Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Here’s how to make baked sweet potato fries: the best you’ll have at home! They’re incredible: crispy and seasoned to perfection.

Hello, fry lovers. Meet our new favorite fries: the Baked Sweet Potato Fries! They’re crispy, perfectly seasoned, and you won’t be able to stop sneaking bites. (We have proof, at least at our house!) This recipe is the culmination of years of research: our quest to find the best crispy baked sweet potato fries you can make at home! All our knowledge from regular baked French fries translates to this master technique. Come, become a believer!

Tricks to crispy baked sweet potato fries

There are lots of people who claim to have the secret to the best baked sweet potato fries. Here’s the the problem with sweet potatoes: they have more moisture than a typical russet potato. So it’s tricky to get them to crisp up unless you deep fry them. Here are four tricks that make baked sweet potato fries come out crispy:

1. Soak for 10 minutes in cold water. This really works! Soaking removes excess potato starch, resulting in maximum crispiness. The best part: you can do this while you preheat the oven, so there’s no time lost.
2. Coat in cornstarch. Cornstarch helps to form a crispy coating for sweet potatoes, which can turn soggy and limp in the oven, unlike a russet potato.
3. Place on parchment paper. Don’t use a Silpat or silicon baking sheet, which can make for soggy fries! Paper is the way to go.
4. Spread apart on the baking sheet. Spread the fries as far apart on the baking sheet as possible: this allows for maximum airflow and enhances crispiness. Bake a maximum of 2 pounds of potatoes in the oven at once.

Ingredients for baked sweet potato fries

These sweet potato fries require only a few ingredients to make fry perfection. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Small to medium sweet potatoes: Weigh out 2 pounds when you buy them: they vary in size widely, so it’s easiest to specify weight. Some sweet potatoes can be massive: these are hard to cut and don’t make pretty fries. Look for small to medium sized sweet potatoes for the best looking fries.
• Olive oil
• Garlic powder and onion powder
• Cornstarch
• Salt

How to cut fries by hand

Cutting fries is easy: but there are a few tricks! For sweet potato fries, we like to leave the potato skin on. That way you get all the nutrients and don’t have to waste time peeling potatoes. Here’s how to cut fries:

• Slice off the ends of each potato, then slice off part of the side to make a base.
• Place the potato half cut side down and cut off a 3/8-inch slice, then lay the slice on its side and cut it into several long 3/8-inch wide strips.
• Repeat until all potatoes have been cut into fries!

Cutting sweet potato fries with a fry cutter

You can also use a fry cutter to cut fries! This is only for the most serious of home cooks, because it’s a uni-tasker (only good for one thing) and rather large. We got one because we make a lot fries around here! It makes for beautifully perfect fries. Here are some notes:

• Sweet potatoes are more difficult to cut with a fry cutter than russet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are tougher than russets, so they take much more strength to pass through the cutter. We struggled here, but eventually made it work (with Alex’s muscles). We don’t necessarily recommend using a fry cutter, but it did work.
• The fry cutter works brilliantly for russets and other vegetables. Here’s a link to the French fry cutter we use.

Aare sweet potato fries healthy?

These baked sweet potato fries aren’t fried, so we think you can call them healthy! Here’s why these are a healthy version of the standard comfort food:

• You’ll just use sweet potatoes, minimal olive oil and a bit of salt. These are all healthy, whole food ingredients. They’re basically just roasted potatoes!
• The serving size is moderate. The serving size is much less than a restaurant would serve, so that helps to keep the calories down.

Dips for baked sweet potato fries

Once you’ve cut your fries, seasoned and baked them: you’ll want to start sneaking bites right off of the baking sheet! It’s hard to actually get them on our table because we want to devour this side dish so quickly. You don’t even need a dipping sauce with these. But if you love a little flair (as we do), here are some tasty sauces for dipping:

• Aioli: Aioli is perfect for fries! Make it the traditional way (Aioli Recipe), or use our faster cheater’s method (Garlic Mayo).
• Flavored Aioli: Our favorite Pesto Aioli tastes just like a creamy pesto!
• Honey mustard: If you love sweet on sweet, try this Honey Mustard.
• Cilantro sauce: Bright green cilantro sauce also pairs well with sweet potatoes; try Creamy Cilantro Sauce or Cilantro Lime Dressing.
• Yum Yum Sauce: Try ultra irresistible Yum Yum Sauce.

More sweet potato recipes

The humble sweet potato is one of our favorite ingredients for healthy meals! It’s also a plant based side dish that’s great for completing a meal. Here are more sweet potato recipes to try:

• Make a Baked Sweet Potato or Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
• Bake up the best ever Sweet Potato Wedges and top with chili
• Dice them up for Roasted Sweet Potatoes or Boiled Sweet Potatoes
• Turn them into Sweet Potato Tacos or make a big pot of Sweet Potato Chili
• Grate them into Sweet Potato Hash Browns
• Fire up the grill for Grilled Sweet Potatoes

01

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

02

Easy Sweet Potato Wedges

03

Baked Sweet Potato

04

Sheet Pan Sweet Potato Tacos

This baked sweet potato fries recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.

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