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. 

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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.

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5 from 3 votes

Southern Candied Sweet Potatoes

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.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword candied yams, southern candied sweet potatoes

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings 4 people

Calories 659kcal

Author Tanya

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.

Suggested Tools

13×9 Baking Dish

Foil Paper

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 🙂

Nutrition

Calories: 659kcal | Carbohydrates: 113g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 61mg | Sodium: 630mg | Potassium: 836mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 75g | Vitamin A: 32902IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 116mg | Iron: 2mg

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