Name: Candied Yams
Yield: 8

Candied Yams Recipe that combines warm spices, maple, citrus, and butter to create tender, melt-in-your-mouth sweet potatoes with incredible flavor.

Author’s Notes

Saucy, Caramel-y, And Gone

If you’ve been following my recipes for any length of time, you already know my love for sweet potatoes. I squeeze them into just about any recipe I can! My two current favorite ways to eat them: sweet potato burrito bowls (STILL a lunch staple after all these years!) and my Sweetgreen harvest bowl copycat.

But beyond eating them almost daily, they’re my forever favorite Thanksgiving side. Roasted, tucked into a casserole, or in this very candied yams recipe…these candied sweet potatoes are extra saucy, rich, and caramel-y in the best way. Nothing pairs better with turkey and cranberry sauce!

I’m curious: How do YOU like your sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving? Roasted, casserole, candied, or do they not make the cut?

All the ingredients in this recipe prepped out for straightforward assembly including the sweet potatoes, salt, spices, maple syrup, butter, vanilla, and brown sugar.

Ingredients In This Candied Yams Recipe

Ingredient	Tip
Sweet potatoes	Slice evenly so they cook at the same speed and soak up the sauce.
Butter and brown sugar	Use very soft, fresh brown sugar.
Maple syrup and vanilla	Use real (pure) maple syrup and pure vanilla for the best flavor depth.
Warm spices	Adjust these to your taste by adding more of the spices you love and less (or none) of the ones you don’t.
Clementine zest and juice	Adds brightness and acidity that cuts through the richness and keeps things balanced.

Thinly sliced yams arranged in a pan with a sugary butter mixture poured over them to coat each slice for candied yams recipe

How To Make This Candied Yams Recipe

Prep potatoes: Peel, slice, add to a greased dish, and season with salt.
Heat oven: Heat to 375°F.
Make sauce: Melt everything in a pot, boil 2 minutes, then add vanilla and clementine.
Bake: Bake 20 minutes uncovered, stir, cover, bake 20 minutes, stir, and bake again.
Finish: Let the sauce thicken as it cools, then check the seasoning and adjust salt.

Storage

How to Store: This Candied Yams Recipe stores well. Cover and refrigerate for 3-5 days. The sauce thickens in the fridge but loosens as it warms. Reheat in the microwave until hot and saucy again.

How to Make Ahead: To prep ahead, peel and slice the sweet potatoes up to 1 day early and keep them in an airtight bag in the fridge. Make the sauce in advance and store it in an airtight container, then warm it before pouring over the potatoes when you’re ready to bake.