Want the easiest and tastiest side dish around? Then you need to whip up these minimal ingredient Candied Sweet Potatoes!
Sweet potatoes for us are a staple this time of year. I prefer my sweet potatoes sweet rather that savory. That is why I love Candied Sweet Potatoes.
This recipe always makes it way onto our dinner table during fall, for holidays or any time of the year.
Everyone loves them and the best part they are amazingly simple to make using minimal and easy to find ingredients.
I love easy recipes and this is why these potatoes are one of the ones that we choose to make most often as a side dish for our gatherings.
If you’ve been looking for that perfect potato recipe to serve alongside a comfort meal, for holidays or just because – you cannot go wrong with these Candied Sweet Potatoes.
Some of our other favorite potato recipes that we have on our site include: Scalloped Potatoes and Ham, Crockpot Mashed Potatoes and Crispy Parmesan Potatoes.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- Minimal ingredients help this dish come together quickly.
- You don’t have to pre bake or boil the potatoes beforehand.
- You can easily double or halve this batch for how many people you’re serving.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST):
Sweet potatoes
Kosher salt
Unsalted butter
Light brown sugar
Molasses
Cinnamon, ground
Nutmeg, ground
Ginger, ground
HOW TO MAKE CANDIED SWEET POTATOES, STEP BY STEP:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray, set aside.
- Peel and cut sweet potatoes into ½ inch thick slices. Place the potatoes into the baking dish and sprinkle with the salt, set aside.
- In a small saucepan, add the butter, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Place on the stove over medium-low heat, stir occasionally. Bring to a simmer, simmer for 2 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Pour mixture over the potatoes making sure all the exposed potatoes are covered in the sauce.
- Cover with foil, bake for 30 minutes.
- Take the foil off, stir, and bake uncovered for an additional 30 minutes.
- Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Liquid will thicken as it cools.
WHAT ARE CANDIED SWEET POTATOES?
Simplified Candied Sweet Potatoes are just sweet potatoes that are tossed in a brown sugar, butter and spice mixture that is baked.
There is nothing really special about them, they are candied because of the mixture as it cooks it thickens and coats the sweet potatoes and essentially “candies” them.
So there in a nut shell you have the definition of what this delicious dish actually is!
CAN I USE YAMS INSTEAD OF SWEET POTATOES?
There is a big misconception that yams and sweet potatoes are essentially the same thing, they are not.
You will see recipes titled “Candied Yams” but they are actually using sweet potatoes and titling them with the word Yam.
Yams are a whole different vegetable that has a different taste and texture and cooking method as well.
For this recipe you cannot substitute yams, you will want to make sure that you are using sweet potatoes.
WHAT CAN I SERVE WITH THESE?
This is a dish that really shines as a side dish, especially around the holidays. But if you are wondering what goes well with these, here are some of my favorites:
- Ham
- Pork Loin
- Fried Chicken
- Collard Greens
- Buttermilk Biscuits
- Dinner Rolls
- Pork Chops
- Green Beans
- Brussel Sprouts
There is pretty much an unlimited list that you can make that would taste great with Candied Sweet Potatoes.
DO I HAVE TO PRE-BAKE OR BOIL THE POTATOES AHEAD OF TIME?
Nope! These will bake in the sauce and become nice and fork tender by the time that you are done.
Who wants an extra step when you don’t need one, am I right?
HOW TO STORE:
Place your potatoes in an airtight container in the refrigerator and they will keep for up to 3-4 days.
These can also be frozen, place in a freezer container where they will keep for up to 3 months.
Note that the texture will change after you freeze them, but they will still be delicious.
To defrost, remove from the freezer into the refrigerator until thawed. To reheat, place in a microwave safe dish and heat until warmed through.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- Make sure that you are using sweet potatoes for this recipe and not yams.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above on that.
- You can half or double this recipe deepening on how many people you are serving.
- You do not have to pre-bake or boil the potatoes. They will bake long enough to become tender.
- Serve these with so many different dishes, see some of my suggestions above.
- If you want to add a little crunchiness, add some chopped pecans to the dish.
- Make sure that you are cutting all the potatoes the same thickness. This will help ensure they cook properly.
- If you want a richer flavor, use dark brown sugar.
- The syrup/sauce with thicken as it sits.
Are you a fan of sweet side dishes that go with all the things and are perfect for holidays or any occasion? Then you cannot go without making these Candied Sweet Potatoes.
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried these CANDIED SWEET POTATOES or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Candied Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup molasses
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray, set aside.
- Peel and cut sweet potatoes into ½ inch thick slices. Place the potatoes into the baking dish and sprinkle with the salt, set aside.
- In a small saucepan, add the butter, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Place on the stove over medium-low heat, stir occasionally. Bring to a simmer, simmer for 2 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Pour mixture over the potatoes making sure all the exposed potatoes are covered in the sauce.
- Cover with foil, bake for 30 minutes.
- Take the foil off, stir, and bake uncovered for an additional 30 minutes.
- Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Liquid will thicken as it cools.
Notes
- Make sure that you are using sweet potatoes for this recipe and not yams.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above on that.
- You can half or double this recipe deepening on how many people you are serving.
- You do not have to pre-bake or boil the potatoes. They will bake long enough to become tender.
- Serve these with so many different dishes, see some of my suggestions above.
- If you want to add a little crunchiness, add some chopped pecans to the dish.
- Make sure that you are cutting all the potatoes the same thickness. This will help ensure they cook properly.
- If you want a richer flavor, use dark brown sugar.
- The syrup/sauce with thicken as it sits.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED OCTOBER, 2020
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