Crispy oven-baked sweet potato fries are a healthy alternative to your regular potato fries. Crunchy outside, delicious soft melt-in-your-mouth inside.
These baked fries are too good to resist just like baked potato wedges and baked potato roses! This recipe can be easily doubled and trust me you won’t have any left overs.
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Crunchy baked sweet potato fries
1. These baked sweet potato fries are delicious, easy to make side dish.
2. Baked sweet potato fries are better and healthier than regular fries. It sure satisfies cravings for crunchy food.
3. Very easy recipe to follow.
4. You’ll need few ingredients from your pantry to make these fries.
5. It’s one of the best side dish for almost any meal not just for burger.
6. Serves the purpose – satisfy craving for fries.
7. Make a BIG batch, this one flies very fast.
8. Tastes amazing with all the seasoning that goes in. So be liberal with it and go with what your heart wants.
If you having a gathering don’t forget to impress your family or friends with this ultimate Southern fried chicken, it’s perfect for occasions like this.
These baked sweet potato fries is best when served with a dipping sauce, any dipping sauce of your choice. Serve it with a great dip like roasted bell pepper hummus or tahini. If you are team ketchup, go ahead and enjoy it with ketchup.
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need –
- Sweet potatoes
- Corn starch
- Cayenne pepper or chili powder
- Garlic powder
- Canola oil
- Sea salt
All the ingredients’ exact measurements are mentioned in the recipe card below.
Sweet potatoes – it’s optional to peel the skin off potatoes. Potato skin has lot of nutrients.
Corn starch – you may substitute corn starch with arrowroot powder or potato starch. A thin layer of corn flour coating aids in crispy fries.
Cayenne pepper – I used chili powder, feel free to use cayenne pepper or smoked paprika. Heat from the spice powder helps make the potatoes savory thus balancing some of the natural sweetness of the potato.
Garlic powder – adds flavor and taste to sweet potatoes.
Canola oil – you may also use ghee, vegetable oil, grape seed oil. Drizzle on top of potato sticks to prevent it from burning and sticking to the baking tray.
Sea salt – to season potatoes. Sea salt is best.
How to make sweet potato fries
Cut equal-sized strips – Aim for precision cuts for even baking. Use a sharp chef’s knife to cut ½-inch thick potatoes. I chose to leave the skin on as it’s packed with nutrients and the skin helps crisp up better. Feel free to peel off the skin.
Soaking – Starch in potatoes prevents them from turning crispy. After cutting fries always soak them in water preferably ice-cold bath water for about 30-45 minutes (if you have time soak them for a few hours). Soaking draws the excess starch from the potato fingers. It also helps in making the fries crispy when baked. Once soaked, drain the water completely. Pat dry on a kitchen towel.
Coating with corn starch – Highly recommend you don’t skip this step. Sweet potato needs extra help to crisp up perfectly. A thin layer of corn flour coating aids in crispy fries. Once coated with corn flour make sure to shake off all the excess corn starch. Excess coating of corn starch will make your fries not just soggy but the predominant taste of corn starch is ickiest. Pro-tip: if you are allergic to corn or corn starch, substitute with allowed root powder.
Spice it up – A simple spice mix of garlic, chili powder (because you want to balance out the sweetness of the potatoes a little), and salt works just great! If you like baked sweet potato fries a little extra spicy, you can adjust the spice levels to your preference.
Canola oil – or you can use soy bean oil, ghee, vegetable oil, or grape seed oil to crisp up the fries better.
Baking – Bake on high heat, 400 F. Flip the fries halfway down the baking time. Pro-tip: baked potato fries won’t feel completely crisp when it is hot.
Salt at the end – wait to salt the fries until the end. Once baked, transfer it to a bowl and give it a good shower of fine sea salt. Toss well.
Tips to make crispy baked sweet potato fries
- Soak cut potatoes in ice cold bath for 30 minutes. This removes excess starch from the surface of sweet potatoes. Remove soaked sweet potatoes on a kitchen towel and pat dry thoroughly.
- A thin coating of corn starch or potato starch is important.
- Don’t use olive oil, olive oil starts to smoke pretty fast even before the fries are done in the oven. Ghee, canola oil, and grape seed oil crisp up the fries better.
- Don’t overload the baking tray with fries. Arrange in a single layer. Flip the baked sweet potato fries halfway for even cooking. Turn the baking sheet over and return to oven
- Do not add salt before baking. Always add salt to the fries once they come out of the oven.
- Once baking time is done, do not remove the baked sweet potato fries immediately from the oven. Prop the oven door half open and leave the fries inside the oven for about 10 minutes. As fries cool, they turn ultra crispy!
Common questions
Baked sweet potato fries are perfectly baked when it’s crispy on the outside and soft inside. Baking time will largely depend on the thickness & size of your sweet potato fingers.
The baking time may vary with different ovens. You’ll need to adjust between 25 minutes to 60 minutes of baking time at 400 F.
Removing excess starch from sweet potatoes is crucial to get crunchy fries.
Do not skip these steps:
Soak cut potatoes in an ice bath for a minimum of 30 minutes.
Coat in corn starch.
Prop the oven door half open and leave the fries inside the oven for about 10 minutes. As fries cool, they turn ultra crispy!
If you follow these steps correctly, fries will turn crunchy.
Once baked do not remove fries from the oven. Simply prop the oven door half open and leave the fries inside the oven for about 10 minutes. As fries cool, they turn ultra crispy!
The debate of white potatoes versus sweet potatoes which is better and healthier is hard to settle. While some argue both are root vegetables and though the nutrient composition of the two may have some difference, at the end of the day sweet potato isn’t really healthier than regular white potatoes if you are frying in oil.
Raw sweet potatoes themselves have extra health nutrients like higher in fiber, calcium and Vitamin A, it all comes down to how you prepare the sweet potatoes.
If sweet potatoes are deep fried they aren’t any better than regular fries. If you boil or air fry sweet potatoes, then they can be better option than regular potatoes.
MORE RECIPES TO TRY:
- Crispy Baked Potato Wedges
- Baked Zucchini Bites
- Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Tenders
- 5 minutes boom boom sauce as dip for baked potato fries.
OTHER SWEET POTATO RECIPES:
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📋RECIPE: Crispy Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Ingredients
- 3 medium sized sweet potatoes
- 3 tablespoon corn starch or arrow root powder
- 3 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ cup canola oil or ghee or grape seed oil
- Fine sea salt – a big fat pinch
Instructions
- Scrub sweet potatoes with a brush to remove any dirt. Wash well and pat dry. We left the skin on sweet potatoes, but you can peel the skin off if you like it that way. Cut them into ½ inch thick about 3 inch long or 6 inch long fingers.
- Soak in ice-cold water for about 45 minutes. This removes excess starch from sweet potatoes. Then drain water, and pat dry completely.
- Sprinkle corn starch or arrowroot powder. Coat well and evenly. Shake off any excess cornstarch coating on the fries.
- Add the rest of the ingredients – chili powder, garlic powder, salt and oil. Mix.
- Arrange fries on a greased baking tray in a single layer.
- Bake in preheated oven at 400 F for about 15 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven. Flip all fries once. Rotate the baking tray(for even cooking) place it back into the oven and continue to bake for another 25 minutes.
- Once baking time is done, do not remove the fries immediately from the oven. Prop the oven door half open and leave the fries inside the oven for about 10 minutes. As fries cool, they turn ultra crispy!
- Transfer the fries to a large bowl and toss them with a fat pinch of sea salt.
- Serve baked potato fries with a dip of your choice.
Video
Notes
- Soak cut raw potato fries in an ice-cold bath for 30 minutes, this removes excess starch from the surface.
- A thin coating of cornstarch or potato starch is important. Shake off excess coating before you bake.
- Don’t use olive oil, olive oil starts to smoke pretty fast even before the fries are done in the oven. Ghee, canola oil, and grape seed oil crisp up the fries better.
- Place these in a single layer before baking. Flip the fries halfway for even cooking.
- Do not add salt before baking. Always add salt to the fries once they come out of the oven.
- Once baking time is done, do not remove the fries immediately from the oven. Prop the oven door half open and leave the fries inside the oven for about 10 minutes. As fries cool, they turn ultra crispy!
Nutrition
Created by Jyothi Rajesh
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I’m Jyothi Rajesh (Jo for short) and i’m the founder of the food blog, Curry Trail where I share my culinary Adventures. I live in Bangalore, India. I’m a mom of two beautiful kids. My passion is creating and sharing delicious and easy recipes for the home cook. I have been blogging since 2007 and many of my recipes have appeared in both online and print publications over the years. Learn more about Jyothi Rajesh.
Comments & Reviews
Margaret says
why not first oil the fries then combine the cornstarch/arrowroot with the spices, completely cover the potatoes, shake off excess and then bake at 425 until brown, turning mid way.
Will that work??
Jyothi Rajesh says
I guess it’ll work that way too Margaret
Adelene says
Just wondering when to add the garlic powder? It’s listed on ingredients list, but no mention of it in directions.
Jyothi Rajesh says
Sorry about the confusion. Updated the recipe, please add garlic powder along with chili powder (step 4).
Helaine Green says
The fries tasted great but weren’t crisp. I followed the recipe exactly as recommended hoping for crispy fries. Other than frying them in oil or having an air fryer, is there some way to get crispy sweet potato fries?
Jyothi Rajesh says
Did you try leaving oven door open in the end trick Helaine?
DD says
All i got were soggy fries with a powder coating on them. Worse fries ever.
Jyothi Rajesh says
I’m sorry you had some issues. Please let me know if you followed all the tips mentioned in the recipe? Did you skip any step?
Here are some pointers that can be helpful-
Did you pre-heat the oven with the fries inside?
Soaking definitely will help, the longer the better.
Don’t use convection.
Leave the oven door open at the end as mentioned in the recipe.
Hope this helps.
Anne Fescada says
I don’t even know how to rate this, because half-way through cooking, they were completely burned on the bottom side. I went ahead and finished them as directed, but they’re still completely soggy. Help! I have no idea what I did wrong.
Step says
I’m just guessing here, but did you pre-heat the oven with the sticks inside? Soaking for as long as you have time to will help. Don’t use convection. Soggy AND burnt? That’s a neat trick. I don’t know how you did that. Try holding your tongue out of the other side of your mouth. That works for me sometimes. You could try cutting the fries larger. That might work. Best of luck!
Jyothi Rajesh says
If you are asking how I left the oven door open, my oven door does stay open about a 1 to 1.5-inch gap if I just pulled the door and left it. I don’t know how it stays open like that, but it does. I need to push slightly hard to shut it completely and that’s how it works. You could use a wooden spatula and stick it near the opening of the door so it stays open. Or you can follow any trick that you have been using.
Mallory says
Delicious! Modified the spices a bit, I did 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 paprika and 1/4 tsp pepper. I also sprinkled Himalayan Pink Salt on it after done baking. It wasn’t as crispy as I would have liked, but pretty good for my first try!
April says
My favorite type of an appetizer – light, delicious and easy to make! I can make a lot of these fries, too! Just what I need for one of the parties that is coming up!
jyothirajesh says
Thank you April
Elaine says
This is such a great alternative to fries. And the fact they are crispy outside makes them perfect! Definitely something I would cook in large quantities! 🙂
jyothirajesh says
Thank you Elaine
Melissa says
I love sweet potatoes so this recipe is perfect for me! Thanks for the tip about soaking, I haven’t done that before so I can’t wait to see the difference in my fries now!
jyothirajesh says
Thank you Melissa