Baked Sweet Potato Fries

How to make sweet potato fries in the oven: the best you will have at home! They are amazing: crispy and perfectly seasoned.

Hello fries lovers. Discover our new favorite fries: the sweet potato fries! They’re crunchy, perfectly seasoned and you won’t be able to resist sneaking into them. (We have proof of that, at least at home!) This recipe is the culmination of years of research: our quest for the best crispy baked sweet potato fries you can make at home! Everything we know about baked fries translates into this masterful technique. Come, become a believer!

Tips for crispy baked sweet potato fries

There are many people who claim to have the secret to the best baked sweet potato fries. Here’s the problem with sweet potatoes: They have more moisture than a typical red potato. It is therefore difficult to get them too crispy unless you fry them. Here are four tips for making baked sweet potato fries crispy:

1. Soak in cold water for 10 minutes. It really works! Soaking removes excess potato starch, resulting in maximum crispiness. Best of all, you can do this while you’re preheating the oven, so no time is wasted.
2. Spread with cornstarch. Cornstarch helps form a crunchy coating for sweet potatoes, which, unlike a Russian potato, can become mushy and soft in the oven.
3. Place on parchment paper. Don’t use a silpat or silicone baking sheet, which can result in soggy fries! Paper is the way to go.
4. Spread on the baking sheet. Spread the fries out as much as possible on the baking sheet: this allows for maximum air circulation and improves crispiness. Bake a maximum of 2 pounds of potatoes at a time.

Ingredients for baked sweet potato fries

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

• Small to Medium Sweet Potatoes: Weigh 2 pounds when you buy them: They vary widely in size, so it’s easier to state the weight. Some sweet potatoes can be massive: they’re difficult to cut and don’t make pretty fries. Look for small to medium sized sweet potatoes for the best fries.
• olive oil
• garlic powder and onion powder
• cornstarch
• Salt

How to cut french fries by hand

Cutting fries is easy: but there are a few tricks! We like to leave the potato peel on with sweet potato fries. This way you get all the nutrients and don’t waste time peeling the potatoes. How to cut fries:

• Cut off the ends of each potato, then cut off part of the side to form a bottom.
• Lay the half-cut potato side down and slice a 3/8-inch slice, then set the slice on its side and cut into several long 3/8-inch-wide strips.
• Repeat until all the potatoes are cut into fries!

Cut sweet potato fries with a french fries cutter

You can also cut the fries with a fries cutter! It’s only for the most serious of home cooks, as it’s monotasking (good for one thing only) and quite large. We have one because we make a lot of fries here! That makes perfectly perfect fries. Here are some notes:

• Sweet potatoes are more difficult to cut with a french fry cutter than russet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are tougher than fruit bats, so they take a lot more strength to get through the cutter. We struggled here but finally made it work (with Alex’s muscles). We don’t necessarily recommend using a chip cutter, but it worked.
• The French fries cutter is ideal for fruit bats and other vegetables. Here is a link to the fries cutter we used.

Are Sweet Potato Fries Healthy?

These Baked Sweet Potato Fries aren’t fried, so we think they’re healthy! Here’s why it’s a healthy version of standard comfort food:

• They only use sweet potatoes, a minimum of olive oil and a little salt. These are all healthy, whole food ingredients. They’re basically fried potatoes!
• The portion size is moderate. The portion size is much smaller than in a restaurant, which helps keep calories down.

Dips for baked sweet potato fries

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

More sweet potato recipes

The humble sweet potato is one of our favorite healthy meal ingredients! It’s also a plant-based side dish, ideal for completing a meal. Here are some other sweet potato recipes to try:

This Baked Sweet Potato Fries recipe is…

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