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.

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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’ll only need a few ingredients to make this Southern dish and you won’t need a ton of spices. The fact is, what makes a delicious southern candied sweet potato is the sweet syrup mixture composed of butter and sugar that gets doused over the slices of sweet potatoes. This is a baked candied sweet potato recipe which makes the sweet potatoes super tender but with the slightest hint of bite.

How to make Candied Sweet Potatoes
First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Grab 4 medium-sized sweet potatoes (about 2 lbs) and wash, peel, and cut them into slices, about ½ inch thick. Then lay them flat in a 13×9 casserole dish. Sprinkle the sweet potatoes with salt. Set aside.
Then in a heavy-duty saucepan, melt your butter over medium-low heat. Add sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, and stir until your butter has melted and your sugar has dissolved. Remove from 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 every single sweet potato is covered.
Cover tightly with foil and place in your preheated oven.
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 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 that syrup a little time to thicken up.

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
Notes on this recipe:
- 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.
- I don’t add marshmallows to this recipe as I feel it’s sweet enough as is.
- I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you like this recipe, you’ll love this sweet potato pie.

Watch this video tutorial and see how I make these sweet potatoes from start to finish.
Southern Candied Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 lbs sweet potatoes peeled and sliced about 1/2 inch thick
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup butter
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- 2 Tbsp orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Lay Sweet Potatoes flat in a 13×9 casserole dish. Sprinkle the sweet potatoes with salt. Set aside.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Remove from the oven and allow the sweet potatoes to cool a bit. Serve and enjoy.
Nicole
Thursday 17th of December 2020
This will be my first time making sweet potatoes myself! I'm looking forward to trying this recipe. I had a question though, I have heard that it makes peel and cutting the sweet potatoes easier if they are boiled first, do you recommend that?
Tanya
Thursday 17th of December 2020
Hi Nicole, I wouldn't boil it first, only due to the fact that it'll be easier to overcook it that way. One of the pros from cooking the sweet potatoes from scratch is so they don't overcook in the oven and the syrup has a chance to develop. If you choose to boil it, you would need to lower the amount of time it cooks in the oven.
Paula
Tuesday 1st of December 2020
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! This year was the first time I had to prepare a full Thanksgiving meal by myself. I took a plate to my mom and she raved about these sweet potatoes! Will be preparing this every year (or maybe every few months-lol!) from now on! Simply delicious!
Pam
Saturday 28th of November 2020
So glad I found your recipe!! It was my favorite dish on my Thanksgiving table. It will be in my table again next year!
Linda Keymetian
Friday 27th of November 2020
This was so good - my family loved it - a definite keeper
Al
Thursday 26th of November 2020
These were amazing and well liked by everyone. I found myself without nutmeg so I used some allspice and some clove. Amazing. I never thought I liked candied sweet potatoes until now. Many thanks!
Tanya
Friday 27th of November 2020
Thank you Al! Love your flavor subs too. So glad you liked the recipe :)