These candied sweet potatoes are tossed in a mixture of butter, brown sugar and spices, then are roasted until caramelized. A simple yet satisfying side dish that’s the perfect accompaniment to chicken, pork, turkey and beef.
Sweet potatoes are a staple on holiday menus, and this candied version is one of my favorite ways to enjoy this vegetable. Serve your potatoes alongside roast turkey, corn casserole, homemade dinner rolls and cranberry Jello salad for a memorable and delicious meal.
Candied sweet potatoes are a must-have during the fall and winter months. These potatoes are quick enough to put together on a busy weeknight, yet elegant enough for company. You can even customize your sweet potatoes by adding a variety of flavors and toppings.
These sweet potatoes are one of my favorite recipes for Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you want more sweet potato options check out my recipes for sweet potato souffle, mashed sweet potatoes and Hasselback sweet potatoes.
Table of Contents
Candied Sweet Potatoes Ingredients
To make this sweet potatoes recipe you will need sweet potatoes, brown sugar, butter, ground cinnamon, salt and nutmeg.
How Do You Make Candied Sweet Potatoes?
To make this candied sweet potato recipe, first cut up some sweet potatoes into slices or chunks and put them in a baking dish. Make a sauce by mixing together brown sugar, butter and spices in a small bowl. Pour that delicious sauce over the sweet potatoes and toss them until coated. Bake the sweet potatoes until the sugar caramelizes and the sweet potatoes become tender. Then serve and enjoy!
Tips For The Perfect Sweet Potatoes
- For this candied sweet potatoes recipe you want to use any orange flesh or red flesh sweet potatoes or yams like jewel or garnet sweet potatoes.
- Look for long thin sweet potatoes. They will be easier to cut.
- Choose sweet potatoes that have a smooth skin. You don’t want potatoes with bruises, darks spots, mushy spots, cracks or sprouts.
- I recommend removing the peel on your sweet potatoes.
- Don’t use the tips of the sweet potatoes, those small pieces may burn in the oven.
- As the sweet potatoes bake, be sure to stir them every 15 minutes so that they cook evenly.
- Don’t use pre-cooked canned sweet potatoes. Fresh sweet potatoes work best for this recipe.
- You can toss the candied sweet potatoes with the sauce in a bowl and transfer everything to a baking dish if you prefer.
Quick Tip
Cut your sweet potatoes into similar sized pieces so they cook at the same rate.
Recipe FAQs
Sweet potatoes and the yams in the grocery store are all really sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are sold in many sizes, shapes and colors. In many grocery stores the orange fleshed sweet potatoes are labeled as “yams.” However, these orange sweet potatoes are not true yams. True yams are root vegetables with rough brown exteriors that are grown in parts of Africa and Asia. You can find these yams in some specialty grocery stores, but they are not common. True yams would not be good for candied sweet potatoes.
You do not need to boil your sweet potatoes before you bake them. If you bake them for the correct amount of time they will become tender.
Candied sweet potatoes stay fresh in an airtight container in the fridge up to 4 days. You can freeze them up to 2 months.
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Flavor Variations
Candied sweet potatoes are a fantastic side dish that can really bring a dinner together. However, you can change up this recipe to include some other great flavors.
- Flavoring: Feel free to use maple syrup instead of brown sugar in the sauce for your candied sweet potatoes. You could also add a dash of vanilla extract.
- Toppings: You can add toppings such as chopped pecans or streusel. To make your own streusel topping, simply mix together 1/2 cup of packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup of flour, 4 tablespoons of melted butter and 1/4 cup of chopped pecans in a bowl. As you mix the streusel, it will form crumbles. Put those streusel crumbles on the sweet potatoes and the topping will bake up golden brown.
- Orange: For a brighter colored dish with some citrus notes you can add 1/3 cup orange juice and 1 teaspoon of orange zest to the butter mixture.
- Marshmallows: You can add mini marshmallows and to the top of this dish for the last 5 minutes of the bake time or check out my candied yams with marshmallows recipe.
- Holiday Spice: Try adding a teaspoon of ground ginger, allspice or even pumpkin pie spice!
Sweet potatoes pair well with so many different dishes and are always a huge hit with family and friends. Whether it’s a holiday or a simple every day dinner, you just can’t go wrong with sweet potatoes!
More Side Dishes You’ll Enjoy
Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
20 mins
Green Beans with Bacon
25 mins
Sauteed Asparagus
10 mins
Roasted Green Beans
30 mins
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Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Candied Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4 pounds sweet potatoes peeled, halved and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2/3 cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 9"x13" pan or 3 quart baking dish with cooking spray.
- Place the sweet potatoes in an even layer in the dish.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg.
- Pour the brown sugar mixture over the sweet potatoes. Toss to coat them evenly in the sauce.
- Bake the sweet potatoes for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 15-20 minutes, until tender and caramelized. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Don’t use the tips of the sweet potatoes, those small pieces tend to get overdone or burn in the oven.
- Cut your sweet potatoes into similar sized pieces so they cook at the same rate.
- Don’t use pre-cooked canned sweet potatoes. Fresh sweet potatoes work best for this recipe.
Can red hot candies be added?
I’ve never tried this so I’m not sure if it would work!
Made these for thanksgiving and they were a hit. Sweet but not overly sweet, which is exactly what I was looking for.
Made this yesterday & it was a huge hit & SO easy, definitely making again, new go to recipe lol thanks for sharing 🥰
A hit! I added some canned pineapple tidbits to the mix Super easy and really good.
I just made these for Thanksgiving 2019. I have been mak8ng candied sweet potatoes for over 50 years and these are the best. I will never use amy other recipe. Thand you.
Can I make them ahead?
Yes that’s fine, reheat in the oven or on the stovetop!
Can you make these ahead of time ? And how?
You can, reheat them covered until they’re warmed through, then uncover and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes!
Hi wondering if anyone knows how many people 4 pounds of sweet potatoes can feed
It will feed 8 people!
Can I use light brown sugar
Yes that’s fine!
I bet these sweet potatoes just melt in your mouth. They will definitely be on my holiday table this year!
These candied sweet potatoes will be perfect for my kids Thanksgiving potluck. Everyone loves sweet potatoes especially when they are caramelized.
We’re doing an early family Thanksgiving dinner this year, and candied sweet potatoes are a must! Your photos are absolutely delicious!!
This is the perfect Thanksgiving side dish! sweet & savory
Tested these out and they are for sure replacing our normal yams this year! Just the right amount of sweetness – I love that there are no marshmallows. Thanks!
What a great idea for a side dish! These seems so easy to make!
A perfect side dish for the holidays or any time in the fall when you crave candied sweet potatoes!
I know for sure this sweet potato recipe would be a huge hit in my house!
I have never tried this before I will have to give this a go!
Love southern food and looking forward to adding this to my holiday menu!
LOVE these sweet potatoes. They will be a great side with so many dishes.
This is a must have at all of your holiday meals. Never have to worry about leftovers because it’s always a hit.