Delicious sweet potatoes can be used to make a traditional holiday side dish of candied yams with very little prep time involved.
Jump to RecipeHaving sweet candied yams or sweet potatoes seems to be a staple for holiday meals. My family makes a version topped with marshmallow fluff that is delicious. But, I also wanted to try something a bit different from the usual.
When we grill lunch over at my in-laws, my father-in-law often makes baked potatoes. Well, Justin and his mom both prefer sweet potatoes. And many times, I see them adding some brown sugar to the sweet potatoes. A yam and sweet potato are technically different things, but they are often interchanged.
Taking their idea of butter and brown sugar on the yams, I used that to come up with a different way to make candied yams than the traditional sweet potato casserole that I grew up with.

Step by Step
Preheat the oven to 350F. Peel and cut the potatoes into 1/2 inch rounds and gather your ingredients.

Layer the sweet potatoes in a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar and brown sugar, stirring until well combined.

Stir in the heavy whipping cream and cook, stirring often, for 5-7 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Stir in the vanilla extract, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.

Pour the sugar mixture over the potatoes and cover with aluminum foil.

Bake, covered, for about 40 minutes. Uncover and gently stir. Bake again, uncovered, for about 25-30 minutes, until they are tender.

Leftovers
Let the leftovers cool to room temperature. Cover with foil or move to a leftover container. Refrigerate up to 2-3 days. Reheat in the oven at 350F for about 5-10 minutes, until heated through.

Recipe
Originally Published On: October 9, 2020

Candied Yams
Ingredients
- 2 lbs sweet potatoes
- 4 tbsp butter (salted)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/8 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F
- Peel and cut the potatoes into 1/2 inch rounds
- Layer the sweet potatoes in a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat
- Add the sugar and brown sugar, stirring until well combined
- Stir in the heavy whipping cream and cook, stirring often, for 5-7 minutes
- Remove from the heat
- Stir in the vanilla extract, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg
- Pour the sugar mixture over the potatoes and cover with aluminum foil
- Bake, covered, for about 40 minutes
- Uncover and gently stir
- Bake again, uncovered, for about 25-30 minutes, until they are tender
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutrition content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
These look delicious! I love that you included reheating instructions. That’s so helpful!
Thanks! I know, especially if they are made for holiday meals, there are often leftovers to reheat the next day.
Such a classic side dish for Thanksgiving and one of my personal favorites! 🙂
This has become one of my favorites, too, even though I didn’t eat it when I was a kid!
Candied yams are such a classic. Perfect for Thanksgiving! This is a simply yet delicious recipe!
You’re right, perfect for this time of the year.
Love all the flavors here, I already know I’m going to enjoy this recipe a lot!
It’s such a great one! I hope you enjoy it, too!
This is so good!! My family really loved it!
Thanks, Toni. I’m glad to hear y’all enjoyed the recipe!
Love this idea..never thought of using yams this way..yumm
It’s such a great way to use them and make a delicious side dish for any meal, especially at the holidays.
I love yams but these are something else!!!! I can’t wait to cook your recipe, can’t wait.
These are delicious! I hope you enjoy it 🙂
One of my favorite things to make for Thanksgiving! I will totally try your recipe this year!
My family always made the version with marshmallows on top, so this one was new to me, and it was amazing!
I LOVE candied yams. I love them so much, in fact, I don’t just make them for the holidays. Some people look at me like I’m weird, but I make them on the regular.
I love sweet potatoes and yams. I have never had them freshly candied though.
This is so good! I’m about sure that my family specially my kids would love this so much! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Wow, this looks so yummy, I will add this to my list of recipes. Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe!
I love the sound of candied yams. I’m not sure I’ve even had yams before but this sounds like it would be such a lovely dish. I’d love to try it.
I have heard of this dish, but I’ve never made it or even had it before! Sounds delicious!
Oh wow. I think I should give this potato a try soon. The ingredients have me thinking a lot about it’s taste.
This is actually my favorite! You can also try frying this and it’s so good. Anyway, will try to do the baked version. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Yummy! I just pinned to make this for my family this week. We LOVE candied yams!
I love candied yams (and sweet potato casserole!). I need at least one on my Thanksgiving table, although they’re more like dessert than a veggie. Ha!
This is super yummy. We have this in the philippines and you can actually buy them on the streets! Super recommend!