This Southern Candied Yams Recipe has been on our Thanksgiving table every single year for as long as I can remember. Sweet potatoes baked in a rich buttery brown sugar glaze until fork-tender and perfectly caramelized. At just $0.68 a serving it is one of the most affordable and most requested side dishes of the entire holiday season.
In our house Thanksgiving lunch is not complete without these candied yams — it is a non-negotiable tradition and the dish everyone asks about the moment they walk in the door. The buttery brown sugar sauce is so good my family spoons it over everything else on their plate.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe!
- Just $0.68 per serving — $5.45 total for the whole dish
- A classic Southern soul food recipe made the old fashioned way with a buttery brown sugar glaze
- Fork-tender sweet potatoes with a rich caramelized sauce that pairs with everything on the holiday table
- Simple pantry ingredients — sweet potatoes, brown sugar, butter, and warming spices
- Make ahead friendly — prep up to 2 days in advance and reheat when ready to serve
What are Candied Yams?
Candied yams are a classic Southern soul food side dish made with sweet potatoes baked in a brown sugar and butter glaze until tender and caramelized.
Despite the name most recipes including this one use sweet potatoes rather than true yams — sweet potatoes are far more widely available at any regular grocery store. The dish gets its name from the tradition of using yams and the “candied” refers to the sweet caramelized glaze that coats every slice.
Ingredients
- Sweet potatoes — choose about 5 large sweet potatoes of similar size so they cook evenly. Look for firm potatoes with no soft spots
- Brown sugar — light or dark both work. Dark brown sugar gives a slightly deeper molasses flavor.
- Butter — salted butter adds a nice balance to the sweetness. Unsalted works too — just add a pinch of extra salt
- Granulated sugar — adds extra sweetness and helps the glaze caramelize beautifully
- Cinnamon — the warm spice that makes this dish taste like the holidays
- Ginger — adds a subtle warmth that pairs beautifully with the sweet potatoes
- Nutmeg — just a pinch adds depth and that classic Southern candied yam flavor
- Vanilla extract — stirred in at the end off the heat for the best flavor.
- Salt — balances all the sweetness and makes every other flavor pop
Equipment Needed
- 9×13 inch baking dish — the right size to hold all the sweet potato slices in an even layer
- Medium saucepan — for making the brown sugar butter glaze on the stovetop
- Sharp knife and cutting board — for peeling and slicing the sweet potatoes evenly
- Wooden spoon — for stirring the glaze and coating the sweet potato slices
- Aluminum foil — to cover the dish for the first 30 minutes of baking
How to Make Candied Yams
Follow along with my simple instructions to learn how to make candied yams using my recipe.
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 nutmeg and salt to 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.
Tips for Success
- Choose sweet potatoes of similar size. Uniform potatoes mean uniform slices which means everything cooks at the same rate. If one end of a potato is much thicker than the other trim it to match
- Slice to exactly ½ inch. Thinner slices will fall apart and turn mushy. Thicker slices may not cook through in the given time. A mandoline slicer makes this fast and consistent
- Butter the baking dish generously. This prevents the caramelized sugar from sticking to the dish and makes cleanup significantly easier
- Cover tightly for the first 30 minutes. The foil traps steam and slow-cooks the potatoes tender from the inside before the glaze caramelizes on the outside
- Baste when you remove the foil. Spooning the hot syrup back over the potatoes before the uncovered bake ensures every slice is deeply flavored and glossy
- Rest before serving. Ten minutes of resting allows the syrup to thicken slightly and the potatoes to hold their shape when served
Substitutions and Variations
- Add marshmallows — scatter mini marshmallows over the top in the last 5 minutes of baking for a classic sweet finish that kids love
- Add orange juice — stir 2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice into the glaze for a bright citrus note that cuts through the richness
- Swap maple syrup for sugar — replace part of the brown sugar with pure maple syrup for a deeper more complex sweetness
- Add pecans or walnuts — scatter chopped nuts over the top before the uncovered bake for added crunch and texture
- Add ground ginger — if you love a spicier warmth increase the ginger and add a pinch of allspice
- Make it with honey — drizzle honey over the sweet potatoes alongside the brown sugar for a floral sweetness
Serving Suggestion
Sweet potatoes can be served with your holiday dinner or made throughout 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 an individual container with leftover meats.
Frequently Asked Questions
Real Yams and Sweet Potatoes are different. Yams’ texture is different and entirely different from that of other root vegetables. At your local grocery store, you will find sweet potatoes more than yams.
In our recipe, there is no need to boil the sweet potatoes prior to baking. We like to bake the sweet potatoes until fork-tender. But some recipes show that if you boil sweet potatoes prior to baking, it may reduce baking time.
It all depends on your preference for boiling them prior to baking.
Yes, you can make these Candied Yams ahead of time. I love side dishes that can easily be made ahead of time. Prepare the candied yams as directed, then store them in the refrigerator.
Make sure to cover with plastic wrap and keep for up to 2 days prior to serving. Then, ready to serve, reheat in the oven and then serve.
Both — and the order matters. Cover tightly with foil for the first 30 minutes to steam the sweet potatoes tender. Then remove the foil and cook uncovered for an additional 20–25 minutes so the glaze caramelizes and thickens into a rich syrup. Skipping the covered step can leave the potatoes undercooked in the center.
Brown sugar is the classic choice and gives the glaze that deep caramel flavor. Light brown sugar is milder and dark brown sugar is richer — both work well.
Sweet potatoes, brown sugar, and butter are the foundation of almost every candied yams recipe. Everything else, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, and ginger, adds flavor on top of that base.
The most common reason is the foil was not sealed tightly enough during the first bake — the steam escapes and the potatoes dry out instead of steaming tender. Make sure the foil is crimped tightly around all four edges of the baking dish. Another reason is slices that are too thin — aim for exactly ½ inch so there is enough substance to stay moist through the full bake time.
More Easy Sweet Potato Side Dishes
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Candied Yams Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 lbs Sweet potatoes – about 5 large sweet potatoes
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 8 tablespoons 1 stick salted butter
See how we calculate recipe costs.
Instructions
- Heat Oven – Preheat your oven to 375°F.
- Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and set it aside.
- Wash, peel, and slice 3 pounds sweet potatoes (about 5 large sweet potatoes) into ½-inch thick rounds.
- Place the sweet potatoes in the buttered baking dish and set them aside.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine 8 tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter, ½ cup packed brown sugar, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, and ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg.
- Heat the mixture, stirring frequently, until the butter is melted and the sugar has dissolved. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in ½ teaspoon vanilla extract.
- Pour the butter and sugar mixture over the sweet potatoes and use a wooden spoon to stir the sweet potatoes and make sure each potato slice is coated in the syrup.
- Cover the pan with foil and bake the yams in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, remove the foil from the pan, carefully spoon some of the cooking syrup over the yams, and continue cooking the yams, uncovered, for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork and the cooking liquid is syrupy.
- Allow the candied yams to cool for about 10 minutes and enjoy!
