Sides / Potatoes & sweet potatoes
Stovetop Candied Yams with Lemon and Ginger
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The oven belongs to the turkey, so these simmer on the stove in butter and brown sugar until a knife slides in. Boil the syrup down to a glaze, finish with lemon, and a cousin will be eating them from the pan before they reach the table.
The short version
Slice 3 pounds of peeled sweet potatoes into ¾-inch rounds, cover and simmer them in butter, brown sugar, water, salt and spices until a knife slides in, about 25 minutes, then uncover and boil the liquid down to a thick glaze. Finish with lemon. Don't skip the uncovered reduction.
What makes ours better
why ours wins the argument at dinner
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Cook them in the glaze, on the stove. No parboiling and no oven. The slices simmer in the butter and sugar from the start, so they take on flavor all the way through, and your oven stays free for everything else.
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Cover first, then uncover to reduce. The lid steams the sweet potatoes tender without breaking them. Taking it off at the end boils the watery juices down into a thick, shiny syrup that clings instead of pooling.
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Lemon and ginger. A little ground ginger and a squeeze of lemon at the end cut through all that sugar. They taste like the sweet potatoes, just brighter, and keep the dish from being cloying.
What you need
the stars of the show
- Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes3 pounds
- Unsalted butter6 tablespoons
- Packed light or dark brown sugar¾ cup
- Ground ginger½ teaspoon
- Ground cinnamon¼ teaspoon
tap each one as it goes in. no double-salting.
Steps
go slow. the good part can’t be rushed.
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Slice the sweet potatoes
Cut the peeled sweet potatoes crosswise into rounds about ¾ inch thick. Halve any rounds from the fat middle of a big potato so all the pieces are roughly the same size.
Even slices cook evenly. Thin ones turn to mush before thick ones are tender.
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Start the syrup
Melt the butter in a 12-inch skillet or wide Dutch oven with a lid over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar, water, salt, ginger and cinnamon and bring it to a simmer, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
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Add the sweet potatoes
Add the sweet potato rounds and turn them gently with a spatula to coat. They'll be crowded, in about two layers, and that's fine.
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Simmer covered
Cover, lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, gently turning the slices every 8 to 10 minutes so the top ones get a turn in the syrup, until a paring knife slides into the center of a thick piece with only a little resistance, 20 to 25 minutes.
Turn them, don't stir them. A spoon breaks the slices apart.
About 20 min. Cook mode has a timer for this step.
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Uncover and reduce
Take off the lid and raise the heat to medium-high. Let the liquid boil, spooning it over the sweet potatoes and nudging the pan, until it thickens into a glossy syrup with big, slow bubbles that coats the slices, 6 to 10 minutes.
Watch closely at the end. Once the syrup gets thick it can go from glaze to burnt sugar in about a minute.
About 8 min. Cook mode has a timer for this step.
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Finish with lemon
Take the pan off the heat and drizzle in the lemon juice and zest, then baste the slices once more. Taste the syrup and add a pinch of salt if it tastes flat.
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Rest and serve
Let it sit 5 minutes so the glaze sets up a little more, then transfer to a warm serving dish and spoon every bit of syrup over the top.
About 5 min. Cook mode has a timer for this step.
Good to know
things I learned the hard way, so you can skip that part
- The "yams" in most American grocery stores are orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, such as Garnet or Jewel. True yams are a different, starchier tuber and don't work here.
- This is the simple, glazed-slices dish. For a mashed casserole with a pecan streusel and marshmallows, see our sweet potato casserole (recipe).
- For marshmallows anyway, put the glazed slices in a baking dish, cover with mini marshmallows and run them under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes, watching the whole time, until toasted.
- To make ahead, cook through the reduction step, cool and refrigerate up to 2 days. Rewarm covered over low heat with a splash of water, then add the lemon.
- Storage. Refrigerated, covered, 4 days. Reheat gently on the stove with a tablespoon of water, or covered at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes. Freezing makes them watery.
Questions, answered
asked and answered at the kitchen counter
Are yams and sweet potatoes the same thing?
Not botanically, but in American stores the "yams" are almost always orange sweet potatoes. Buy those; that's what candied yams have always been made with.
Why are my candied yams watery?
The liquid wasn't reduced. Uncover the pan for the last 6 to 10 minutes and boil it until the syrup is thick, glossy and bubbling slowly before you take it off the heat.
Can I make candied yams in the oven instead?
Yes. Make the syrup on the stove as written, arrange the raw slices in a 13×9 dish, pour the syrup over, cover with foil and bake at 375°F for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake 20 to 25 minutes more, basting twice, until tender and glazed.
Can I use canned yams?
You can. Drain them well, skip the water, and simmer them uncovered in the butter and sugar syrup for 10 to 15 minutes, basting, until glazed. They're already soft, so handle them gently.
How do I know when they're done?
A knife slides into the thickest slice with almost no resistance, and the syrup is thick enough to coat a spoon and clings to the slices.
From the table
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Published October 26, 2026.