Learn how to make sweet potatoes the Southern way with this traditional recipe. These candied sweet potatoes are usually served as a side dish.
This is how I have been making my sweet potatoes since I can remember, and how my mother and grandmother did before me. The only difference is that I use brown sugar instead of white. I think it gives it a more "carmelized" flavor and texture. I also omit the spices all together. I don't care for spicy sweet potatoes, just SWEET sweet potatoes :0) Be sure to use "real" butter for this as that is part of the fabulous end result!!!! Thanks!
Read MoreThis is how I have been making my sweet potatoes since I can remember, and how my mother and grandmother did before me. The only difference is that I use brown sugar instead of white. I think it gives it a more "carmelized" flavor and texture. I also omit the spices all together. I don't care for spicy sweet potatoes, just SWEET sweet potatoes :0) Be sure to use "real" butter for this as that is part of the fabulous end result!!!! Thanks!
My sister, Susan, is the queen of candied yams. They are the favorite dish on any table! Her secrets for stove top yams: cook the butter and sugar first to get it thick and syrupy (but don't burn it), then add the yams, this way you don't over cook the potatoes and get them all mushy and falling apart. Also make enough sugary mixture to "cover" the yams, this way you don't have to keep turning and busting them up and all mushy. If you have to, turn the yams over with a small spoon one by one and "make sure to cook on low" so they "slightly" bubble. Don't let boil vigorously, this turns the yams to mush. You won't perfect this dish on the first try, but if you master it after 3-4 times, you'll get the perfect candied yams and they will ALWAYS be requested on Thanksgiving. We don't add other flavorings, don't need to, but we do add marshmallows on top and stick in the oven just to brown. Even picky kids eat em up, enjoy! was to cook ied yams. They were truly candied, not mushy
Slow cooking without stirring made all the difference - thank you I finally made the perfect sweet potatoes! I only baked the potatoes for a bit so they would not fall apart while slow cooking and stay firm. Also, I only used about 2 TBS brown sugar. About 5 minutes before serving, I transfered them to a casserole dish and added chopped pecans then topped with marshmallows and browned it in the oven. So yummy!
Im orgionaly from Texas and this has been in the family for generations. Try adding 1tblspoon of Brown sugar for every 3 sweetpotatoes used.. it adds a nice warmness to the dish.
I found this recipe looking for a new sweet potato recipe for Thanksgiving. Now my family expects me to make this for every holiday!
I saw another reviewer say that after it was done...didn't want to make again because of the work. I had the complete opposite reaction. We liked these so much that I would definately do these again. Don't get me wrong, it is time consuming...but we believe they are totally worth it. Do be careful because they can burn. We found french vanilla cool whip and ate this as a dessert the next day (yum leftovers). Thanks for a great recipe.
Delicious and easy. I used about 2 pounds of sweet potatoes, uncooked. Peeled and sliced them into a baking pan. I also used half white and half brown sugar. Baked them covered at 375 degrees for about 1 and a 1/2 hours.
Excellent recipe! Much easier than the way I made them in the past. I needed a large dutch oven sized pot to cook six sweet potatoes though. I left them in large chunks so they wouldn't disintigrate while cooking. The addition of vanilla is awesome but my family doesn't care for cinnamon and nutmeg in their candied sweet potatoes, so I added the zest of one small orange which added a nice flavor.
Wonderful side dish! These are so much like what I enjoyed at holiday time when I was a kid in south Ga. My recommendations are: 1)Yams and sweet potatoes are NOT the same thing. Use sweet potatoes if you can find them. However ,if only yams are available, substitute and make this dish anyway, because although the taste is not the same, the result is still very very good. 2)Even though this recipe is designed to create a very sweet dish, it calls for more sugar than is necessary. I start with HALF of the sugar and ALL of the spices. As the sweet potatoes cook, I taste and add more sugar as needed, and I usually only add a tablespoon or two. 3) Make sure to turn the sweet potatoes about every fifteen minutes, to coat them well on both sides. As they cook, they become very tender, so be careful in turning them because they will easily fall apart. This does not affect the taste, but it does affect the presentation. This is also a good reason to cut the sweet potatoes at least 1/3" thick-- the thinner they are, the more likely they are to break. 4) Try to remember to add the vanilla at the end. I forget so often, and the dish is still very nice, but the vanilla adds alot. I've dealt with my forgetfulness by leaving one vanilla bean out on the counter, and I'll throw it in the pan sometime during the last 10-30 minutes of cooking.
I love this recipe, but my son is diabetic so I use Splenda in place of the sugar and double the spices. Some times I also add a little sugar free maple flavored syrup for a more traditional taste I also bake it. I served it at our family Thanksgiving and everyone loved it. They also liked the fact it was much lower in calories.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Finally! After years of the frustration of having watery sweet potatoes and not being sweet enough...I come across this recipe! Now I can serve my candied yams with pride. I never thought I'd be able to make them "candied". And I never thought to cook them in an iron skillet. DUH! This is definately a keeper for me!
Yummy. My husband raved about them so much I ended up cooking another batch the day after. Smelled so good while cooking. Took longer to cook than expected-I think I cut the potatoes too thick. Added half white-half brown sugar because I like the flavor the brown sugar adds.
Served this on Thanksgiving. It was a big hit. I substituted Splenda brown sugar for half of the sugar. It was great. Will definitely make this again.
5 star! Didn't change a thing and the recipe didn't need it. Thank you Pam for the submission ~ the smell of these alone took me back to my Grandmas kitchen!
Awesome!! Scaled the recipe down, using only 2 potatoes, but still made plenty. You really need a large pan for this so you can spread the poatoes out so they cook evenly. Cooked in about 40 minutes. Used 1/2 white and 1/2 brown sugar. Used another reviewer's suggestion and stirred the sugar into the melted butter before I added the potatoes; resulted in a great sauce. And don't forget the vanilla; it makes the dish pop.
First time I ever made sweet potatoes, and everyone thought they were delicious. I found, though, that at the end of my hour, the sauce was not carmelized but very liquid, so I removed the potatoes, as they were fully cooked, and simmered the remaining liquid with the cover removed til it carmelized and then poured it back over my potatoes.
This was a really nice recipe. I forgot to put the vanilla in at the end and also put just 3/4 the amount of sugar (half white and half brown) as some of the previous reviews said the recipe might be too sweet. I served this to a bunch of brits that had never had Sweet Potatoes like this and it was a hit!! Oh yes, I also cooked this in the oven in a heavy cast baking pan with foil on top rather than a skillet. I cooked for about 35 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius. I would make this again.
Fabulous recipe! I tried this recipe for the first time last Thanksgiving and have used it ever since!
This is def one of my favorite recipes on this site. My mother-in-law asked me how I made it and that's the first time in 11years that she complimented me on anything I made. I do use brown sugar and add pecans at the end and bake it for about 10 minutes.. mmm the best!
Cook in a skillet? who knew? Worked millions times better than my method I've used for years. So much easier than boiling, transferring, baking, lots of dishes later. Good too, though I forgot the vanilla at the end. Rave reviews from family!
So delicious! I made this recipe almost exactly as written. The potatoes were cooked and starting to fall apart after only 30 minutes. I transferred them to a casserole dish, topped with mini marshmallows, and baked at 350 just until the marshmallows were golden brown. Kids and adults alike declared them amazing. This is certainly a tasty addition to any holiday meal!
For Thanksgiving my family used to by these frozen bagged candied sweet potatoes. This past year they were unable to find them in the grocery stores so I went out on a limb and tried this recipe. PERFECT! I am now in charge of the candied sweet potatoes every year. EVERYONE LOVED THEM! Even my sister who doesn't like them!
Similar to what my mom taught me - but we do it on a cookie sheet in the oven. Boil the potatoes ahead with the peels on. Let them cool and the peels will slide right off. (If you don't peel them, you can leave them in the pot in the fridge till the next day.) Slice the peeled potatoes about 1/2" thick. Melt 1/4 c of butter on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven. Place the potatoes on the sheet turning to coat with butter. Sprinkle with brown sugar and any spices you want (cinammon or nutmeg). Bake for 30 min or until the edges are crisp. Fabulous the next day warmed in the microwave! And freeze really well, too.
I printed this recipe out on a whim two Thanksgiving's ago. I'm so glad I did. I started cooking my family's holiday meals and this seemed very easy to follow. It is now a tradition to have these sweet potatoes at all major holidays. I changed nothing and followed the recipe to the exact letter. Thank you for posting. This is my favorite recipe for sweet potatoes, even the kids eat them!
I love sweet potatoes and l love how these turn out. I will make them again this winter.
This was perfect! I made the recipe as writen (but I added a little maple syrup) I had no leftovers!
This recipe is EXCELLENT!! I made it for Thanksgiving this year and everyone loved it. I cooked it in a crockpot to save space on the stove and it worked out great.
This recipe was my first attempt at making candied yams. My family loved them! My husband tried to eat the whole pan and really didn't want to share them with anyone else! Great recipe.
Yummy, thanks! I used yams because that was all I could find. They were quite soft after an hour, so next time I will reduce the cooking time if I have to use yams again. The flavor was nice and a very easy recipe. Love it and will be making these again for sure!
This was absolutely delicious and so easy. I've been trying different recipies for 25 years., this is the winner. I used 1 1/2 cups white sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar. My kitchen smells wonderful.
This was an excellent recipe. I did not find it to be a lot of work, except for the peeling and cutting of the potatoes. I did make a few changes. I used brown instead of white sugar. I also melted the butter in the microwave and hand tossed it with the potatoes in a large bowl to make sure they were well coated before placing them in an electric skillet and sprinkling them with the sugar mixture. Once the sugar and butter melted together to make the sauce(set at 300 degrees), I turned the skillet to WARM and cooked them covered that way for the hour,stirring them a few times to ensure they were well coated with the sauce. Absolutely divine and held their shape and texture just fine. The sauce can look a little loose, but thickens upon standing. Also, you can take the potatoes out of the skillet, then pour however much or little of the sauce you prefer over them. This one will go into my recipe box!
These were a huge hit at my Easter dinner last night I did do as others suggested, and substituted 1c. brown sugar for 1 c. of the white. Very easy to do in my caste iron fry pan, and truly delicious!
These sweet potatoes were, by far, the best I ever had! They were extremely easy to make and everyone loved them! My mother-in-law was even impressed! She actually suggested not having them for Thanksgiving because she said nobody ever ate them...well, guess what, everyone ate mine!!! I did sub 1/4 of the sugar with brown sugar, but other than that followed to scale! YUM YUM YUM! Thanks!!!!!
This is similar to how my mother-in-law taught me to make sweet potatoes. The first time I made candied yams, I selected this recipe as a guide because the proportions were dead on to what I remembered my mother-in-law telling me. We do this differently by using brown sugar or a mix of brown sugar and white sugar. We also add the sugar to the melted butter at low heat and stir to make a caramelized sauce. Be careful not to burn the sugar. Also, don't remove the mixture from the heat for too long (the sugar will get hard and your sauce will be lumpy). When the sauce has caramelized, add the potatoes. If the sauce sizzles when adding the potatoes, its too hot, reduce the heat and continue to stir. Otherwise, keep adding the potatoes and stir for a few more minutes as the water from the potatoes thins out the sauce. Then just let the potatoes simmer in the sauce at low heat until done. This recipe is good, but I think these changes make it a 5 star, although it is a little more work.
I never tried this in a skillet. Surprise, surprise. This was amazingly alot easier than my method. Wonderful flavor, great texture and carmelization. Just be careful of the amount of sugar you add. Next time, maybe 1 1/2 cup will be enough.
Delicious!! I did use mostly light brown sugar with about 1/2 cup of white sugar. The taste was wonderful. I'm serving these tomorrow for Thanksgiving. The only problem I had was that they were done a lot earlier than I expected, so they got a little softer than I wanted and since I'll have to warm them tomorrow, I'm afraid they may get too mushy. Also they didn't candy like I expected, so I added a touch of cornstarch to the juice to thicken it a bit. You can't beat the taste though!
This one is a winner everytime. My 4 year old requests it on a regular basis. I normally end up serving this as a dessert. Everyone praises this dish and say they never knew sweet potatoes could taste so good. Definitely 5 stars all the way for this dish.
This recipe is great. Only change I made was using brown sugar instead of white. Got rave reviews at the thanksgiving dinner table.
I made these for Thanksgiving and they turned out soft instead of candied but still absolutely delicious. I didn't have a skillet large enough for 6 lg sweet potatoes so only used 4. I also used brown sugar instead of white sugar. I may follow another reviewers suggestion and uncover for the last 30 minutes of cooking, in hope that some of the excess liquid will evaporate to help candy. My guests went on and on about how these were the best sweet potatoes they had ever tried. They couldn't have been easier to make either. Definitely a keeper.
This is the first year I made these and my entire family declared that this MUST be made every Thanksgiving & Christmas from now on. This is the only dish that people had seconds of! They are delicious. And, it's wonderful that you can cook them on the stovetop since the turkey & the rolls are normally taking up the oven. Wonderful recipe. Thank you!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!! The reviews are correct!!! I did get confused about if I needed to add water, but since the recipe didnt say to add it, I didnt. The sugar and salt pulls the water out of the potatos and makes more than enough sauce. I did sub part of the white sugar for brown sugar, but I didnt measure anything, thats just me. If this is your first or hundredth time making sweet potatos, try this recipe, you wont be disappointed.
This is the only way to make authentic southern candied sweet potatoes. My mother always boiled the sweet potatoes in the skins and always overcooked them. She would then cut them length wise and they would fall apart. When I got older a girlfriend made them this way and I've been making them like this ever since. I omit the cinnamon and use more butter. Most of the time I just layer the ingredients and dot with butter starting with butter on the bottom of a very heavy pan or pot. Calphalon always works for me or a heavy cast iron skillet with a lid. Make sure you turn the fire down real low and watch them carefully. Sweet potatoes always make their own water and with the sugar and butter you never need to add any liquid. The best recipe for sweet potatoes or yams, ever!
I used this recipe and combined it with another; adding a little OJ to the mix 1/2 cup to be exact as I had doubled the recipe. Then followed this other than that. Delicous
LOVE THIS RECIPE! It was my first making these. I'm now to cooking and I made this about 3 times in a week! My friend tried it all loved it. First time i did a test batch with 2 yams and reduced to 1 cup of sugar kept everything else the same and it was so so good! Thanks! This will be something I do very often.
An hour may be a little too long. My potatoes were falling apart at the end.
I tried this recipe for the first time this Thanksgiving and my family loved it. It's easy to prepare and it's is absolutely the best candied sweet potato dish I've had. Thanks for sharing the recipe - it's in it's way to becoming a holiday tradition!!
Easy recipe - Turned out perfect. I did change a few minor things. I reduced to white sugar to 1 1/2 cups and added a 1/2 cup brown sugar. I did not add the vanilla because the taste did not seem to need it. I cooked these in the old southern tradition by using an iron skillet. It made the presentation look appetizing. This goes in my recipe box as a keeper.
OMG! Made them for Thanksgiving and another reviewer put them in a crockpot to save space so that's what I did....I'm telling you they where sooooo good, I always brought sweet potatoes in the can and I never would eat them because the potato did'nt taste real, I will never have to deprive myself from what I use to love. NEVER AGAIN. I added 1/2c of Brown Sugar cooked for 3hr. stirred a few time. My family loved them and everybody wanted seconds...very easy 1pot.
5 stars for delicious and easy! Didn't add the vanilla because honestly, I didn't think they needed it! One thing to note--other reviewers mentioned that the potatoes fell apart. If you slice them thick (recipe never specified how thick to slice), you won't have that problem, and they'll still cook enough. YUM!
This is the one dish I could never master, but now I am THE MASTER!! The only change I made was to use 1 cup of brown sugar & 1 cup of white sugar. I have made these numerous times now and they come out perfect every single time!!
I made this for Christmas and everyone commented on how it was the best candied yams they have ever tasted. I was very proud. I added one more stick of butter. Hey, it was Christmas!
I substituted brown sugar for white. That's the only substitution I made. I don't think I can go back to the canned stuff ever again. Thank you very much for the recipe!
I think I'm a convert from the marshmallow and pineapple camp. Tried this recipe because it has about 1/3 fewer carbs (still a ton, but better). Used brown sugar. Will try to remember vanilla next time. I was concerned at first that there wasn't enough liquid, but the sweet potatoes release plenty while they cook. Mine took more than two hours. Next time I will adjust the cooking temp higher to reduce the liquid as soon as the potatoes are tender enough. This was basically like dessert. I actually skipped making the pumpkin pie I had planned. Took the advice of one reviewer, and added chopped pecans. Dude, amazing.
This turned out pretty well. family liked it. Added 2 Tbs more of "real" butter and a used pinch of fresh ground vanilla bean. Was rich is flavor. This is worth giving a try.
This recipe is very similar to the one my mom makes. She bakes the sweet potatoes instead of stove top, and we use 1 cup white and 1 cup brown sugar. Great, simple southern recipe.
Just what I was looking for. Parents give me a big box of sweet potatoes in the autumn, and every year I attempt candied sweets like my Mom makes. This is it! Used brown sugar and added a splash of Jack Daniels. Not a nutmeg fan, so I substituted ground clove. Syrup was the perfect consistency after cooking according to this recipe. DH & I polished off the leftovers with breakfast this morning. Thanks for the recipe!
My second attempt at candied sweet potatoes. The first time I tried my own recipe but didnt like it. I loved this one with the changes that I made to it, I used only 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1 cup of brown sugar and when it was almost finished I added 2 tablespoons of cornstartch to the sauce to thicken it up.
Oo my goodness!! I love these been making them for over a year now. I have tried so many sweet potato recipe and this is it!! Only thing I do different is add some marshmellows and bake till browned.. Pure lOVE:)
I first made this at Thanksgiving....everyone ranted and raved how delicious it was. I followed others suggestions AND I was using freshly grated nutmeg (stronger than pre-ground). I used less than the recipe calls for. It is so EASY! And since I use smaller knife cuts on my sweet potatoes, I can get it cooked in 20 minutes. It is now a weeknight side dish & I make it everytime sweet potatoes are on sale!!!!!!!
These are wonderful. I grew up (and still live) in the South and these are just as I remember.
Can't go wrong with butter and sugar! I used about a cup and a half of brown sugar, and put it all in the slow cooker. Worked out well.
Flavor was good, but there was an awful lot of liquid which I ended up cooking down. I do think the potatoes need to be cut very thick as they will fall apart if too thin.
The candied sweet potatoe recipes I have tried over the years called for a little water. They were all flops. This is the best sweet pototoes I have ever cooked and the best tasting.I do half the recipe and it works just fine.
I've made this a few times already...everyone loves it! These are not like those candied yam recipes where they are just topped with a lot of sweet stuff and marshmallows and baked. These are simmered so the flavor is tasted throughout the whole sweet potato. Wonderful!
I used to mess my yams up, not no more because of this recipe, my family wants yams every week.
man oh man! this is some good stuff! I used splenda instead of sugar and smart balence instead of butter to lighten it up some and it tasted oh, so good. and it was very easy
This was a big hit at the Thanksgiving table. I already had the ingredients from making a Jewish apple cake. Sugar, butter, cinamamon and nutmeg, that's it. The cooking time carmelizes the sugar and you would swear there is brown sugar in this recipie. I hand cut the yams into 3/4 inch slices, some in half, giving a quarter moon effect. This is delicious.
I made this for the first time on Thanksgiving and even the sweet potato haters loved it....so much in fact that I had to make it again for Christmas! And NO LEFTOVERS! I sliced the potatoes very thick and am glad I did because the thinner ones began to fall apart at the end.
This is a wonderful recipe and so simple too.It has become a tradition on Thanksgiving in my home.
These tasted amazing but they would not get soft on the stove top, they had cooked for 3 hours and were still rock hard, i stuck them in the oven for about 30 minutes they were perfect.
I love candied yams, but stopped making them - I could not get them sweet (used to boil them first). I tried this recipe for Xmas and let me say, this was the best candied yams I have ever tasted. I loved it so much I wanted to make more the next day, but store was out of sweet potatoes. Thank you Pam, this recipe is now taped to the inside kitchen cabinet door, where I put all all my go to recipes.
They were really good. I did not use as much nutmeg as called for. I am not really a fan. Next time I think I will cut down on the butter just a tad. Thanks for the superb formula.
Whole family loved this. I made it healthier by using cocunut oil instead of butter/margerine. Also used 1/2 cup raw sugar and 1/8 cup Stevia instead of the 2 cups sugar. It was plenty sweet that way!
This was very tasty. The only thing I did differently was use 1/2 white sugar and 1/2 brown sugar. I had some Asian yams lying around, so I used this recipe and they turned out delicious!
Great stuff - cut the recipe in half though. Glad I did. It made a bunch! Thanks for the recipe!!
Scared me at first, did not know potatoes cooked down.almost did not use 6 potatos.good thing my mom is deceased, this would have broke her heart.I have struck gold!
Very good sweet potatoes. Whenever I make sweet potatoes this is the recipe I use.
Loved it. I've made this several times and each and every time it came out good. The only thing I changed was the nutmeg (I used 1/2 teaspoon, and 1 cup of white sugar and 1 cup of brown sugar. Other than that this was a perfect recipe for me.
This recipe was greeeeeeeeat the only thing is it was a little too loose , I would suggest instead of covering the dish let simmer uncovered the last 30-35 minute until done , also like some others I totally forgot the vanilla extract because I was too busy taste testing, but overall great recipe, I definitely will be making this recipe again soooooooon , I will tweek it a little , I would advise any first timers please follow recipe instructions then make changes the way you see fit. thanks
Two words: too sweet! I made this for the first time for Thanksgiving, and because 6 potatoes didn't fit the pan- I only put 5 or so. They turned out too soft and too sweet, so I made steamed a couple more potatoes and added it into the dish. It tasted better this way and had some balance to it. I'll be making this again- IT WAS STILL GOOD but will def cut down on butter+ sugar.
pretty good, but pretty sweet, and they didn't seem to candy how I would have hoped, but that was probably me more then the recipe, I would definately try these again
Fantastic! Truly "candied" just like Grandma's. This is a really sweet dish. Not at all like the sweet potatoes you find baked with the marshmallows that people usually call "candied yams". The candying gives them a different texture. These are the real thing, just what I have been looking for! Thanks for sharing, this is a real treasure.
Very, very good. Exactly what I was looking for in candied sweet potatoes. Very sweet and rich and tasty. I used the fresh sweet potatoes in the store (the orange ones) and they really cooked up well. My only recommendation is to chunk them or slice them very thick (1/4" or thicker) because they break up too easily otherwise and the presentation is lost. I will DEFINITELY make this again!
Very easy recipe and very good. I cooked mine in the oven and used one cup of brown sugar/one cup of white sugar. I also melted the butter in a pan along with the sugar, then poured the mixture over the yams. Don't forget to add the vanilla...this really seals the deal.
I thought this turned out great! It was my first time making candied sweet potatoes, so I was a little intimidated. I took another reviewers advice and did one cup brown sugar and one cup white. It gave it a great taste. Also, this did not take nearly as long to cook as I expected, after about 30 mins, they were ready to go! I guess my advice would be to keep checking to make sure that you don't overcook. Thanks so much! Will use this recipe again!
Perfection!
This is my new favorite candied sweet potatoes recipe! It was a hit on both Thanksgiving and Christmas. The first time I made it, the nutmeg was very overpowering. I will be omitting it from now on, but I do suggest reducing the amount by at least half. It was hard to taste the sweet potato over it. I also used brown sugar instead of plain white sugar. I did tweak the recipe a bit. In the end, I transferred the potatoes to a casserole dish and topped with mini marshmallows and finely chopped pecans, and placed in a heated oven (350 is OK, no more than 400) until the marshmallows were gooey. The kids even loved it, and they aren't sweet potato fans. :)
These were pretty simple to make. Mine cooked unevenly, but I'm sure that's just cook error (I'm still new to cooking!). I don't know how anyone could have a pan big enough for this recipe...my biggest skillet barely held half the recipe.
