Brown Sugar Baked Sweet Potato Slices

Brown sugar baked sweet potato slices are a lightened-up take on classic candied yams. Spiced with cinnamon and ginger, these sweet potato rounds are oven roasted until soft and creamy on the inside, then finished under the broiler to get those perfectly crispy outsides. This recipe is loved on Pinterest and a reader favorite for the Thanksgiving table, but with only six ingredients, it’s simple enough for busy weeknights too.

An Easy Sweet Potato Side Dish

Baked sweet potato slices are my favorite way to enjoy a healthy side dish without all the extra added sugar you typically find in candied yams or a marshmallow-topped sweet potato casserole. Don’t get me wrong, I love those kinds of sweet potatoes too, but I much prefer them for dessert.

This dish allows the nutty, earthy flavors of the sweet potato to shine while also bringing out their natural sweetness. Pillowy soft on the inside, like the inside of a baked sweet potato, but with golden crispy outsides.

These baked sweet potato rounds are impressive enough for your holiday table but easy enough for a random Tuesday night meal. Originally introduced on the blog as oven-roasted sweet potatoes, they are still a reader favorite to this day.

What You’ll Need

• Sweet Potatoes – Look for ones with bright orange flesh – not yams.
• Salted Butter – It can be melted on the stovetop or in the microwave.
• Ground Ginger – Found in the spice aisle, it has a completely different flavor than fresh ginger root.
• Ground Cinnamon – A classic spice for sweet potatoes, it compliments their sweet, nutty flavor.
• Brown Sugar – We don’t use much, just enough to add an extra touch of sweetness.
• Kosher Salt – Just a pinch to amplify the flavors, adjust to taste as needed. (Not pictured.)

Recommended Kitchen Tools

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• basting brush
• cutting board
• sharp knife
• baking sheet

How to Make Baked Sweet Potato Slices

One of the best things about these baked sweet potato slices is how easy they are to make. First, I’ll walk you through it with my tips and tricks; then, you can check out the step-by-step video.

• Adjust the oven rack to the top slot, then preheat to 375º– since we switch from baking to broiling, it’s important to adjust the rack to the top.
• Prep the sweet potatoes – peel the sweet potatoes or leave the skins on, then slice them into quarter-inch slices.
• Arrange the sliced sweet potatoes in a single layer on a sheet pan – The sweet potatoes can be touching but not overlapping.

• Mix your spice blend – combine the ginger, cinnamon, and brown sugar in a small bowl.
• Melt the butter – melt it just until it’s liquid and creamy.
• Season the sweet potatoes – use a pastry brush to brush the top of each sweet potato with the melted butter, then sprinkle with spice mixture.
• Flip the sweet potatoes and season the other side – brush on butter, and sprinkle on the spice blend.

• Bake the sweet potatoes – instead of high-temperature oven roasting, these sweet potato slices are baked at a lower temperature to start. Bake for ten minutes, then flip and bake for ten more minutes.
• Finish under the broiler – broil each side for one to three minutes to give them a crispy, caramelized exterior.

Baked Sweet Potato Slices Video

Kitchen Skill: Baking PLUS Broiling

Instead of oven-roasting, these sweet potato slices are baked and then broiled. The difference between the three methods is mainly the cooking temperatures. Baking is lower temps. Roasting is done in a hot oven. Broiling requires intense heat from an overhead source.

Typically when I make oven-roasted vegetables, I roast them at 425º so that the inside of the veggies just soften while the outsides get crispy. For these baked sweet potato slices, we want the inside to have a super soft creamy texture, like a baked potato, on the inside and crispy on the outside.

Starting with a cooler oven allows the insides to cook through without the outside burning, then we switch to using the broiler.

Caution: Food under a broiler can burn quickly. Do not place anything under the broiler and walk out of the room. Keep an eye on it. Use your oven light if possible. Until you are familiar with how quickly your broiler cooks, check after the first minute, then again every 45 – 60 seconds until it’s done.

Because of the brown sugar on these sweet potatoes, I recommend a low broiler setting. If your broiler doesn’t have a high/low option, leave the oven door slightly open to reduce the heat.

The potatoes are done baking when they can be easily pierced with a fork, and they are done broiling when the edges start to brown and the sugar on top caramelizes.

Tips for Baked Sweet Potatoes

Even with an easy recipe like this one, there are a few tips that can help you be successful the first time and every time.

• Use long skinny sweet potatoes – they make it easier to get even-sized slices of sweet potato, which will cook more evenly.
• Don’t slice the sweet potatoes too thin – the recommended 1/4″ thickness of the slices is needed to get a soft interior and crispy exterior.
• Skip the aluminum foil or parchment paper liner – It’s my personal preference, but lining your pan tends to make it require longer cooking times and leaves you with more single-use waste heading to the landfills.
• For quick clean up – fill the pan with soapy water and let it sit for 5 – 10 minutes, which is enough to melt the residual sugars and make clean up easy.

Recipe Variations

A great side dish as it is, there is still plenty of different ways to make it your own the next time!

• Change up the warming spices – for a more festive flavor for the holidays, trade the ginger and cinnamon for an equal amount of pumpkin spice blend, or make your own blend of warming spices with cardamom, allspice, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg.
• Switch to a savory option – trade the sweet spices for savory ones. Try paprika, garlic powder, chili powder, garam masala, or Chinese five spice. Try one or try combining a few.
• Make it vegan – While this recipe is already vegetarian, a simple swap of coconut oil in place of the butter makes this into a delicious vegan side dish.

Serving Suggestions

Baked sweet potato slices are a delicious addition to your Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner table. Crispy on the outside with buttery soft insides, these sweet potatoes embrace the natural flavor of the sweet potato without a lot of added sugar. Once you try them, you’ll be enjoying them all year long.

Serve with buttermilk brined turkey, balsamic brussels sprouts, cranberry apple stuffing, creamy mashed potatoes, and brioche rolls for a holiday meal that they won’t soon forget.

How to Store and Reheat

These sweet potatoes are best served hot and fresh from the oven. They do not freeze well, but can be stored in the fridge, in an airtight container for 3 – 5 days.

To bring back the crispy texture, reheat in a 375º oven for about 10 minutes or throw them in your air fryer or toaster oven until they are sizzling hot.

If you want to get adventurous, take the leftovers, mash them together and then press them into a hot waffle iron. It’s not a perfect sweet potato waffle, but it gets a great crispy texture and takes away the blahs of eating leftovers. 

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Brown Sugar Baked Sweet Potato Slices

Brown sugar baked sweet potato slices are a lightened-up take on classic candied yams. Spiced with cinnamon and ginger, these sweet potato rounds are oven roasted until soft and creamy on the inside, then finished under the broiler to get those perfectly crispy outsides. This recipe is loved on Pinterest and a reader favorite for the Thanksgiving table, but with only six ingredients, it's simple enough for busy weeknights too.

4.6 stars (67 ratings)

prep: 10 minutes minutes

cook: 24 minutes minutes

total: 34 minutes minutes

servings: 4 servings

author: Renee N Gardner

Print Pin Rate

Ingredients

• 1 pound sweet potatoes
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• pinch of salt

Instructions

• Move the oven rack to the top slot and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Peel the sweet potatoes and slice into 1/4" thick rounds.
• Place the sweet potatoes on a small baking sheet, touching but not overlapping.
• In a small bowl or ramekin mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.
• In separate bowl or ramekin melt the butter.
• Using a pastry brush, brush the tops each sweet potato with half of the butter then sprinkle with half of the spice mixture. Flip the potatoes over and repeat the steps, brushing them with the remaining butter and sprinkling them with the remaining spice mixture.
• Place the pan on the top rack of your preheated oven, roast for 10 minutes, flip, and roast for an additional 10 minutes.
• Turn the broiler on low** and continue to roast an additional 1-3 minutes on each side.
• Serve hot from the oven.

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Notes

*If your oven doesn't have a high/low option on the broiler, prop the oven door open and make sure to check the potatoes for burning after 1 minute. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1Calories: 148kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 2gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 110mgFiber: 3gSugar: 9g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is for general information purposes only. For the most accurate information, calculate using your select brands and exact measurements.

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For the step-by-step version of this recipe, check out the How to Make Baked Sweet Potato Slices Story.

FAQs

This recipe has been on the blog since 2016, which means I have been asked many questions about it over the years. These are the ones that I’ve been asked most often that aren’t already addressed within the post. If I haven’t answered your question, drop a comment below, and I will get back to you!

Do I have to use a pastry brush for the butter?

There are a few reasons that I opt to use a pastry brush to apply the butter instead of tossing them in a mixing bowl. The brush helps the butter go on more evenly. It also lets you use a lot less butter. The most important reason is that cold sweet potatoes will cause the butter to resolidify. Even with storing my sweet potatoes in a kitchen drawer, in the winter, those potatoes are cold!

Can’t I just roast these in the oven at 425º?

I love oven-roasted vegetables just as much as the next person! Roasting these sweet potatoes will give you good results, but it won’t be the same. As I mentioned above, the two-step cooking process – baking then broiling – is what gives us the creamy inside and the crispy outside.

Can I use thicker slices?

While I discourage thinner slices – when they are too thin, you won’t get the creamy texture – opting for thicker half-inch slices is a great option. Extend the baking time by about 3 – 5 minutes per side, then broil them for the same time recommended in the original recipe.

Can I use this method for sweet potato wedges?

Yes! It absolutely works for sweet potato wedges. Bake until they are fork tender, then broil on each of the three sides to get them evenly crispy.