This Easy Southern Candied Sweet Potatoes recipe is homemade from scratch and baked in the oven. From there, you drizzle the dish in a thick caramelized syrup. Your Sunday dinners and soul food holiday events just got much better!
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FOR THE FULL LIST OF INGREDIENTS AND COMPREHENSIVE INSTRUCTIONS, PLEASE SEE THE RECIPE CARD AT THE END OF THIS POST. BEFORE YOU SCROLL, THERE’S IMPORTANT INFORMATION IN THIS BLOG POST.
We have eaten “candied yams” AKA “Black folks’ sweet potatoes” for soul food Sunday dinners and on pretty much every holiday for all of my life. I have had my fair share of sweet potatoes over the years. And there are some versions I just can’t get with.
Some make their dishes way too sweet for me. Save some sugar for dessert! This recipe has a nice balance.
What’s the Difference Between Sweet Potatoes and Yams?
In most grocery stores there is no difference between the two. Most stores often label sweet potatoes as yams.
Yams have more starch and are drier. They have bumpy tough, brown skin. Yams are typically used in Caribbean and West African dishes. You have probably never eaten yams, as they are hard to find in the United States.
Years ago, Southerners (primarily in Louisiana) started to refer to them as yams. And since this is a Southern recipe, you will often hear it called candied yams.
You can read more about The Difference Between Yams and Sweet Potatoes here.
Do You Make Sweet Potatoes Using the Oven or the Stove?
This is a hot debate in our community. I prefer mine baked, just like mac and cheese. I love the textured of baked sweet potatoes. The decision is yours, both will have similar cook times.
How to Slice Sweet Potatoes
The shape is up to you. Be sure to scrub the potatoes really well and peel them first.
- Rounds: This is my favorite method. I slice them about half an inch to 1 inch thick.
- Bite-Sized Chunks: An inch thick.
- Large Ovals
How to Sweeten The Glaze
I lighten up this dish by using monkfruit sweeteners as opposed to table sugar. You can use whatever you wish and the measurements are exactly the same.
This combination of flavors will produce that amazing sweet flavor. I don’t use marshmallows because with this combination, the dish is sweet enough. Feel free to add them if you wish.
How to Make Candied Sweet Potatoes
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Add the sweet potatoes to a 9×13 baking dish.
- Heat a saucepan on medium-high heat and add the butter.
- When melted, add the ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, white sugar, brown sugar, and salt. Stir.
- Remove the pot from heat and add in the vanilla extract. Stir. Pour the candied mixture over the sweet potatoes.
- Cover the sweet potatoes in foil and bake.
Can You Make The Dish Ahead of Time? How Long Will It Last?
The dish will last 3-4 days properly stored and covered in the refrigerator.
Southern Main Dish Recipes
Air Fryer Turkey
Air Fryer Baked Ham
Instant Pot Brisket
Air Fryer Whole Chicken
More Southern Side Dishes to Pair With Sweet Potatoes
Homemade Southern Cornbread
Southern Mustard Greens
Air Fryer Cornbread
Southern Baked Mac and Cheese
Instant Pot Southern Green Beans
Instant Pot Collard Greens
Instant Pot Cabbage
Fried Cabbage
Okra and Tomatoes
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas
Grand Marnier Cranberry Sauce
Sweet Potatoes Au Gratin
Get a complete listing of Southern Style Soul Food Recipes here.
Get a full listing of Soul Food Thanksgiving Recipes here.
Easy Southern Candied Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes Washed and Peeled. This was 2 large sweet potatoes for me. Weigh for accuracy.
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar or sweetener
- 3/4 cup white sugar or sweetener
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 teaspoons vanilla I use pure vanilla, not imitation.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Peel and slice the sweet potatoes into rounds about 1/2 to 1 inch thick. I love to use this swivel peeler from Amazon. It peels fast.
- Add the sweet potatoes to a 9×13 baking dish.
- Heat a saucepan on medium-high heat and add the butter.
- When melted, add the ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, white sugar, brown sugar, and salt. Stir. You want to ensure the sugar melts down, but don't overcook the glaze.
- Remove the pot from heat and add in the vanilla extract. Stir. Pour the candied mixture over the sweet potatoes.
- Cover the sweet potatoes in foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove the foil and stir and baste the sweet potatoes. Ensure the candied mixture fully coats the sweet potatoes.
- Cover the pan in foil and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. Mine usually takes the full 20 minutes. Test the sweet potatoes by piercing them with a fork. You want for the potatoes to be soft.
- Allow the sweet potatoes to sit for 15 minutes before stirring. This will thicken up the sweet potatoes.
Video
Notes
- If making candied sweet potatoes for the first time, you may want to test out your desired level of sweetness. You can start with half of the recommended servings above. From there, continue to build and taste repeatedly until the dish suits your needs.
- You can omit any of the spices in this recipe, make it suit your taste.
- Watch your sweet potatoes closely. Every oven will cook at varying speeds. You may need more or less time.
- Your sweet potatoes will be runny if you don’t allow them to sit in the sauce and thicken after baking.
- If you notice grains of sugar in your sweet potato glaze after pouring it over the sweet potatoes, it’s fine. It will cook down as the sweet potatoes bake and when you baste the sweet potatoes after 30 minutes.
- The macros above assume monkfruit organic sweetener is used. If you use standard sugar the macros are: Cals: 397 Carbs: 58G Fat: 19G Protein: 1G
Tiffani
Wednesday 25th of November 2020
I’m glad I did a test run and didn’t really need to make these. The taste is good, but, I cut mine too thin and my sauce never thickened. And I put the vanilla in with everything else instead of after the sugars melted. But I will be trying it again soon!!
Collins
Monday 25th of May 2020
Easy recipe to follow and it tastes good too. For a person who does not care for candied sweet potatoes, these are a must try. None of the ingredients were overwhelming, it had a great balance. The perfect amount of sweet to satisfy my craving of something sweet.
staysnatched
Tuesday 26th of May 2020
We are on the same page with the flavor!