Melting Candied Sweet Potatoes are a sweet, tender, caramelized side dish with melt-in-your-mouth texture and irresistible flavor! Try soon!
These amazing Potatoes are the ultimate side dish to serve along with a holiday meal and not only are they mouthwateringly delicious, but they are super easy to make! Try my Mashed Sweet Potatoes or Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes for more favorite sweet potato recipes.
Why You’ll Love These Sweet Potatoes?
- Perfect for the holidays! Minimal prep and simple steps to follow!
- Their sweet, cozy flavor makes them a crowd pleaser!
Sabrina’s Melting Candied Sweet Potatoes Recipe
Melting Candied Sweet Potatoes are a delicious way to elevate your usual side dish with rich sweetness and beautifully caramelized edges. They’re easy to prepare and make a crowd-pleasing addition to Thanksgiving dinner, holiday gatherings, or a cozy family meal.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes , thin tube ones, peeled and sliced 1 inch thick
- 4 tablespoons butter , melted
- 1/4 cup brown sugar , packed
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ginger
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Toss the potatoes in the mixture of the butter, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
- Put the sweet potatoes in a single layer on a metal baking pan and bake for 20 minutes.
- Flip the potatoes and bake an additional 20 minutes.
- Flip the potatoes again, add the water, and bake an additional 15 minutes.
Nutrition
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Sabrina’s Tips
Most roasted sweet potato dishes, it’s okay if the potatoes are a little uneven but for this recipe to work you want evenly cut rounds. If they are too thin, they will definitely burn and if they are too thick, they won’t soften all the way through. Additionally, don’t panic when you flip your potatoes and they look a little burned. Don’t worry! The water will turn that char into an amazing caramelized crust.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
Melting Potatoes are made by roasting potato slices at a high temperature. The sweet potato rounds will start to crisp up on the outside during the oven time. But, adding liquid to the dish for the last few minutes of baking makes the potatoes absorb the moisture and turns them perfectly moist inside. That soft, melty texture gives the classic side dish its name because the potatoes genuinely melt in your mouth. In this candied version, you get the same crisp outside and melty outside, but with the addition of brown sugar and spice coating. Toss the potatoes in brown sugar and butter sauce before baking. The dark, sweet flavor of the brown sugar is the perfect complement to the sweet potatoes’ natural flavor. Plus, ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon add some more festive flavor to the coating.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb of Sweet Potatoes: You only need a few simple ingredients for Melting Candied Sweet Potatoes, the first of which is the sweet potatoes. Get thin tube-shaped sweet potatoes, and make sure that you check them for any soft spots or apparent blemishes when you’re picking them out.
- ¼ cup of Brown Sugar: By whisking the brown sugar into melted unsalted butter, it’s easy to coat the sweet potato slices evenly in sugar. As the potatoes bake, the brown sugar will caramelize to give the dish a rich, sweet flavor.
- Spices: Balance out the sweet brown sugar with some seasonal spices. ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg, and ⅛ teaspoon ginger are all you need to give the sweet potatoes the most comforting flavor ever.
- 1 cup of Water: The last step is adding a cup of water to the pan. This may seem strange, but as the potatoes finish baking, they’ll soak up the water, which gives them their soft, melty texture on the inside.
Can this be made ahead of time?
You can absolutely prep Candied Sweet Potatoes the night before you’re serving them. Just assemble and bake the dish as usual. Then let them cool down, cover them, and store them in the fridge overnight. The next day, you can pop them in the oven for a few minutes to reheat them right before serving.
Pairing Suggestions
These tender, buttery sweet potatoes are the perfect side dish for your Thanksgiving Roasted Turkey dinner, especially when served alongside Green Bean Casserole, Dinner Rolls, and tart Cranberry Sauce to balance their sweetness.
How to Store
- Store: Don’t leave Potatoes at room temperature for more than 2 hours. To keep leftovers, you can cover the dish in plastic wrap or transfer the potatoes to an airtight container. Then store them in the fridge for 4-5 days.
- Reheat: These are best reheated in the oven. Place the potatoes in a baking dish and add a splash of water to keep them from drying out. Cover with foil and bake at about 300-350 degrees until heated through.
- Freeze: These potatoes freeze wonderfully! Just pop them in a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 5 months. To reheat, thaw them overnight in the fridge then use the instructions above.
Ideas to Serve
- Cheese: These wonderfully decadent potatoes would taste amazing with a little creamy cheese crumble on top. Soft, creamy cheese like goat cheese, blue cheese, or feta cheese would all go perfectly with the caramely, buttery flavors and natural earthiness of the potatoes.
- Marshmallows: For a throwback to the casserole version, add delicious marshmallows to your Melting Sweet Potatoes. Prep the sweet potatoes and bake according to the recipe. Add mini marshmallows to the top, and broil for 30 seconds to toast them until golden brown and gooey.
- Nuts: These incredibly soft and tender potatoes would go great with some crunchy nuts for texture. Toast nuts like pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts or pistachios in a dry skillet until fragrant. Roughly chop the nuts and serve as a garnish. Toasted seeds like pepitas or sunflower seeds would taste delicious too!
Frequent Questions
The reason these are called Melting Sweet Potatoes is because they get so incredibly tender, they melt in your mouth! It’s almost like they turn into mashed potatoes inside with buttery brown sugar goodness as a crispy coating outside.
Yes, you definitely want to peel the sweet potatoes before slicing them and roasting them. Not only do they taste better without the skin, but the skin will keep the potatoes from absorbing all the water at the end. They will be soft, but they won’t have that amazing melting texture.
Variations
- Maple Pecan: Instead of using brown sugar, swap in maple syrup for the butter sauce. Add chopped pecans to the sauce as well for some crunch. After the potatoes are done baking, serve them with more crushed, toasted pecan pieces. You could also use walnuts or pistachios!
- Spicy: Another way to add extra flavor is with some spice. Whisk a dash of cayenne pepper into the brown sugar and butter mixture, then coat the sweet potatoes. It will create a delicious blend of spicy and sweet in potatoes.
Related Recipes
More Yummy Sweet Potatoes
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