Let me show you how to make my favorite easy Thanksgiving side: candied sweet potatoes! They’re soft, buttery, extra saucy, caramelized, and sweet. I especially love this Thanksgiving side dish because you can prepare the elements of this recipe ahead of time AND purchase the ingredients in advance, too.
Forever my favorite Thanksgiving side dish, these classic candied sweet potatoes make an appearance on our holiday table every year. (I’m surprised I haven’t shared the recipe with you before– these are the best!) In fact, we love them so much that we don’t limit this recipe to only once per year. I love these for Christmas, Easter, or a random Sunday night throughout the year. They’re full of flavor and as far as Thanksgiving side dishes go, they’re REALLY easy.
These Candied Sweet Potatoes Are:
- Soft & buttery
- Caramelized on the edges
- Absolutely packed with flavor: vanilla, brown sugar, maple, cinnamon, & ginger
- Even better with orange zest, rosemary, & sea salt
- Your new favorite Thanksgiving side dish too
I also appreciate that you don’t have to pre-cook the sweet potatoes. Unlike sweet potato casserole where you boil and mash the potatoes, this candied sweet potatoes recipe simply needs thick slices of peeled potatoes. Easy enough, right?
And the best part of all? You can purchase all of the ingredients NOW so you aren’t rushing around Thanksgiving week.
How to Make Candied Sweet Potatoes
Let me quickly break down the steps before leaving you with the recipe.
- Pick up your sweet potatoes. You need 3-4 pounds, about 5 or 6 medium sweet potatoes. Look for sweet potatoes with a reddish/copper skin that’s smooth and firm. Store in a cool, dry place until ready to use.
- Peel & slice sweet potatoes. When you’re ready to make this dish, peel the potatoes and slice into 1/2 inch slices. The thickness of the slices is important because (1) any smaller and the slices will over-cook and (2) any larger and the slices will under-cook. Place potato slices in a large casserole dish and toss with salt.
- Make the sauce. Put all the sauce ingredients into a pot, boil 2 minutes, then stir in vanilla extract. Vanilla extract is a recent (and welcome) addition to our family recipe because it adds SO much flavor. Just wait until you smell the sauce when you stir in that vanilla– you’ll already know you’re making something delicious!
- Pour over sweet potatoes. Pour sauce over potatoes and toss everything together so the sauce evenly coats all the slices.
- Bake for 1 hour. Stop and stir the sweet potatoes every 20 minutes to ensure the sauce caramelizes on each potato.
Buttery Brown Sugar Maple Sauce
These sweet potatoes would be nothing without the magical sauce. A recipe that we’ve been tweaking and perfecting over the years, the combination of ingredients is perfection.
Here are the ingredients you need:
- Butter: Butter is the base of the sauce. (And, honestly, why it’s so good!)
- Water: 1 Tablespoon of water helps liquify the sauce– it’s too thick without it.
- Brown Sugar: Name a better ingredient suited for sweet potatoes!
- Maple Syrup: Pure maple syrup adds incomparable flavor to this Thanksgiving side dish. The recipe is good without it, but even better with its addition. Skip “breakfast syrup” and reach for pure maple.
- Cinnamon, Nutmeg, & Ginger: This dish includes the season’s favorite warming spices. The ginger adds a bright burst of flavor.
- Vanilla Extract: Again, vanilla extract is a welcome addition. Stir it into the sauce after you remove the pot from heat.
The sauce thins out as it bakes due to the water content in the potatoes, but quickly thickens as it cools. Thick or thin, you’ll want to slurp up this sauce with a straw. Plus, it tastes fantastic with those other Thanksgiving dishes on your plate too! 😉
Finishing Touches for Candied Sweet Potatoes
When I made these candied sweet potatoes earlier this month, I added orange zest to the sauce. This is totally optional, but it added an element of FRESH to the entire dish. Likewise, adding chopped fresh or dried rosemary after the dish bakes is equally refreshing. And to balance out the sweet, I love a sprinkle of sea salt all over the top.
This dish has it all: sweet, salty, fresh, buttery, saucy, soft, and caramelized. It doesn’t get much better than this:
More Favorite Thanksgiving Side Dishes:
- Cornbread
- Green Bean Casserole (from scratch)
- Biscuits
- Favorite Cranberry Sauce
- Sausage & Apple Stuffing
- Sweet Potato Casserole (crunchy pecan topping!)
- Dinner Rolls (or try these Brown Butter Sage Dinner Rolls)
- Cornbread Stuffing
- Cranberry Brie Puff Pastry Tarts
Candied Sweet Potatoes
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes
- Yield: serves 8-10
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These perfect candied sweet potatoes are soft, buttery, extra saucy, caramelized, and sweet. I especially love this Thanksgiving side dish because you can prepare the elements of this recipe ahead of time AND purchase the ingredients in advance, too.
Ingredients
- 5–6 medium sweet potatoes (3–4 lbs)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick; 115g) unsalted butter
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) water
- 1/4 cup (60ml) pure maple syrup
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- optional: 2 teaspoons orange zest
- optional for garnish: chopped fresh or dried rosemary, sea salt
Instructions
- Peel then slice the sweet potatoes into 1/2 inch thick slices. Place in a greased 9×13 inch or other 3 quart baking dish. Sprinkle salt on top and toss to coat. I just use nonstick spray to grease.
- Preheat oven to 375°F (191°C).
- Make the sauce: Cut stick of butter in half. (Helps it melt easier.) Combine all the butter, water, maple syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir until the butter has melted. Stop stirring and bring to a gentle boil. Boil for 2 minutes without stirring. Remove sauce from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. (And orange zest, if using.)
- Pour sauce over potatoes and toss to coat.
- Bake for 1 hour, stopping and stirring the sweet potatoes every 20 minutes. After the first 20 minutes, I cover the dish with aluminum foil so the potatoes bake evenly.
- Remove from the oven, sprinkle with rosemary and sea salt (if using), then cool uncovered for 10 minutes before serving. The sauce is thin right out of the oven but thickens as it cools.
- Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Sauce will be thick after refrigeration, but thins out as you warm the leftovers up. Simply warm in the microwave.
Notes
- Make ahead tip: You can peel & slice the sweet potatoes 1 day ahead of time. Cover and store in the refrigerator overnight. You can prepare the sauce on the stove (step 3) 1-2 days ahead of time. Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave until thin and liquid-y, then continue with step 4. Dish can be frozen up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator, then cover with aluminum foil and warm in a 350°F (177°C) oven for 25 minutes or until warm throughout.
Keywords: sweet potato, thanksgiving, side dish
Hello,
Id like to try these for thanksgiving but love the crunch of Pecans. Do you thin these could be added to this dish?
Hi Brooke, Yes you could top this dish with pecans if you wish. You may also enjoy this Sweet Potato Casserole with Crunchy Pecan Crumble!
I would love to make this recipe and wondered if it could be made in a crock pot, if so what would your suggestion be on time and temp?
Hi Whitney! We haven’t tried these in a slow cooker so I’m not sure of the result. It shouldn’t be a problem with the slow cooker set on low. You will lose that slight caramelized texture though.
Do you think this would work if I mixed in some carrots too?
Definitely. There’s plenty of glaze, so feel free to add a couple sliced carrots.
Mind blowing!!! I left the skin on and it caramelized the skin making it so delicious! Next time I will try it with the orange rind. It’s a definite repeat recipe!!!!
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What can I use in place of the pure Maple syrup in the sweet potatoes?
Hi Sue, you can replace with light corn syrup, brown sugar (use 1 and 1/4 cups of brown sugar total), or simply leave it out. The potatoes are pretty sweet as is. You’ll just lose that maple flavor.
Just finished making them. Everything you said was true, the house has the aroma of fresh baked cookies. I made half the recipe, my husband does not partake of sweet potatoes, bet the farm he eats these. They look fantastic and tasted even better on the tossing spoon. Well dinner is ready, will let you know the outcome, by the way your site is amazing full of great things. I know I will be visiting again….
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I used the recipe yesterday and it was awesome! I just found out about Sally’s website and I really enjoy the recipes. I have also made the lemon cake and it too was delicious! I highly recommend both recipes! Thanks Sally!
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I made this recipe for Easter dinner yesterday and all I can say is “Wow!” I have never peeled or cooked sweet potatoes in my life until this meal. The taste was OVER THE TOP! I kid you not, we could not stop eating them! Sally, thank you SO MUCH for this recipe! Folks, if you want a dish to take to your church dinner, potluck, school or family event, this is IT! The sauce was incredible! I did a lot of research looking for just the right one and when I saw that your recipe, Sally, had the most ingredients, I had to try it. It was easy to make and more delicious to eat!
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Was up late and wanted to see how to make home made sweet potato and I Google it and yours looked the best so I did step by step and it turn out the bomb . Thank you
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This was wonderful! I made it exactly as recipe said. Do you have any suggestions for substituting brown sugar? Wanting to use less sugar in my diet after holiday’s lol.
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I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Anona! I haven’t tried this recipe with any sugar substitutes but you can certainly give it a try. You might also enjoy my sweet potato casserole which is made with only 1/2 cup of sugar instead of the full cup here.
I made this again without using brown sugar( although brown sugar was delicious) but cutting back on processed sugar, so I decided to try again using a little less than a 1/2 cup of maple syrup. It was delicious. I might try it next time using 1/4 honey and 1/4 maple syrup.
Worth saving and including in the family cookbook
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Sally, I always visit your site first for recipes. 🙂 These were DELICIOUS! I usually buy yams in syrup and add butter and spices but wanted to try making with fresh sweet potatoes to see how we liked them. SO much better than canned. Thanks so much for sharing all your recipes! I halved it and they turned out great. Happy New Year!
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Hi Sally!
Just wanted to let you know that this recipe is now our “ go to “ for sweet potatoes. My husband ( who is very particular), has named your recipe “ Sweeties”.
The flavor and texture is perfect , and surprisingly easy to make and doesn’t break the bank when purchasing ingredients. Since Thanksgiving, we’ be made this dish 4 times!
Thank you for sharing such a gemmed with us!
Happy New Year!
Sherre
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This recipe is awesome!!! My first time making from scratch in the past I have not liked sweet potatoes but I loved it and so did everyone in the family. I had NO leftovers and I made a 13×9 pan.
Thank you ever so much now I have a new holiday dish
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We made these for Thanksgiving and they were the best sweet potatoes I have ever had! The spices with the orange zest is genius. I would not have said I was a fan of candied sweet potatoes before having these. I will be finding a reason to make them again before next Thanksgiving.
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I made this recipe pretty much to the t, and they were so delicious. Perfect addition to all the other thanksgiving day dishes! I have never had candied sweet potatoes before and I must say I will definitely make them again year! I also made Sallys butternut squash mac n cheese, green bean casserole, pear and cranberry crisp!! All came out great. After having the homeade green bean casserole I can never go back the canned stuff. Thank you Sally!! Im going to have to make a Sallys Christmas menu as well 🙂
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This is the perfect Candied Sweet Potatoes! I used orange zest and left out the rosemary. This recipes a keeper!
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I haven’t tried the new country crock plant butter yet, but I need too! I ended up making these yesterday with coconut oil since I was out of earth balance, and they came out heavenly.
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Made these today for Thanksgiving! Absolutely delicious! I added a cup of chopped pecans and did put some marshmallows on top last 20 minutes! Everyone loved them. They will be a traditional dish for years to come!
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Good Morning Sally! As I type this I am making the candied yams & they SMELL so good. I followed the recipe as follows but I omitted the ginger as we don’t care for it. I have NEVER used maple syrup or ANY syrup for that matter & I’m sure my Mother is shaking her finger at me(LOL). But I am so happy to NOT have to boil the potatoes FIRST! I think it loses some flavor so THANK YOU again for making life a little easier in the kitchen. HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you & your family!
Made these tonight for our church Thanksgiving dinner and they were delicious!!!!
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This was almost my recipe but tried adding the vanilla and it’s great. I boil my sweet potatoes until tender, cool and remove the skin and the sauce adheres better. I also substituted ground cloves for the ginger and I add a 1/4 cup of Amaretto to the sauce while I’m making it. It adds a more sophisticated taste and even the kids like it.
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Where I live Yams are orange fleshed and Sweet Potatoes are a pale yellow. I take it that this recipe would be for my Yams?
Love your recipes and excited to make this one.
You can definitely try this recipe with your native yams, yes!
Can I make these a couple of days early and then just reheat on thanksgiving?? Oven will be over used !!!
Absolutely! When reheating, cover with aluminum foil in the oven.
Sally, how would you recommend making a smaller quantity? The recipe above serves 8-10 but I need something in the range of 4-6. It’s only my husband and I, and he can’t eat sweet potatoes (medical diet, they’re high in potassium … and he doesn’t care for them). So basically, something that would serve 4-6 people would be the right quantity for me to have a meal and have leftovers two or three times. Thanks for any suggestion!
Hi Mary! You can easily halve this recipe– the potato quantity and sauce ingredients, too. The potatoes may only take about 40-45 minutes in the oven.
Thanks for the response — I wanted to ask because some recipes, particularly candies and baked goods, don’t always halve or double well and I wasn’t certain if the sugar/butter mix would still come together as a syrup after being halved. I’ll give this a try. Thanks again!
Can this recipe be adapted for a crock pot?
Hi Anita! I haven’t tried these in a slow cooker so I’m not sure of the result. It shouldn’t be a problem with the slow cooker set on low. You will lose that slight caramelized texture though.
Could these be cooked in a slow cooker. My oven is over worked on Thanksgiving?
I haven’t tried these in a slow cooker, but it should be fine on low. You will lose that slight caramelized texture on the potatoes though.
If you slice the sweet potatoes 1 day in advance AND make the sauce, can you combine them and store together in the fridge overnight or should they be kept separately? If kept separately, do you recommend reheating the sauce before adding?
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Hi Hilary! I recommend keeping the prepared potatoes and sauce separate, then combining right before baking. Warm sauce on the stove until liquid-y again, then combine with potatoes.
Looks delicious. I like mine really glazed and not runny. Is there a reason you do not peel the sweet potatoes, slice and partially boil in salt water and then add the sauce and bake? I am just curious because that it the only way I have done them.
Hi Candice! I’ve actually never prepared them that way. Does the boiling step help the sauce adhere better? If you decide to try this recipe, you can always reduce the maple syrup or water so it’s a little less liquid-y.
I also learned to boil the sweet potatoes first. Which I have already done earlier today before I just now found your recipe. It would be great to skip that step and much easier. Next time I make these I will definitely try it your way, by just making with the raw potatoes. I also wanted to add that I make mine with apple juice instead of water, I just use only cinnamon because I don’t like ginger nor nutmeg, the rest is the same as yours. I also add some amaretto, my mom always used apricot brandy which was good but I love amaretto!
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YUM!
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