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    Pink Owl Kitchen » southern recipes » Southern Candied Yams (Old Fashioned Soul Food Recipe)

    Southern Candied Yams (Old Fashioned Soul Food Recipe)

    Published: Jul 26, 2022 by Ashley Boyd · This post may contain affiliate links

    JUMP TO RECIPE

    A rich and flavorful southern-style candied yam recipe made with chopped sweet potatoes cooked in a sweet, buttery syrup until tender and glazed. This is an authentic soul food candied sweet potato recipe that you will find yourself making for every holiday and Sunday dinner!

    Growing up in a Black Mississippi family, there is not a single Thanksgiving dinner, celebration meal, or Sunday dinner that was served without a big ol' pan of candied yams as one of the leading sides.

    This recipe took me a very long time to perfect, and I have finally gotten these candied sweet potatoes to taste exactly like the yams my grandmother made when I was growing up in Mississippi!

    If you want more southern Thanksgiving recipes, be sure to check out our Southern Baked Macaroni and Cheese and Southern Sweet Potato Casserole next!

    southern candied yams in a baking dish on a wooden surface.
    Jump to:
    • Ingredients You Need to Make This Recipe
    • How To Make This Recipe
    • Variations and Substitutions
    • What Are Candied Yams?
    • What To Serve With Candied Sweet Potatoes
    • What Is The Difference Between Yams and Sweet Potatoes?
    • Do I Need To Boil Yams Before Baking?
    • Are Candied Yams Healthy?
    • Make Ahead and Storing Instructions
    • Recommended Tools for This Recipe
    • More Southern Recipes You Will Love!
    • 📖 Recipe

    Ingredients You Need to Make This Recipe

    • Sweet potatoes. This recipe calls for 3 pounds of sweet potatoes. Wash, peel, and cut the sweet potatoes into about ½ inch thick rounds.
    • Granulated sugar. To sweeten the yams and make the syrupy baking liquid.
    • Dark brown sugar. To combine with the granulated sugar and butter to create the syrup for the yams.
    • Unsalted butter. Butter is combined with sugar to create the baking liquid for the sweet potatoes.
    • Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and vanilla extract. To flavor the candied yams.
    candied yams on a wooden serving spoon.

    How To Make This Recipe

    • Preheat your oven to 375°F. Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and set it aside.
    • Wash, peel, and slice the sweet potatoes into ½-inch thick rounds. Place the sweet potatoes in the baking dish and set them aside.
    • Heat the butter, sugars, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until the butter melts. Stir in the vanilla extract and remove the pan from the heat.
    • Pour the butter and sugar mixture over the sweet potatoes and use a wooden spoon or your hands to stir the sweet potatoes and make sure each one is coated in the syrup. Cover the pan with foil and bake the yams in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
    • After 30 minutes, remove the foil from the pan, baste the candied yams with the cooking syrup using a large spoon, and continue cooking the yams, uncovered, for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork and the cooking liquid is syrupy.
    • Allow the candied yams to cool for about 10 minutes and enjoy!
    sliced potatoes in a baking dish.
    sliced sweet potatoes with brown sugar syrup poured over top in a baking dish.
    sliced sweet potatoes coated with brown sugar syrup in a baking dish.

    Variations and Substitutions

    Everyone has a slightly different recipe variation for candied yams that they swear by and most are absolutely delicious. Some popular variations and additions for candied sweet potatoes are:

    • Adding orange juice to the cooking liquid
    • Adding heavy cream or milk
    • Making them with canned sweet potatoes
    • Adding marshmallows on top
    • Top with chopped nuts

    You can also adjust the granulated to brown sugar ratio to your liking. You can even use all granulated sugar if you prefer and you can substitute light brown sugar for dark brown sugar.

    close up of candied yams in a white baking dish.

    What Are Candied Yams?

    Southern candied yams are a classic soul food dish that is made with sweet potatoes cooked in a buttery, sugary syrup until it creates a delicious glaze and the potatoes are tender.

    Enslaved Africans that were brought to the American south were used to cooking with root vegetables called yams. The closest thing available to them in their new land was the sweet potato but they continued to refer to them as yams.

    Cooking sliced potatoes with butter, sugar, cinnamon, and other spices became the most popular preparation among Black folks in the south. The dish is still lovingly called candied yams, although you will hear and see the terms yams and sweet potatoes used interchangeably just as in this post!

    candied yams in a white baking dish.

    What To Serve With Candied Sweet Potatoes

    When I think of candied yams, the first thing that pops into my head is Thanksgiving dinner, although I enjoy candied yams throughout the year. No Thanksgiving dinner is complete in the south without candied yams!

    Here are some of my favorite dishes to serve alongside candied sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner:

    • Southern Buttermilk Cornbread
    • Southern Cornbread Dressing
    • Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
    • Homemade Dinner Rolls
    • Cajun Honey Roasted Carrots
    southern candied yams in a white bowl.

    What Is The Difference Between Yams and Sweet Potatoes?

    While you may see "yams" for sale in many American markets, they are almost always sweet potatoes that are labeled yams. Real yams are mainly used in Caribbean and West African cooking.

    Real yams are entirely different root vegetables from sweet potatoes that are more like yucca in texture and flavor. They have bumpy, tough brown skin with starchy, not sweet flesh.

    Do I Need To Boil Yams Before Baking?

    There is no need to boil sweet potatoes before making candied yams in the oven if you bake them long enough. This recipe calls for the candied yams to bake until they are fork tender, and the pan is covered for part of the cooking time so that the potatoes do not brown too quickly on top.

    However, many candied sweet potato recipes call for the potatoes to be boiled before they are baked to reduce the time needed in the oven and this is fine too. Try making candied yams both ways and see which method you prefer!

    southern candied yams in a white baking dish with a serving spoon in the right corner.

    Are Candied Yams Healthy?

    Candied yams are a very rich dish and contain a large amount of butter and sugar to give the sweet potatoes the "candied" effect. For this reason, candied yams are traditionally not a healthy dish.

    However, there are many recipes for lightened-up versions of candied yams available to try if you would like to enjoy the flavor of candied sweet potatoes with lower sugar and fat content. This recipe for healthy vegan candied yams by Healthier Steps looks delicious and is one I have saved to try!

    Make Ahead and Storing Instructions

    Candied yams are the perfect make-ahead dish for Thanksgiving dinner. These sweet potatoes can be prepared up to two days in advance, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap in the baking dish, and stored in the refrigerator until the day you plan to serve them.

    Reheat the candied yams in the oven for about 20 mins until hot and bubbly. Leftover candied yams can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

    Recommended Tools for This Recipe

    • Vegetable peeler
    • 9 x 13 baking dish
    • Medium saucepan
    detail shot of candied yams in a white bowl.

    More Southern Recipes You Will Love!

    • Southern Fried Green Tomatoes
    • Southern Oven Fried Catfish
    • Sour Cream Biscuits
    • Cajun Smothered Chicken
    • Southern Cheese Grits

    📖 Recipe

    southern candied yams in a white baking dish with a serving spoon in the right corner.

    Southern Candied Yams (Old Fashioned Soul Food Recipe)

    Ashley Boyd
    A rich and flavorful southern-style candied yam recipe made with chopped sweet potatoes cooked in a sweet, buttery syrup until tender and glazed. This is an authentic soul food candied sweet potato recipe that you will find yourself making for every holiday and Sunday dinner!
    4.65 from 99 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 1 hr
    Total Time 1 hr 10 mins
    Course Side Dish
    Cuisine American, Southern US
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    Servings 10 servings
    Calories 349 kcal

    Equipment

    • 9 x 13 baking dish
    • Measuring cups and spoons
    • Medium saucepan

    Ingredients
      

    • 3 lbs sweet potatoes about 5 large sweet potatoes
    • 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
    • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
    • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
    • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat your oven to 375°F. Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and set it aside.
    • Wash, peel, and slice the sweet potatoes into ½-inch thick rounds. Place the sweet potatoes in the buttered baking dish and set them aside.
    • Heat the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until the butter melts. Stir in the vanilla extract and remove the pan from the heat.
    • Pour the butter and sugar mixture over the sweet potatoes and use a wooden spoon or your hands to stir the sweet potatoes and make sure each potato slice is coated in the syrup. Cover the pan with foil and bake the yams in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
    • After 30 minutes, remove the foil from the pan, carefully spoon some of the cooking syrup over the yams, and continue cooking the yams, uncovered, for an additional 25 to 35 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork and the cooking liquid is syrupy.
    • Allow the candied yams to cool for about 10 minutes and enjoy!

    Video

    Notes

    • Do not cook the butter and sugar mixture too long. Once the butter melts, remove the syrup from the heat. Cooking it too long can cause the syrup to harden like candy once it is removed from the heat.
    • Larger sweet potatoes can take a bit longer to cook. Check the largest potatoes by piercing them with a fork before removing the yams from the oven to make sure they are tender.
    • Leftover candied yams can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat yams in the microwave or oven.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1servingCalories: 349kcalCarbohydrates: 65.6gProtein: 2.2gFat: 9.5gSaturated Fat: 5.9gCholesterol: 24mgSodium: 196mgPotassium: 1128mgFiber: 5.9gSugar: 27.8gCalcium: 37mgIron: 1mg
    Keyword candied sweet potatoes, candied yams, soul food recipes, southern candied sweet potatoes, southern yams, thanksgiving side dishes
    Tried this recipe?Tag @thepinkowlkitchen on Instagram! And don't forget to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and review!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Marlon Boyd

      July 26, 2022 at 3:13 am

      5 stars
      Can’t wait to use this receipt for my family during the holidays! They’re gonna love it!

      Reply
      • Ashley Boyd

        July 26, 2022 at 6:49 pm

        This recipe is perfect for the holidays! I hope your family loves the yams!

        Reply
    2. Mo

      October 06, 2022 at 11:11 pm

      5 stars
      I was excited about this recipe until it became a bit confusing. In your directions it states to add all ingredients, minus the vanilla extract to the pan.but towards the end of your recipe you mention to allow the butter to melt before mixing the sugar in. If I would have read this toward the beginning, I would have gotten a better understanding of the directions

      Reply
      • Ashley Boyd

        October 07, 2022 at 2:56 am

        Hi Mo, I apologize for the confusion. I think you are referring to the note at the bottom of the recipe that reads "do not cook the butter and sugar until the sugar dissolves". I mean that once the ingredients are added to the pot, do not cook them to the point where the sugar has dissolved, just until it melts. I will re-word this to be more easily understood. Thank you for bringing this to my attention!

        Reply
    3. Gineva

      October 20, 2022 at 3:21 am

      5 stars
      We are obsessed with this candied yams recipe! It is so easy to make, and it always gets eaten so quickly. I cannot wait to impress my in-laws with this dish for Thanksgiving!

      Reply
      • Ashley Boyd

        October 21, 2022 at 12:28 am

        I'm so happy to hear you and your family love the candied yams recipe! Thank you for trying them!

        Reply
        • Jerry Bolls

          December 27, 2022 at 12:27 am

          5 stars
          Made this with half the sugar and it was still very sweet. Whole stick of butter is a keeper. Great recipe!

          Reply
          • Ashley Boyd

            December 29, 2022 at 12:58 am

            I'm so happy you enjoyed the recipe, Jerry!

            Reply
    4. DD

      November 19, 2022 at 2:22 am

      5 stars
      Easy, tasty, inexpensive! The best southern style candied yam recipe that I have found. Thank you for sharing.

      Reply
      • Ashley Boyd

        November 21, 2022 at 4:13 pm

        Love to hear it! Thank you for trying the recipe!

        Reply
    5. sam

      November 19, 2022 at 5:07 pm

      Hi! Can this be fuly cooked in advance, refrigerated and then reheated for service (Thanksgiving!)
      Thanks!

      Reply
      • Ashley Boyd

        November 21, 2022 at 4:12 pm

        It sure can! Just heat them covered in the oven for about 20 minutes.

        Reply
    6. D Magnus

      November 23, 2022 at 4:32 pm

      5 stars
      please add nutmeg to ingredients list. thank you

      happy holidays

      Reply
      • Ashley Boyd

        November 28, 2022 at 10:01 pm

        The recipe has been updated. Thank you for the call out! Happy holidays!

        Reply
    7. Lauren

      November 25, 2022 at 1:26 am

      5 stars
      Fantastic recipe! My husband and I missed this Southern favorite. I’m so glad I used this recipe for Thanksgiving. He and I really enjoyed it.

      Reply
      • Ashley Boyd

        November 28, 2022 at 9:58 pm

        I'm so happy you and your husband enjoyed the yams! Thanks for trying our recipe, Lauren!

        Reply
    8. Taris

      November 28, 2022 at 2:15 pm

      5 stars
      So I came across this recipe while searching for a good homemade candied yam recipe. I typically buy the candied yams in the can but after making this I will never buy the can again! Absolutely no comparison! This recipe turned out amazingly delicious! Thank you so much for sharing!

      Reply
      • Ashley Boyd

        November 28, 2022 at 9:57 pm

        I am thrilled you enjoyed the candied yam recipe! Thank you for giving it a try!

        Reply
      • LaTanya Johnson

        July 12, 2023 at 10:26 pm

        I’m about to make this recipe tonight it looks delicious and I can’t wait to try them

        Reply
        • Ashley Boyd

          July 13, 2023 at 6:29 pm

          I hope you love them! Let me know how they turn out!

          Reply
    9. Dennis Cooley

      December 17, 2022 at 3:13 pm

      5 stars
      This Thanksgiving was the first time I've ever tried to make candied yams from scratch. This recipe was real simple and the yams came out great! I already have request to make some for Christmas!

      Reply
      • Ashley Boyd

        December 17, 2022 at 6:24 pm

        I am so happy you enjoyed the candied yams recipe, Dennis! Thank you for giving them a try. Happy holidays!

        Reply
    10. Dennis

      December 19, 2022 at 12:50 am

      5 stars
      You're welcome and happy holidays to you too!

      Reply
    11. Julie Riedel

      December 23, 2022 at 5:29 pm

      Can you prepare the yams ahead of time, store it in the fridge, then cook it the next day?

      Reply
      • Ashley Boyd

        December 23, 2022 at 5:56 pm

        Hi Julie. You sure can! The syrup will harden in the refrigerator overnight and you will need to add extra baking time but everything else should work the same. Let me know how they turn out!

        Reply
    12. Monica Mcc

      January 23, 2023 at 2:07 pm

      5 stars
      My family loves this recipe! It’s perfect.

      Reply
      • Ashley Boyd

        January 25, 2023 at 9:06 pm

        I'm so happy to hear that, Monica! Thank you for trying the recipe!

        Reply

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    HI! I'M ASHLEY.

    Southern girl, wife, mom, and creator of all you see here at Pink Owl Kitchen - that's me! My love for creating comforting home-cooked meals for my family blossomed into an online resource for home cooks like you. I am passionate about sharing the Southern flavors I grew up eating and I hope your family enjoys them for years to come!

    More about me →

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