Candied Yams with Marshmallows - Air Fryer Recipe! (2024)

Candied Yams with Marshmallows is Dad's all time favorite holiday dish. It is not the holidays until you toast some marshmallows over yams covered in sugar.

This is not a fancy dish. It is not a gourmet dish. However it is a dish that brings back so many memories for Dad.

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It is an old recipe, like 100 years old!

If you do the research there are conflicting reports as to where the recipe was first printed. No matter what source you go with, the recipe is 100 years old.

The original recipe was for a sweet potato pudding. This is an American dish all the way, as sweet potatoes are native to the Americas.

Fun fact, Marshmallows used to be really expensive, until automation made them affordable.

Wait I thought you said they were yams?

Yams and sweet potatoes are not the same thing. In fact the orange colored "Yams" we are all so used to are not actually yams.

Back in the 1930's Louisiana sweet potato growers started marketing their orange sweet potatoes as yams to distinguish them from others grown elsewhere. The name stuck and they have been called yams ever since.

An actual yam has white flesh and a bumpy brown skin, almost like tree bark. They are more like a yuca in texture and flavor.

If you want to make the classic dish from scratch you want the copper skinned "sweet potato yam". Or, you could just buy the canned yams from Bruces like Dad does.

You won't be able to tell they difference when the dish is all done so why waist the time and effort.

The Bruces Yams are the ones that Dad remembers from his youth so they are what he uses every year.

Candied yams with marshmallows made modern

Old recipe, new gadgets. Dad decided to break out his Air Fryer for this to help free up the oven to handle the rest of the holiday meal.

What does an Air Fryer do well? It browns and crisps things, and that is exactly what we need for candied yams with marshmallows.

By using canned yams and the Air Fryer you can pull this whole dish off in about 20 minutes.

How to make Candied Yams with Marshmallows

Open the can of yams and drain them. Make sure to reserve the liquid. If using the oven preheat to 350 degrees. Put the yams in an oven-safe container. If you are using an air fryer make sure it fits inside the air fryer.

Heat the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and yam juice in a pan over medium heat.

Once the mixture bubbles and liquefies take it off the heat and pour it all over the yams.

If using the air fryer cook for 10-15 minutes or until they are all warmed through. If using the oven cook for 30-40 minutes.

Once the yams are all warmed top them with the marshmallows. Up the temp on the air fryer to 400 and cook for 2-4 minutes. You are just cooking them until they are browned.

If cooking in the oven cook another 10-15 minutes or just until the marshmallows are browned.

You know what goes great with these?

It would not be a holiday meal without cranberry sauce. Dad can show you how to make it in the instant pot in about 30 minutes.

Did you know Dad is on YouTube?

Go check out Dad's youtube channel for all kinds of great cooking videos and food-related content.

Dad Got This YouTube Channel