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This comforting sweet potato bread is moist, fluffy, warmly spiced, & the easiest version you’ll ever make (no roasting potatoes required!). Plus, it’s egg & dairy-free!
Why You’ll Love This Sweet Potato Bread Recipe
Sweet potato (or pumpkin) combined with warm spices are a fall lover’s dream team, including making vegan sweet potato pie, candied sweet potatoes, sweet potato muffins, sweet potato smoothies, and now this easy recipe for sweet potato bread. This southern-style quick bread is moist, fluffy, comforting, perfectly spiced, and now egg and dairy-free!
It only takes 10 minutes of prep (no mixer required) to prepare easy sweet potato quick bread. You don’t even need to pre-roast sweet potatoes; just shred them directly into the batter for natural sweetness and melt-in-the-mouth texture. It’s great for breakfast, brunch, or dessert all Fall/holiday season – and freezer-friendly, too.
Looking for more simple vegan quick bread recipes to enjoy this fall? Try vegan apple cinnamon bread, vegan pumpkin bread, vegan persimmon bread, or classic, oil-free easy vegan banana bread.
The Ingredients Notes
Refer to the recipe card for the full list of ingredients and their quantities.
Flour: Use all-purpose flour or a 50/50 mix of AP + whole wheat flour for a more healthy sweet potato bread recipe (especially combined with reduced sugar/oil).
Optional add-ins & Recipe Variations
- Pumpkin pie spice: Replace the individual spices with pumpkin spice.
- Using sweet potato puree: Try this vegan pumpkin bread recipe, replacing the pumpkin with sweet potato puree. Roast the potatoes for the best flavor.
- Orange zest: Add 1-2 tbsp for a subtle, citrusy brightness and depth.
- Nuts: I love sweet potato pecan bread, though walnuts also work (raw or toasted).
- Dried fruit: Add ½-¾ cup of dried raisins, cranberries, or finely chopped dates for a sweet, chewy texture in the cinnamon sweet potato bread.
- Vegan chocolate chips: Add up to ¾ cup of your favorite dairy-free white, semi-sweet, or bitter-sweet chocolate chips or chunks (sugar-free chocolate, if preferred).
- Coconut: Add 2-3 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut for flavor/texture.
- Zucchini: Replace a portion of sweet potato with shredded, squeezed zucchini.
- Toppings: Enhance vegan cinnamon sweet potato bread with…
- Coarse turbinado sugar (sprinkled before baking)
- Cinnamon streusel (like I use for this vegan apple crumble)
- Glaze (i.e., vanilla, cinnamon, or pumpkin spice glaze or vegan cream cheese glaze)
How to Make Sweet Potato Bread
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400F/200C and grease a 9×5-inch (25×11 cm) loaf pan. Then, use the largest side of a box grater (or a food processor shredding disk), to grate 1 ½ cups of sweet potato.
Step 2: In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices.
Step 3: Add the sweet potato to a medium bowl with the remaining wet ingredients (plant-based milk, vanilla, sugar, and oil). Mix well. Then, combine the wet and dry ingredients, mixing until just combined – but be careful not to over-mix. A few tiny lumps are fine.
Step 4: Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake it for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean (a few moist crumbs are fine, but no wet batter).
Step 5: Leave the vegan sweet potato bread to cool in its pan for at least 10 minutes, then leave it to fully cool on a wire cooling rack. Finally, slice and enjoy!
FAQs
It should be fairly easy to make gluten-free sweet potato bread by replacing the wheat flour with a gluten-free blend, like King Arthur’s or Bob’s Red Mill.
Yes, that should be fine. Divide the batter into a couple of muffin trays and reduce the baking time to about 20-25 minutes.
It’s best to prepare the bowls of wet and dry ingredients separately, storing them for up to 2 days. Bring the wet ingredients back to room temperature for 20-30 minutes, then combine and bake.
Pro Recipe Tips
- Measure the flour correctly: Fluff it in its bag, spoon the flour into your measuring cup (without pressing/packing it), then use the back of a knife to level the top. That way, you’ll avoid dense bakes.
- Don’t overmix the batter: Otherwise, you risk overworking the gluten, and affecting the texture and rise. A few lumps in the batter are fine.
- Leave it to cool: This easy sweet potato bread will be fragile right out of the oven. Leave it to cool for 10-15 minutes in the pan, then remove it from the pan to cool completely before slicing to avoid crumbling.
Serving Recommendations
- Warm with lashings of dairy-free butter or maple butter
- Spread with seed or nut butter
- A dollop of vegan yogurt or coconut whipped cream with berries/fresh fruit
- Toasted, with a scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream
Storage Instructions
At room temperature: Store the sweet potato bread loosely covered for 3-4 days.
In the fridge: Store it in an airtight container lined with paper towel for 5-7 days.
In the freezer: Store whole or sliced with parchment paper between the slices (to prevent sticking), wrapped in plastic wrap, then in a Ziplock/Stasher for up to 3 months.
Thaw: Thaw the cinnamon sweet potato bread in the refrigerator overnight, at room temperature for several hours, or quickly thaw/re-heat slices in a microwave/toaster.
Sweet Potato Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon of baking powder
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon of ginger powder (optional)
- 1 ½ cups of grated raw sweet potato
- 1 cup of plant-based milk
- 1 ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
- ½ cup of brown sugar
- ⅓ cup of neutral oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, and line it with parchment paper to make it easier to lift it out of the pan.
- Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon (and nutmeg and ginger powder if using) in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Using the largest side of the grater, grate 1 ½ cups of sweet potato. Add the sweet potato to a medium bowl with the plant-based milk, vanilla extract, sugar, and oil. Mix well until all the ingredients are fully combined.
- Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix well, but do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into a baking pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a fork inserted into the center comes out clean and top is golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes and then lift it out of the pan and place it on a cooling rack. Allow it to cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- Measure the flour correctly: Fluff it in its bag, spoon the flour into your measuring cup (without pressing/packing it), then use the back of a knife to level the top. That way, you’ll avoid dense bakes.
- Don’t overmix the batter: Otherwise, you risk overworking the gluten, and affecting the texture and rise. A few lumps in the batter are fine.
- Leave it to cool: This easy sweet potato bread will be fragile right out of the oven. Leave it to cool for 10-15 minutes in the pan, then remove it from the pan to cool completely before slicing to avoid crumbling.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Although plantbasedonabudget.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, kindly note that these are only estimates. Nutritional information may be affected based on the product type, the brand that was purchased, and in other unforeseeable ways. Plantbasedonabudget.com will not be held liable for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information. If you need to follow a specific caloric regimen, please consult your doctor first.
Sounds and looks good. I would like to try it. I do wonder how I might reduce the number of carbs. Perhaps a different kind of flour, or replace the brown sugar with agave, maple syrup, date syrup, or ?
All of those suggestions would be great to reduce the number of carbs. Let us know what you end up trying and how it goes 🙂
Hello, can I make the recipe in my bread maker. If so, what changes do I have to make to the recipe?
Nancy Taylor
I made this following the instructions with no substitutions. I did double the recipe, and 2/3 cup of oil was a disaster. It was dripping with oil, no matter how long I baked it. I had to toss it out. My gut told me 2/3 cup of oil was crazy!
Love this sweet potato bread!