Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Name: Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 400 g sweet potato; 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 pinch sea salt and black pepper; 2 tbsp cornstarch/corn flour; 1 tbsp dried parsley; 1 tbsp garlic granules

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Sweet potato fries are high up on the list of the best side dish there is. They are simple to make, you can season them with anything and you can get them perfectly crispy without frying (by following our tips). These Baked Sweet Potato Fries are a must for your next burger or pizza night.

a plate of sweet potato fries and a small bowl of creamy dip.

These sweet potatoes fries will change your life. If sweet potato fries are a big part of your life that is. They are crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and haven't been anywhere near a fryer.

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Why should you try it?
What you will need
Step by Step
Health benefits of sweet potato
Baked, not fried
Seasoning
FAQs
Extra tips
More sweet potato recipes
Recipe

Why should you try it?

Great alternative to potato fries
Vegan
Easy to adapt with different seasoning
Crispy, without being fried

What you will need

Sweet potatoes - Make sure to follow the tips below for soaking and drying the potatoes
Oil - We used a good quality olive oil, but vegetable oil or sunflower oil will work too.
Cornstarch - Also known as corn flour. This is the secret ingredient to getting crispy fries.
Seasoning - We went with garlic, parsley, sea salt and black pepper

Step by Step

One: Cut the sweet potatoes into fries about 1.5cm thick.

A wooden chopping board with uncooked sweet potato battens on it.

Two: Soak the fries in a bowl of water for 10 minutes. Dry with a towel.

Uncooked sweet potato fries in a bowl of water.

Three: Place the soaked and dried potatoes in a large bowl and add the oil, cornstarch, garlic and parsley and mix well.

A metal bowl containing cut sweet potato covered in seasoning.

Four: Place them on to a baking tray and spread out so there is enough space between the fries. Put them in a preheated oven at 200°C/400°F/Gas 6 for 15 minutes. Flip the fries and then cook for a further 20 minutes, or until crispy.

A large baking sheet with cut lengths of sweet potato on it.

Health benefits of sweet potato

Whilst there is nothing wrong with white potatoes, we love them, sweet potatoes make a nice change to regular fries and they have lots of nutritional benefits. Not only a good source of fibre, but packed with B vitamins and vitamin C too. They are also high in beta-carotene.

Baked, not fried

Whenever I post about sweet potato fries, someone tells me that they have tried to bake them but they never work and they always end up falling apart, so I thought I would share my method for making them.

You are never going to get them crispy like they are when deep fried, unless you burn them in the oven, but you can still make them crispy and super delicious in the oven by following our steps.

Sweet potato fries next to a small bowl of creamy dip.

Seasoning

We could eat fries every day of the week, but having them the same way would get boring. An easy way to change them up each time is to use a different seasoning.

This recipe uses garlic granules, dried parsley and some salt and pepper. But you really could use anything you like. A Cajun or Mexican blend seasoning would work well, or just some chilli powder.

Sweet potato fries on a red and white plate.

FAQs

Can sweet potato fries be cooked in an air fryer?

You can use this exact recipe to make air fryer sweet potato fries too and they will get just as crisp. You can even use a little less oil if you like, as that's one of the great things about an air fryer.

How to get sweet potato fries crispy

Nobody wants a soggy floppy sweet potato fry - it's all about the crispiness. When you get them in a restaurant, they are always perfectly crispy, but usually fried. We wanted to keep them baked, but still with some crispiness.
The key to getting them crispy in the oven is rinsing them in cold water to get off any extra starch and then making sure they are dried of any water, so they crisp rather than steam. Cornstarch is also essential to a crispy baked fry, and you can mix it with the other seasonings before coating.
It's also important to make sure that you don't put too many fries in one pan and overcrowd them. They like their space, so use two pans if needed. Also, cook them at a high temperature. Following these simple steps will help you get that crispy baked fry that you want.

Extra tips

To get crispy fries, soak them in water first and make sure they are dried well.
Mix cornstarch with your seasoning for extra crispy fries.
It's important to make sure you don't put too many fries in one pan, so space them out.
Get creative with the seasoning. A Cajun or Mexican blend seasoning would work well.

More sweet potato recipes

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