Candied Southern and Sweet stove top sweet potatoes smothered and cooked in brown sugar and butter are the traditional sweet potatoes of your childhood. No marshmallows needed (but you could certainly add) to enjoy this easy to make side dish that compliments so many main dish dinners and holiday meals.
There is nothing that says a holiday side dish more than sweet potatoes.
It doesn’t matter if you dice them, slice them, eat them baked or throw them in a crock pot, sweet potatoes smothered in butter and brown sugar are a delicacy as delicious as dessert.
Personally I find sweet potatoes underrated – they are inexpensive to buy, feed a ton of people, and any vegetable that goes great with butter and sugar is all right with me!
This simple dish is great for holidays like Easter and Thanksgiving, but do not discount the deliciousness on Mothers Day, July 4th and simply a Tuesday dinner.
If you have not dove into many sweet potato side dishes, I hope that you love this one and it helps you discover how easy they are to enjoy.
Lets get started!
Southern Sweet Potatoes
It’s fairly easy to make a brown sugar candied Southern Sweet Potato – you just need to gather a few ingredients (listed below).
The recipe card with full measurements and instructions are available at the bottom of the post so you can print off and follow along easily.
- sweet potatoes
- butter
- brown sugar
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
- salt
RELATED RECIPES: Hasselback Sweet Potatoes with Pecans, Pressure Cooker Sweet Potatoes, Married Mashed Potatoes, Crock Pot Sweet Potato Casserole
Prepping the Sweet Potatoes
Before you get started on making this delicious side dish, you will need to prep your sweet potatoes.
- Peel skin from sweet potatoes
- Cut into 1 inch chunks as evenly as possible so your potatoes cook all at the same time
Brown Sugar Sweet Potato Side Dish
Add cut up and peeled potatoes with butter to a cast iron skillet and heat over medium heat until butter is melted.
Add brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl and mix well.
Add to potatoes and mix well to coat.
Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer sweet potatoes on the stove top for 30 minutes.
Remove lid and continue to cook on stove top for an additional 20 minutes until liquid is significantly reduced.
Serve seasoned with salt if desired
Serves 4-6
If you tested out my sweet potato recipe and enjoyed it OR made alterations that went wonderful, I would love to hear about it!
Please leave me a comment. Additionally, I’d be flattered if you followed me over on Pinterest to find more of my recipes as I publish them.

Candied Sweet Potatoes with Brown Sugar Butter
Ingredients
- 3 large sweet potatoes - peeled and cut into 1" chunks
- 1/4 cup butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- salt to taste - optional
Instructions
- Add cut up and peeled sweet potatoes and butter to a skillet and heat over medium heat until butter is melted and potatoes are coated.
- Add brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl and mix well to combine ingredients.
- Add brown sugar mixture to sweet potatoes and mix well to coat all sides.
- Cover pan and reduce heat to low.
- Simmer sweet potatoes for 30 minutes so they soften.
- Remove lid and continue to cook for an additional 20 minutes until liquid is significantly reduced.
- Serve seasoned with salt if desired.