Description
Southern Candied Yams are a classic soul food recipe featuring tender sweet potatoes baked in a rich and spicy buttery syrup. This comforting dish is perfect for holidays or family dinners and delivers warm flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla in every bite.
Ingredients
Scale
Sweet Potatoes
- 3 lbs sweet potatoes – about 5 medium sweet potatoes
Syrup
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter – sliced into squares, plus more for greasing the baking dish
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup dark brown sugar – or light brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prepare Oven and Baking Dish. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and set it aside to prevent sticking.
- Slice the Sweet Potatoes. Thoroughly wash, peel, and slice the sweet potatoes into ½-inch thick rounds. Place them evenly in the buttered baking dish and set aside.
- Make the Syrup. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Heat until the butter melts and mixture begins to come together. Stir in the vanilla extract and remove from heat. The syrup will be thick with some sugar crystals remaining.
- Coat the Sweet Potatoes. Pour the syrup evenly over the sweet potatoes. Using a wooden spoon or clean hands, gently stir the potatoes to coat each slice thoroughly in the syrup, ensuring even coverage and preventing clumps.
- Bake Covered. Cover the baking dish tightly with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes to begin softening the yams.
- Toss and Continue Baking Uncovered. Remove the foil, carefully toss and rotate the sweet potatoes so that those on top and bottom absorb the syrup evenly. Return the dish uncovered to the oven and bake an additional 40 minutes until the yams are tender and the syrup is thick and syrupy.
- Cool and Serve. Let the candied yams cool for about 10 minutes in the pan. Serve with a slotted spoon, spooning some of the syrup over the yams for extra flavor and moisture.
Notes
- Slice sweet potatoes uniformly for even cooking; longer and thinner potatoes are easier to chop.
- The syrup does not contain added liquid, so it stays thick and syrupy without fully dissolving the sugar.
- Adjust sugar amounts to your preferred sweetness level.
- This dish can be made 1 to 2 days ahead; reheat thoroughly before serving.
- Test doneness by piercing a potato with a fork; it should be tender but not falling apart.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days and reheat as needed.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 320 kcal
- Sugar: 35 g
- Sodium: 180 mg
- Fat: 14 g
- Saturated Fat: 8 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 50 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 35 mg
