Candied Yams Recipe

These southern candied yams recipe is sweet, flavorful and cooks tender in the buttery sauce. It a delicious side dish to serve this holiday season. It pairs perfectly with baked ham, turkey and more.

Slice sweet potatoes are cooked perfectly in a brown sugar, buttery sauce to give the sweet potatoes so much flavor. This recipe is a must every holiday and is easy to make.

What are Candied Yams?

Candied Yams are a classic soul food recipe. They are made with sweet potatoes in a brown sugar buttery sauce. The sweet potatoes are baked tender and flavor.

A long time they were made with root vegetables called yams. But sweet potatoes were the only thing available. But they continue to call them yams. See Yams vs Sweet potatoes.

You will be amazed how delicious these yams are. You can even top them with mini marshmallows for an extra treat. These fork-tender sweet potatoes are always a crowd favorite and a great addition to Sunday dinner.

Ingredients

• Sweet Potatoes – About 5 large sweet potatoes
• Packed Brown Sugar – Learn How to Make Brown Sugar

Scroll to the bottom for the full recipe and ingredients in the recipe card.

Substitutions and Variations

• Flavor – These candied sweet potatoes ingredients can be changed to what you prefer. Stir in orange juice, maple syrup, or honey.
• Brown Sugar – You can easily use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar.
• Nuts – If you love nuts on your candied yams, top with them with chopped pecans or chopped walnuts for added texture.
• Spices – We used simple spices, but you can add in other spices if you prefer. Ground ginger a great addition to this recipe.
• Butter – We used salted butter, but this recipe can also be made with unsalted butter.

How to Make Candied Yams

• Step 1 – Heat Oven – Preheat your oven to 375°F. 

Step 2 – Butter Baking Dish – Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and set it aside.

Step 3 – Prepare Sweet Potatoes – Wash, peel, and slice the sweet potatoes into ½-inch thick rounds.

Step 4 – Place in dish – Place the sweet potatoes in the buttered baking dish and set them aside.

Step 5 – Heat Glaze – Heat the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and ginger. Add in nutmeg, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until the butter melts. Stir in the vanilla extract and remove the pan from the heat.

Step 6 – Pour over Sweet Potatoes – Pour the brown sugar and butter mixture over the sweet potatoes. Use a wooden spoon to stir the sweet potatoes and make sure each potato slice is coated in the syrup.

Step 7 – Cover the pan with foil and bake the yams in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.

• Step 8 – Remove Cover – After 30 minutes, remove the foil from the pan. Carefully spoon some of the cooking syrup over the yams. Then continue cooking the yams, uncovered, for an additional 20 to 25 minutes. Cook until the sweet potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork and the cooking liquid is syrupy.
• Step 9 – Cool – Allow the candied yams to cool for about 10 minutes and enjoy.

Recipe Tips

• Prepare Sweet Potatoes – I try to choose sweet potatoes about the same size. Then you will need to peel and wash them before slicing. Slice the sweet potatoes about the same size so they cook evenly.
• Baking Dish – Before adding the cut sweet potato layer, we recommend buttering the dish. This helps for serving and cleanup.
• Combine Butter Glaze – Combine the butter glaze in a saucepan. Make sure ingredients are combined completely and butter is melted.
• Pour Over Sweet Potatoes – We like to combine the ingredients together to fully coat the sweet potatoes before baking. This ensure that the sweet potatoes are flavorful.
• Baking Sweet Potatoes – Cover the sweet potatoes with aluminum foil and bake. This helps to lock in the flavor and slow cooks the sweet potatoes tender. Then uncover to finish cooking them.
• Cool Sweet Potatoes – Before serving allow the southern baked candied yams to rest for about 10 minutes.

What to Serve with Candied Yams

Sweet potatoes can be served for with your holiday dinner or made through the year. We have even made this recipe when we grill out. These are some of our favorite meats to serve with these candied yams.

• Roasted Turkey – Oven roasted turkey breast is so tender and juicy. It is seasoned to perfection and perfect for any holiday dinner.
• Honey Baked Ham – Take your spiral ham to the next level with this Honey Baked Ham Recipe. It is delicious and easy to make with simple ingredients.
• Grilled Steak – Grilled teriyaki steak recipe is full of flavor from being marinated and then grilled to perfection. This easy recipe comes together with little work but is a guaranteed hit.

How to Store and Reheat Leftovers

Store your leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. We think these sweet potatoes taste even better the next day as the ingredients really marinate together for added flavor.

Make sure to store in an air tight container or place in individual container with leftover meats.