies in their bakery section. 

To help you decide where you should buy your next sweet potato pie, I taste-tested and ranked six sweet potato pies from grocery stores. For this ranking, I only included pies that are offered in the bakery section, as opposed to frozen pies from brands like Sara Lee. Some grocery store chains are actually owned by the same parent company and may offer the same pies. In this case, I only included one of them in the ranking. I picked out six in total and ranked them from worst to best.

The sweet potato pie at Ralph's is made by Bakery Fresh, which is Kroger's private label bakery brand (since Ralph's is actually owned by Kroger). Like most of the pies on the list, the Ralph's pie is a classic sweet potato pie with no topping or embellishments. Unfortunately, the filling is too sweet for my taste, and that is my main complaint about this pie. 

After a few bites, I found the pie filling to be pretty cloying. Because of that, the flavors of the sweet potato and the spices are buried under this sweetness. The crust wasn't particularly appealing, either. I found that the pie crust wasn't buttery or flaky, and it just tasted a little stale. 

At the store I visited, I saw the whole 10-inch pie had a regular sale price of $10.99, but since I was a Ralph's card member, I only paid $6.99. It's certainly an affordable and serviceable pie, but I wouldn't go for a second slice and would probably not buy another one in the future, having found better options elsewhere. After tasting the other pies, this became my least favorite because of how sweet it was and the stale taste of the crust. Since Ralph's is owned by Kroger, the same pie is offered at other Kroger brands like Food 4 Less.

The pies offered at Albertsons are made by a company called Jessie Lord Bakery. Vons and Safeway also sell the same pies as Albertsons, being owned by the same parent company, and I also found the same pie at Stater Bros. Markets. You can find stacks of Jessie Lord pies in the unrefrigerated bakery section of these stores. The eight-inch pie retails for $8.99 at my local Albertsons, and I saw the same price at Stater Bros. Markets. 

While the filling in this pie is not as sweet as the pie from Ralph's, I still find it to be too sweet. At least you can taste the spices and the sweet potato, though. The label on the packaging noted that the pie has no high fructose corn syrup, but unfortunately, there's still too much sugar. I also found that the crust was not flaky. 

One thing that might give pause to potential customers is that, in September of 2025, Jessie Lord Bakery's lemon pies were recalled due to an undeclared yellow food dye. Fortunately, the sweet potato pies are not on the recall list. This wasn't my least favorite pie on the list, but I don't think I'll be purchasing it again.

Although the Pavilions chain is owned by Albertsons Companies, this grocery store offers a different sweet potato pie than Vons and Albertsons. The pie offered at Pavilions is from Signature Select, which is part of Albertsons' Own Brands portfolio. The difference in offering makes sense, since Pavilions is meant to be more upscale than Vons. I paid $11.99 for a nine-inch pie, which was packed by the in-house bakery instead of coming in prepackaged plastic containers.

Signature Select's sweet potato pie filling is dense and firm instead of soft and creamy, but I like that you can really taste that it's made with sweet potatoes, and it's still smooth. The main spice used in Pavilions' sweet potato pie is cinnamon, and you can certainly taste it. The crust is relatively buttery and flaky. All in all, this is a pretty good pie if you like your filling to be on the more dense side. The crust was better than the pies from Ralph's or Albertsons. While it didn't make my top three because I prefer the filling to be creamier, this is a pie I wouldn't mind having again. 

Walmart is a great place to look for an affordable Thanksgiving dinner, including the pies. But the sweet potato pie at Walmart isn't just a generic pie. Singer Patti LaBelle's sweet potato pie went viral back in 2015, and the momentum still hasn't quite died down. You can buy Patti LaBelle's pies exclusively at Walmart, which reportedly sells an average of 36,000 of them every day. 

After trying one myself, I can see why this pie's so popular. For a mass-produced pie bought from the largest grocery store in the country, it was surprisingly good. The filling was particularly soft and creamy, almost gooey. I personally liked the texture, though some people may prefer a firmer consistency. I found the sweet potato filling wasn't too sweet, and the spice (the recipe includes nutmeg) came through nicely.

The crust was surprisingly buttery and flaky for a pie at this price level, as well, and was noticeably better than the pie from Pavilions. This is a pie I would happily purchase again and bring to holiday potlucks. It wasn't a particularly tall pie, but for the 8-inch pie I paid only $5.93. While I was in the store, I also saw that Walmart sells mini (3 oz) pies for just 84 cents, so there's really no excuse not to try it. 

Smart & Final is a California-based grocery store chain that started in the Los Angeles area and now operates at 255 locations across California, Nevada, and Arizona. The pie I got at Smart & Final was made by 27th Street Bakery, and it seems to be offered at select Smart & Final stores. Having bought so much pie, I paid $3.49 for a five-inch pie instead of opting for the large one, but I saw the store also offers a nine-inch pie for $17.99. 

I could see, at first glance, that the filling for this pie was the most vibrantly orange compared to the other pies I purchased. This pie filling was actually the one that tasted most like sweet potato out of all the pies I tried, and the flavor of the spices came through quite well. The crust was buttery and flaky. 

While I personally prefer Whole Foods Market's spruced-up pie, this Smart & Final pie is the one that tasted like a proper Southern-style sweet potato pie and the best of this style that I tasted for this ranking. Based on the list of ingredients on the packaging, this pie also has the fewest artificial additives compared to the other pies on this list, with the exception of Whole Foods Market's. It may be because Smart & Final is still a regional chain and can therefore work with local bakeries, using higher-quality ingredients to make higher-quality baked goods.

The sweet potato pie at Whole Foods Market is topped with toasted marshmallows and crumbled pecans. Adding marshmallows and nuts is certainly a great way to upgrade a sweet potato pie, and I'm glad Whole Foods took that step. The crust is also a graham cracker pie crust (which also happens to be the best crust for pumpkin pie). I paid $8.99 for a half pie, but the store sells the pie by the slice, or you can get a whole 9-inch pie for $15.99. You can find this pie in the refrigerated bakery section. Some Whole Foods groceries are not worth the price, but I think this pie is well worth it.

The sweet potato filling was smooth and creamy, and it wasn't too sweet. The crumbled pecans add a nice crunch and textural contrast to each bite. While the bottom of the graham cracker crust can get soggy depending on how fresh the pie was when you bought it, the crunchy pecans make up for it. Also, since it's a graham cracker crust, I found the crust became firm again after I placed my leftover slice in the refrigerator. The blend of flavors in this pie comes from a mixture of spices used, including vanilla extract, cinnamon, ginger, sea salt, and nutmeg. Sure, this isn't the traditional Southern-style sweet potato pie we're used to, but I think it's delicious and the best of all the pies I tasted. 

For this ranking, I only tested the sweet potato pies sold at grocery store chains, specifically looking at the pies offered in the bakery sections instead of frozen pies. I chose grocery stores that operate multiple locations in more than one state (or, at least, whose parent company operates in multiple states, such as Kroger and Albertsons). Because I'm based in Los Angeles, this ranking focuses on chains that are available in Southern California, so that I could taste the pies myself.

Since some chains are actually owned by the same parent company, in some cases, two chain stores might offer the exact same sweet potato pie (for example, Ralph's and Food 4 Less). In these cases, I only included the pie once in the ranking, while mentioning the other stores it's sold at. While pricing certainly plays a role in everyone's purchasing decision, I reviewed the pies purely based on taste, though I did also note the prices in each review.