Candied yams soul-food sweet potato (yam) preparation

Candied yams are a soul-food side dish of sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) baked or boiled in a syrup of brown sugar, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg, often with orange juice, until glazed and tender. Despite the name, the dish uses sweet potatoes, not true yams (Dioscorea spp.). The misnomer originated among enslaved West African cooks in the American South, who called sweet potatoes “nyam”, a word from West African languages (e.g., Fulani, Twi) meaning “to eat”, because the tubers resembled the African yams they knew from home.^[1]

The classic preparation involves peeling and slicing sweet potatoes, then simmering or baking them in a sweet, spiced syrup until the liquid reduces to a glossy glaze. Butter enriches the sauce, while cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla provide warmth; orange juice adds acidity to balance the sweetness. The dish is a staple of Thanksgiving and holiday soul-food spreads, served as a side alongside turkey, ham, greens, and cornbread.

The marshmallow-topped variant, in which miniature marshmallows are melted over the candied yams during the final minutes of baking, is a 20th-century addition. It was popularized by a 1917 Angelus Marshmallow recipe contest and remains common at Thanksgiving dinners, though it is not part of the original soul-food tradition.^[2] Candied yams are distinct from sweet potato pie, a dessert with a custard-like filling in a pie crust, and from the Brazilian batata-doce (simply roasted or boiled sweet potatoes) or Caribbean candied sweet potato (often made with coconut milk and ginger).

Dietary notes: The dish is vegetarian as prepared with butter; vegan versions substitute coconut oil or plant-based butter. It contains no pork or pork-derived ingredients, though some commercial marshmallows contain gelatin (often pork-based). Kosher and halal preparation requires gelatin-free marshmallows or omitting them. The dish is naturally gluten-free.

In Los Angeles, candied yams appear on holiday menus at soul-food institutions including Harold & Belle’s (Jefferson Park), Dulan’s on Crenshaw (Crenshaw District), and Stevie’s Creole Café (Inglewood), all Black-owned restaurants that anchor the city’s soul-food tradition.

^[1] OED Online, “yam, n.1,” Oxford University Press, 2023. ^[2] Angelus Marshmallow Company, “Marshmallow Sweet Potatoes,” Angelus Cook Book, 1917.