Published on 11/14/24

These Brown Sugar Bourbon Candied Yams are out of this world good, friends! Tender slices of yams soak up the best warming flavors and compliment the sprinkling of nutty pecans. Serve this one onThanksgiving or for your next special occasion.

Candied yams sprinkled with chopped pecans in a casserole dish

The Best Candied Yams Recipe

Side dishes should be easy to make and delicious, which is exactly what we had in mind when we conjured up this delicious yam recipe complete with fresh yams paired with the best seasonal spices. It’s a great recipe to pair with your other holiday favorites and one that’s even been approved by the kiddos.

Love A Good Sweet Side Dish?

Then you’ve got to try our sweet apple cinnamon yam bake and our sweet potato casserole with marshmallows.

What You Will Need

yams – A lot of people get yams and sweet potatoes mixed up. We’ve found that our local grocery store labels them interchangeably, making things even more confusing. Just look for a root vegetable that looks like a large potato. It’ll have a rich, orange flesh when cut.
brown sugar – A little bit richer in flavor than white sugar and accentuates the natural sweet flavor from the yams.
bourbon – You found the secret ingredient! This brings flavors of vanilla and caramel.
ground cinnamon & ground nutmeg – Some warm spices to really lean into the cozy season.
kosher salt – Just a bit to elevate all of the other flavors.
butter – Helps keep your yams tender and perfectly cooked. Salted or unsalted butter will work just fine.
lemon zest – Just touch to add some subtle citrus.
vanilla extract – Compliments the vanilla undertones in the bourbon.
pecans – For a little bit of crunch in every bite!

How To Make Candied Yams

While your oven preheats to 375 degrees F, gather and measure out all of your ingredients. Then use a sharp knife or vegetable peeler to remove the skin from your yams and cut them into half inch rounds.

Individual bowls of brown sugar, chopped pecans, butter, maple syrup, cinnamon, salt, lemon zest, bourbon, vanilla, nutmeg, white sugar, and three yams.

Now put the sugars, bourbon, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, butter, and a little sprinkling of lemon zest in a small saucepan. Bring it all to a medium-high heat, mix and let butter melt until everything is fully combined into a dark, buttery syrup. Give it a quick taste to decide whether or not to add another teaspoon of bourbon.

Sugars, bourbon, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, butter, and lemon zest in a small saucepan. All of those ingredients then cooked into a sauce.

Place the slices of sweet potato on the bottom of a casserole dish and pour about half of the sugar mixture over the top of the slices. Then sprinkle with half of the chopped pecans.

A layer of sliced sweet potatoes in the bottom of a casserole dish. Then those same potatoes drizzled with the sauce.

Then add the next layer of yam slices followed by the remaining sauce and pecans. Cover the baking dish with foil, place it in the oven, and let it bake for 40 minutes. Then remove the foil and let it bake for another 5 minutes in order to get a nice golden brown color throughout.

Sauced potatoes slices topped with chopped pecans.

Finally, give it a good stir to ensure every bite is covered wit that sweet syrup and serve! This is one of our favorites to serve at Thanksgiving, Christmas dinner, or any other special occasion during the cozy winter months.

What To Serve With Candied Yams

Seeing as how this is a fan favorite at Thanksgiving dinner and the fact that it’s on the sweeter side, we love pairing this classic dish with savory sides like our brussels sprouts au gratin and extra creamy mashed potatoes. The great news is that we’ve got over 25 Thanksgiving side dish recommendations for your to feast your eyes on!

Recipe FAQs and Tips

Dairy-Free: make this dish dairy-free by replacing the butter with a plant based butter.
Storage: Store leftover candied yams in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
Perfect Make-Ahead Dish: Feel free to make this dish the night before your feast. Just warm them up in the oven before putting them out on the dinner table.
How to make candied yams from a can? We have an excellent sweet apple cinnamon yam bake that uses canned yams and it is SO GOOD!

Pinterest image showing candied yams with the title Bourbon Brown Sugar Candied Yams the perfect holiday side dish.

Made this easy recipe and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!

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