Sweet potato fries will be the new BFF to your hamburger this grilling season with these easy tricks and tips for making them at home! We've got the info on all the best methods to make this tasty side dish your new craving.
Do you ever crave a salty, crunchy, starchy side, but feel tired of eating the same old thing? Don't get us wrong, we love regular ol' potatoes a WHOLE lot, but sometimes we need a little something different. You too? Well, we've got the perfect solution with these amazing sweet potato fries!
*Note: When you click the links in this post, we may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Sweet potato fries are a delicious alternative to regular fries and are full of feel-good nutrients, too! We've got all the best tips that will turn even the doubters into sweet potato fry fans! Read on to learn three different methods for cooking these tasty morsels, plus some other hacks you won't want to miss.
How To Prep Your Sweet Potatoes
One of the keys to making killer sweet potato fries is the prep. You may have tried this dish in the past and ended up with a soggy, flavorless “fry” that turned you off from ever wanting to try it again. No more! Truth be told, sweet potato fries can be a little finicky, but we all deserve a little TLC sometimes. These tips will help you achieve much crispier and tastier fry:
- Peel your raw sweet potatoes and slice them into 1/4 inch matchsticks. We like to slice the sweet potato into thin lengthwise sections first, and then slice the sections into the long matchsticks.
- Soak the sliced sweet potatoes in cold water for a minimum of 1 hour. You can even soak these babies overnight. Is this time-consuming step necessary? Yes, if you want a crispy sweet potato fry. The goal is to pull out the excess starch from the sweet potatoes. Trust us, it's worth it.
- Rinse the sweet potatoes and pat dry.
- Add two large handfuls of fries to a large plastic bag plus two teaspoons of starch and shake vigorously. Do this until all the fries have been coated in a very light layer of starch. You can use cornstarch, tapioca starch, brown rice starch, or a combination of the three.
Ok, now that your sweet potatoes are prepped, it's time to get cooking!
Sweet Potato Fries In The Oven
No deep fryer? No problem! You can still make tasty, crispy fries by baking them in your oven!
To start, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
While the oven is heating, you'll want to toss your sweet potato fries in some oil. We recommend using grapeseed or canola oil instead of olive oil. Grapeseed and canola have a higher smoke point, which is important considering the heat required to crisp these babies up.
You'll also be tempted to add salt at this point, but don't do it yet! Save that for after they are baked.
Next, line a sheet pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil sprayed with a little bit of non-stick cooking spray. You'll then want to lay your sweet potato fries in a single layer with a good amount of space in-between. This is another important step to achieving a crispy fry, so don't skip it! If the fries are too close or touching the sweet potatoes will actually steam instead of bake, resulting in a sad, soggy fry.
Allow the fries to bake for 30 minutes, flipping halfway through. Let cool on the pans for at least 10 minutes before tossing in salt and/or other seasonings.
Sweet Potato Fries In The Air Fryer
Remember the days before air fryers were a thing? How did we survive?! An air fryer is a fantastic way to make sweet potato fries!
Follow the same prep instructions outlined above, and preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees.
Once heated, place the fries in the basket of the air fryer. Just like in the oven, you don't want to crowd them, so you may want to do this in batches so there is plenty of room for air to circulate around the fries.
Cook the fries for about 10 minutes, shaking the basket halfway through. Since there is some variation between air fryers, you may find that you need more or less time depending your desired level of crispiness.
Remove from the air fryer, toss with salt, and enjoy!
Sweet Potato Fries In The Deep Fryer
If you are one of the lucky souls to own a deep fryer, you have some delicious sweet potato fries coming your way!
To make sweet potato fries in the deep fryer, prep your fries as outlined above up to step 3.
Then, create a batter for your fries by combining cornstarch with either water or club soda using a 1:1 ratio. Dip the fries in one or two at a time and add to the hot oil.
Keeping your oil at the right temperature is an important part of creating a yummy fry. We recommend using peanut oil heated to 325 degrees. A deep fry thermometer is a great tool to make sure this process goes smoothly.
Fry each batch for about 1-2 minutes, then remove, salt, and devour! Yum!
Amazing Sweet Potato Oven Fries
Ingredients
- 3 large sweet potatoes
- 6 tsp starch cornstarch, tapioca starch, or brown rice starch
- 3 tbsp grapeseed or canola oil
- 1/2 tsp paprika, chili, or chipotle powder
- salt to taste
- non-stick cooking spray
Instructions
- Peel and slice sweet potatoes into ¼ inch matchsticks.
- Place sweet potatoes in a dish and cover with cold water. Allow them to soak for at least one hour, up to overnight. When done soaking, rinse with fresh water and pat dry.
- Preheat oven to 425°. Line sheet pans with heavy-duty aluminum foil and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Working in batches, add two handfuls of sweet potatoes and two teaspoons of starch to a large plastic bag. Shake until sweet potatoes are lightly coated.
- Dump sweet potatoes coated with starch into a bowl and add oil. You can also add any additional desired seasoning such as paprika, chili, or chipotle powder. Toss together.
- Place sweet potatoes on prepared sheet pans in a single layer, ensuring the matchsticks do not touch.
- Place oven racks with one in the top third of the oven, and one in the bottom third of the oven. Place pans on each rack and bake for 30 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- Remove from oven and season with salt.
Variations For Sweet Potato Fries
Sweet potatoes pair well with a variety of flavors! As mentioned previously, you'll want to reserve seasoning with salt until after the fries are cooked. However, when shaking with starch or creating a batter, feel free to add seasonings such as paprika, cayenne pepper, chili powder, chipotle powder, black pepper, or garlic powder.
You can also add seasonings after cooking, specifically herbs. Try adding chopped rosemary, thyme, dill weed, or Italian seasoning for a fresh twist of flavor!
What To Serve With Sweet Potato Fries
While we honestly could probably sit down with a giant plate of sweet potato fries and be totally happy, they actually are even better when paired with something else. Here are some of our favorites:
- Dips – Give us ALL the dips! There are so many great dips and sauces to pair these with that we can't pick a favorite, but here are a list of a few of them:
- Garlic aioli
- Utah fry sauce (ketchup and mayo mixed together … you can thank us later!)
- Guacamole
- Spicy chipotle aioli
- Ketchup
- BBQ sauce
- Ranch dressing
- BBQ fare – Serve sweet potato fries as a side dish for hamburgers, hot dogs, pulled pork sandwiches, or these crockpot bbq chicken sandwiches!
- Sub sandwiches or wraps – Take a break from a bag of chips and pair these fries instead! We think these BBQ Chicken Wraps with a side of sweet potato fries would really hit the spot.
- Fried egg and cheese – Create a bed of sweet potato fries, top with melty cheese, and throw an over-easy egg or two on top. Trust us, it's amazing!
Really, is there ever a bad time to eat sweet potato fries? We don't think so. Pair them with whatever your heart desires!
Looking for more side dish recipes? Check these out:
- Psst! If you haven't checked it out yet, take a look at our Shelf Cooking Meal Plan! We do all the hard work of planning your dinners for the week and creating the shopping list. Life changing!
- The flavor in this buffalo cauliflower recipe will knock your socks off!
- We have four ways to prepare asparagus that even veggie-skeptics will love!
- Needing a whole list of quick and easy sides? We've got you covered with this list of over 30 ideas!
Get your fry on, baby!