The Best Southern Candied Sweet Potatoes

These Southern Candied Sweet Potatoes are covered in delicious syrupy goodness and will melt in your mouth with each and every bite. It’s the perfect side dish for every table. 

You’ll find the full recipe with ingredient amounts and instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Be sure to check out the blog post itself for extra tips and tricks!

One of my favorite Southern Sides is a small side of candied yams. It’s something I always grab a small spoonful of to go along with the savory goodness of collard greens, macaroni and cheese, and crispy fried chicken.

Now there’s a difference between a sweet potato and a yam. However, yams are hard to come by in my neighborhood, so I usually just grab a few sweet potatoes to make this classic side dish. 

You know what I love about this Southern dish? It barely needs any ingredients, and there’s no need to go wild with spices. Honestly, the magic is all in that sweet, buttery syrup poured all over the sweet potato slices. I also added some orange juice to brighten it up.

It’s so simple, but it makes the potatoes taste amazing! I bake mine, so they turn out super tender with just a little bit of bite left. But if your oven is busy, these stovetop candied sweet potatoes are just as good.

♡ Tanya

Ingredients Needed

Ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions are on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.

• Sweet Potatoes - 2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced about ½ inch thick, and a little salt.
• Syrup Base - unsalted butter, brown sugar, granulated white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange juice.

How to make Candied Sweet Potatoes

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Grab 4 medium-sized sweet potatoes (about 2 lbs) and wash, peel, and cut them into ½-inch-thick slices. Then lay them flat in a 13x9 casserole dish. Sprinkle the sweet potatoes with salt. Set aside.  

Step 2: In a heavy-duty saucepan, melt your butter over medium-low heat. Add the sugars, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and stir until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the orange juice. This slight hint of citrus adds a lovely brightness to the dish. 

Pour the butter mixture over the sweet potatoes, making sure each one is covered.

Cover tightly with foil and place in your preheated oven. 

Step 3: Bake for 30 minutes with the foil on. After 30 minutes, remove the dish from the oven, remove the foil, and stir the sweet potatoes. Place back in the oven and bake uncovered for an additional 30 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender. I usually poke a few pieces with a fork to ensure they are tender to my liking. 

Remove from the oven and allow the sweet potatoes to cool a bit. It’ll give the syrup a little time to thicken. 

What to serve Southern Candied Sweet Potatoes with?

You can’t go wrong with these Southern staples:

• Fried Chicken (Air Fryer Method)
• Collard Greens (Pressure Cooker Method)
• Creamy Macaroni and Cheese
• Buttered Cabbage (Pressure Cooker Method)
• Corn Souffle 
  or
• Vanilla Ice Cream

How to store

To store candied sweet potatoes, first, allow them to cool completely after cooking. Then transfer the cooled sweet potatoes to an airtight container or cover the baking dish with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and refrigerate for up to 3-5 days.

If you want to store them longer, you can freeze them by placing them in a freezer-safe airtight container or wrapping them tightly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. They can be frozen for up to 3 months. 

To serve, thaw the frozen sweet potatoes overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat according to the instructions below.

To prepare this dish ahead of time

You can prepare candied sweet potatoes ahead of time for convenience. Cook them slightly underdone, cool them, and refrigerate for up to 3 days. When ready to serve, let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes and reheat at 350°F (175°C) for 20-30 minutes.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you love sweet potatoes, get your bake on and make this sweet potato pie or this sweet potato casserole.

Watch this video tutorial and see how I make these sweet potatoes from start to finish. 

Tanya

The Best Southern Candied Sweet Potatoes

4.79 from 133 votes

These Easy Southern Candied Sweet Potatoes are covered in a sugar buttery mixture and baked until tender. It’s the perfect side dish for any table.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Servings: 4 people

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Calories: 659

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 2 lbs sweet potatoes peeled and sliced about ½ inch thick
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 Tablespoons orange juice

Equipment

13x9 Baking Dish

Foil Paper

Instructions

 

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Lay Sweet Potatoes flat in a 13x9 casserole dish. Sprinkle the sweet potatoes with salt. Set aside.
3. Melt your butter over medium-low heat in a heavy-duty saucepan. Add sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, and stir until your butter has melted and your sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and add the orange juice.
4. Pour the butter mixture over the sweet potatoes, making sure every single sweet potato is covered with the butter. Cover tightly with foil and place in your preheated oven.
5. Bake for 30 minutes with the foil on. After 30 minutes, remove the dish from the oven, remove foil and stir the sweet potatoes. Place back in the oven and bake uncovered for an additional 30 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are fork-tender.
6. Remove from the oven and allow the sweet potatoes to cool a bit. Serve and enjoy.

Nutrition

Calories: 659kcalCarbohydrates: 113gProtein: 4gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 61mgSodium: 630mgPotassium: 836mgFiber: 7gSugar: 75gVitamin A: 32902IUVitamin C: 10mgCalcium: 116mgIron: 2mg

Video

Notes

You’ll absolutely want to make sure that every single potato is covered in that butter-sugar mixture. If not, it may result in some sweet potatoes being very tender and others not so much. That would be the worst.

The nutritional info may seem to be on the high side, but remember you're not eating all of the buttery syrup...unless you want to 🙂

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This post was originally published on October 3, 2019. It has been updated with additional helpful tips.