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.

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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.

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 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!

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:

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.

Southern Candied Yams (Old Fashioned Soul Food Recipe)