Sweet potato fries are a simple and easy, healthy side dish to serve with any meal. Can be cooked in the air fryer or in roasted in the oven. This savory recipe stays crispy and gets devoured. Always make a double batch for leftovers!
This spring, I ran across sweet potato plants at the store and picked up a 6-pack on a whim. I got a giant flower pot to put them in and a big bag of Miracle Gro potting soil to fill it with.
I came home and set up my giant flower pot at the back of our driveway, planted my tiny plants, watered them, and waited.
By the end of July, my plants were huge and healthy, creating a large mound of leaves on the top of the flower pot with many tendrils hanging down the sides to the ground beneath.
At this point of the summer, Joe had been complaining for weeks about the animal destruction in his garden. He blames a groundhog that lives under the bank on the side of our house; I blame a flock of deer that prowl around. (I know deer don't form flocks; they form herds. It just makes me laugh to say that.)
Either way, something has eaten all of his zucchini plants, down to the ground. Same with the cucumbers, yellow squash, and some of the spaghetti squash. No fruits, no plants. They're gone, even the stems.
In addition to my sweet potatoes, I planted a mild jalapeño and an orange bell pepper in containers in the driveway, and those, along with my sweet potato vines, had been totally unbothered by the creature.
Until one day when they weren't.
This morning, all the pretty big leaves on the bottom half of the pot had been neatly snipped off and eaten. The stems were there, but no leaves. I think this is evidence of Joe's groundhog and not the deer, who would probably have concentrated on the leaves at the top of the pot rather than the trailers down the sides.
Anyway, I think the vermin has decimated Joe's garden in the backyard and has now moved on to my containers in the front. I don't know what this will mean for my sweet potato tubers, hopefully growing big and strong under the soil. Maybe the plants will send out new leaves (which will probably get snipped off by the creature as soon as they emerge), and maybe they won't. Time will tell.
Fortunately for us, sweet potatoes are not in short supply at the grocery store where they are available year-round. We have, so far, always gotten ours there, and will probably continue to do so.
I'll have to let you know in the fall whether I get any spuds out of my big pot in the driveway.
Even though we're waiting for my sweet potato harvest, we are still eating sweet potato fries. We have these pretty often because the kids will eat them, and because they taste good, and because they are the only french fries I can eat. (White potatoes are not part of my bariatric diet.)
You can buy pre-made sweet potato fries in the freezer section of the grocery store, but those are typically pre-fried in oil, and I'm not down with that. It adds fat and calories to an otherwise healthy food. So we cut our own sweet potatoes using a mandoline and then spread them on a baking sheet and bake them.
And they're quite yummy and quite healthy. As I said above, even our kids will eat them.
How to make the best sweet potato fries in the oven
- Cut the potatoes into even sticks and soak them in water for at least 30 minutes.
- Drain and dry the sweet potato sticks.
- Toss the sticks in olive oil then sprinkle with spices and cornstarch.
- Roast in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes, then flip and roast an additional 15 minutes.
- Let the fries rest on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes, then salt and serve.
How to make the best sweet potato fries in the air fryer
- Cut the potatoes into even sticks and soak them in water for at least 30 minutes.
- Drain and dry the sweet potato sticks.
- Toss the sticks in olive oil then sprinkle with spices and cornstarch.
- Roast in batches in a preheated air fryer at 380ºF for 12-14 minutes, turning halfway.
- Salt and serve.
The secret to crispy fries
This recipe is probably a little more complicated than most, but the reason for that is that traditional sweet potato fries recipes turn out soggy, limp fries because they don't address the starch issue and the extra oil issue. My recipe does both.
Here's what you have to do:
- Soak the sweet potatoes in water - this removes starch and allows the potatoes to get crispy in the oven.
- Dust the sweet potatoes with cornstarch - this removes the excess oil, preventing the fries from getting soggy.
- Save the salt for serving - salting the potatoes before cooking draws out moisture, leaving you with soggy fries. If you hold off until just before serving, you'll get the flavor of the salt without the sogginess.
An easy twist on traditional sweet potato fries
An easy twist on traditional sweet potato fries is to add some Parmesan cheese right before baking. That would make them pretty similar to my Garlic Parmesan Roasted Carrots.
Serve sweet potato fries with one of these dips:
My kids love to dip these fries in warm maple syrup. I sometimes eat them with melted butter or one of these tasty dipping sauces:
- Lemon Garlic Aioli
- Horseradish Aioli
- Honey Sriracha Mayonnaise
- Cajun Remoulade Sauce
- Sweet Chili Sauce
Sweet potato oven fries pair really nicely with these other recipes:
- Mongolian Chicken in the Instant Pot
- The Best Instant Pot Sloppy Joes Recipe
- Chicken Crust Pizza - The Best Low Carb & Gluten-Free Pizza Recipe
- Maryland Crab Cakes with No Filler - Low Carb & Bariatric Friendly Recipe
Recipe
Crispy Sweet Potato Fries in the Oven or Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes peeled and cut into ¼" sticks
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Cut sweet potatoes into slices using a mandoline and then cut the slices into sticks about ¼" wide.
- Add the potato sticks to a large bowl and soak for at least 30 minute, up to overnight.
- Drain and dry potato sticks on paper towels, then toss with olive oil in a large bowl.
- Mix cornstarch, spices, and pepper (but NOT salt). Sprinkle over potatoes and toss to coat, ensuring that the cornstarch has soaked up any extra oil on the fries.
Oven Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. It's important to use a large baking sheet or two medium ones because the potatoes must be in a single layer in order to get crispy.
- Spread potatoes in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
- Roast sweet potatoes until brown and crispy on the bottom, about 15 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side about 10-15 minutes more. You want them to be crispy and just started to brown.
- When the fries are done, allow them to rest for 5-10 minutes, then sprinkle with salt and serve.
Air Fryer Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 380ºF. Divide the fries into 3 even groups. Place the first batch of seasoned sweet potato fries in the air fryer basket, leaving lots of space for air to flow around them.
- Air fry sweet potato fries for 12 minutes, turning halfway through.
- When the fries are done, allow them to rest for 5-10 minutes, then sprinkle with salt and serve.
Carol Seaholts says
Excellent. I had not made these before and they turned out perfect. Thanks for sharing. Carol