Candied Sweet Potatoes

You’ll love this Southern, old fashioned Candied Sweet Potato recipe! Tender sweet potatoes nestled in a buttery, sugary glaze and topped with chopped pecans.

Make it on the stovetop, bake in the oven or put it in the slow cooker – however you make it, it only requires one pot! Easy clean up and delicious!

Perfect as a Thanksgiving side dish or any time of the year!

If you can’t get anybody in your house to eat sweet potatoes, I promise you they’ll eat these! They’re like candy! This is my Grandmother’s recipe – it’s not anything fancy, but it sure is an excellent recipe!

She’d start her candied sweet potatoes on the stovetop then transfer the pan to the oven so she could have more stove space. She’d let them cook low and slow in the oven and they came out perfect every time!

Why this recipe works

Versatile – make it on the stovetop or bake in the oven. This is ideal, especially around Thanksgiving when your kitchen counter, refrigerator, stovetop and oven are all being used to the max! 

All-natural – better than Bruce’s™ Canned Sweet potatoes and contains no artificial colorants, preservatives or fillers

The brown sugar gives this classic side dish a great flavor due to the molasses in brown sugar.

Easy clean up – make the glaze then add the sliced potatoes to the pot. One pot clean-up! Doesn’t get much easier than that!

I usually serve some type of candied sweet potato at Thanksgiving dinner with cornbread dressing, cranberry sauce and turkey! This easy recipe works every time, so there’s no need to fuss over it!

Here’s what you’ll need for candied sweet potatoes

First thing, you’ll need a sharp knife and a vegetable peeler. Raw potatoes are hard, so a sharp knife and peeler reduces the total time to only a few minutes of prep time.

Sweet potatoes, butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract and some warm spices: cinnamon, nutmeg and/or apple pie spice. (Apple pie spice contains cinnamon and nutmeg so…), and a little chopped pecans (optional).

Difference between sweet potatoes and yams

Even though many Americans use these terms interchangeably, they are not the same. Chances are, unless you’re from the Caribbean or been to West Africa, you’ve never seen a true yam.

95% of the yams are grown in West Africa. What we most often see in U.S. grocery stores are sweet potatoes.

Yam’s have a dark, bark-like exterior and a dry, starchy flesh; they’re much lower in beta carotene than sweet potatoes. 

Sweet potatoes (over 50% are grown in North Carolina!) range in color from a rose color to a pale copper or tan, a dark red skin or even a purple skin.

The outer skin is smoother than that of a yam and, the sweet potato is sweeter and higher in beta carotene than a yam.

How to make it

There are a million ways to make sweet potatoes – some recipes call for maple syrup, while others call for toasted marshmallows on top. This sweet potato recipe is relatively quick and easy, with no fancy ingredients.

• Peel and cube potatoes or cut them into 1/2 inch slices or concentric circles; On medium-low heat, melt butter in a large skillet or Dutch oven; add sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract and Apple Pie Spice. Add water and cook until sugars dissolve
• Cook covered until almost fork tender; remove lid, reduce heat to low and allow brown sugar glaze to thicken and potatoes to get fork tender
• Transfer the sweet potato rounds to a large casserole dish, drizzle some of the sweet sugary butter mixture over the top and enjoy!

If you want to make these candied sweet potatoes early in the day and keep them warm while you’re cooking other side dishes, just cover the finished dish with foil and keep warm in a 200°F oven until ready to serve.

 

Yield and cooking for a large group

In the United States, fresh sweet potatoes are sold by the pound. Unfortunately, many recipes say “6 medium sweet potatoes” and we really have no idea what “medium” really means so, I measured everything out for you in proportion to the weight of the sweet potatoes. 

4 pounds of sweet potatoes cooks down to make about two full cups of diced potatoes. If you use a large serving spoon, you’ll probably get about six – eight 1/2 cup servings out of this recipe. 

The sauce makes 2 cups, which is plenty for up to 8 pounds of potatoes. 

If you’re cooking for a crowd, use this formula: 4 pounds cooked sweet potatoes = 6 servings 

Cooking for 30? Multiply everything by 5. So you’ll need 20 pounds of sweet potatoes and you’ll get 30 half-cup servings. Double the brown sugar glaze for every 8 pounds of potatoes.

Tips for making candied sweet potatoes

• Use a sharp potato peeler to peel the skin and a sharp knife to slice the potatoes – they’re very tough!
• You can make round slices or cube the sweet potato – it’s up to you – just try to keep all the pieces of a uniform size so they’ll cook evenly
• Don’t overcook your potatoes – they’ll turn to mush! Just cook until fork tender
• Cook the glaze on medium heat for a few minutes to make sure all the sugar is dissolved
• After you add water, if some of the sugar sticks to your pan, use a wooden spoon to scrape it up
• If you’re short on time, start the glaze before you begin cutting the potatoes. This will give it time to thicken a little. Also, parboil the sweet potatoes for about 5-8 minutes then transfer them to the pan with the sugary glaze.
• Stir gently; use a spatula to stir the candied sweet potatoes because once they’re done, they fall apart easily

Make ahead

If you’re like me and have limited oven or stovetop space, you can easily make these ahead of time. Here’s what you do – basically, make the sweet potatoes and sugary glaze and let it cook until it’s not quite done.

Gently remove the sweet potatoes (I use a spider, but you can use a big slotted spoon, too) and store them in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Let the glaze thicken on the stove a little, then pour it into a jar and refrigerate.

When you’re ready to reheat to serve, you can either put the potatoes and glaze on the stovetop and cook on medium low until potatoes are tender – or – 

Pour it all into a lightly oiled baking dish, cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350ºF until warm throughout.

Storage and reheating

Store these old fashioned candied sweet potatoes in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Freezing is not recommended because the texture turns to mush.

Variations

Sweet Potato Casserole – Mash the potatoes and add 1/4 cup heavy cream or milk; place in baking dish and top with a mixture of melted butter, flour, brown sugar and chopped pecans. Bake uncovered at 350ºF until top is crisp.

Oven baked – place sweet potatoes in a lightly oiled 9 x 13 baking dish; make the candied glaze on the stovetop; pour the glaze over the potatoes; cover with foil and bake at 350ºF until potatoes are tender.

Marshmallows – place sweet potatoes and glaze in lightly oiled baking dish; place marshmallows on top; place under broiler for a few minutes till marshmallows are light brown.

Slow Cooker – place sweet potatoes and glaze in slow cooker. Cook on low for 1 hour or until fork tender.

This old fashioned Candied Sweet Potato recipe has been in our family for years and they’re always a hit at the holiday table! I hope you’ll enjoy it with your Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter meal!

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If you make this recipe, please scroll down and leave a comment and rating! I love to hear from you!