System and method embodiments are provided for adaptive traffic engineering configuration. The embodiments enable the TE configuration to change in real time in response to changing conditions in the network, the TE algorithm, or other variables such that a TE decision is substantially optimized for current real time conditions. In an embodiment, a method in a network component for adaptable traffic engineering (TE) configuration in software defined networking (SDN) includes receiving at the network component TE configuration information, wherein the TE configuration information comprises information about at least one of network conditions, a TE algorithm, user equipment (UE) information, and the network component, and dynamically changing with the network component the TE configuration in accordance to a change in the TE configuration information.