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 and sweet potato dinner rolls, 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.
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: 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 flaky 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 Sweet Potato Casserole (crunchy pecan topping!) Dinner Rolls (or try these Brown Butter Sage Dinner Rolls) Mushroom Puff Pastry Tarts Cornbread Stuffing or Sausage & Herb Stuffing Cranberry Brie Puff Pastry Tarts Mac & Cheese or Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese
And of course… dessert! Here are our favorite Thanksgiving pie recipes, including classics like pumpkin pie, apple pie, and pecan pie.
