Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries
on Jan 15, 2024
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I ate half of these before my family got home so I pretended they were an appetizer.
Sweet potatoes baked up in the oven are such a fine side dish to all kinds of foods. Keep it classic with Grilled Cheeseburgers with Herb Sauce, or make the whole meal vegan with some Southwestern Black Bean Burgers. Sweet potato fries abound on menus of every stripe these days, from your basic burger joint to pricey restaurants.
I’ve been making them with frequency lately — there is a recipe for plain Sweet Potato fries as well as Sweet Potato Fries with Scallions and Ginger in my cookbook, Dinner Solved! This is a newer version for me, spiked with some bold spices. I thought a pound would be enough for 4 people. I guess maybe for 4 normal people, it might be, but we never had a chance to find out because I ate half of them before my family got home. So I pretended they were an appetizer.
Table of Contents
These addictive Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries are seasoned with chili powder and cumin, and quite hard to resist.
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Ingredients
- Sweet potatoes – Fresh, whole sweet potatoes are great here. If you are short on time and don’t mind spending a few extra bucks, you can find sweet potatoes pre-cut into fry-sized sticks in the supermarket. This literally means that these fries can be slid into the oven as soon as it is preheated and on your table 25 hands-free minutes after that.
- Olive oil – A coating of oil helps these fries get a bit crispy in the oven.
- Chili powder – The spice level of your fries will vary depending on the type of chili powder you use.
- Cumin – This warming spice adds so much flavor to these sweet potato fries.
- Salt & pepper – To taste.
How to Cut Sweet Potatoes Into Fries
Do not worry about perfect sticks. You are not entering a French fry-making contest. The easiest way to get nice long fries, however, is to peel the potatoes, cut them lengthwise into ¼-inch slabs, then stack up a few of those at a time and cut them into ¼-inch thick sticks.
Variations
For another version of Sweet Potato Fries, try making them with my New Bay Seasoning. This is my version of the classic Old Bay Seasoning, minus nutmeg and mace, which I am allergic to. You can also add this spice blend to anything you might use Old Bay Seasoning in, like Crab Cakes, roasted potatoes, or Fried Shrimp (maybe even a fried shrimp po boy!).
To make New Bay Seasoning, in a clean jar with a lid, combine:
- 1 tablespoon celery salt
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon dry mustard
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Shake thoroughly to combine. When making the sweet potato fries, substitute 1 tablespoon of the New Bay Seasoning mix instead of the chili powder and cumin. Proceed with the recipe as written.
How to Make Crispy Sweet Potato Fries
- Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Prepare the potatoes: Place the sweet potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle over the olive oil, then sprinkle with the chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper.
- Toss: Toss to coat and then spread them out.
- Bake: Bake for about 25 minutes, until they are nicely browned and very tender. They won’t get super crispy; sweet potato fries have a hard time doing that. Serve hot.
FAQs
Sweet potato fries are made with sweet potatoes rather than plain potatoes. Their unique flavor comes from the sweetness of the potatoes themselves, and they can be seasoned any which way.
Unless they are seriously deep-fried, sweet potato fries never get quite as crispy as their baking potato fry brethren. That’s ok. There are other redeeming qualities about them. To get them as crispy as possible in the oven, coat them in oil before baking, and bake in a super hot 400-degree oven.
Sweet potatoes are actually root vegetables, while regular baking potatoes are tubers, so they have a different nutrient makeup. Sweet potatoes are rich in vitamin A and beta-carotene, which has earned them a healthy reputation. These sweet potato fries have the added benefit of being baked rather than deep-fried, which gives them an extra healthy boost.
What to Serve With Crispy Sweet Potato Fries
More Sweet Potato Recipes
- Sweet Potato Fries with New Bay Seasoning
- Sweet Potato Pie with Whipped Cream
- Scalloped Sweet Potatoes
- Smashed Garlic Butter Sweet Potatoes with Feta
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Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Ingredients
- 1 pound sweet potatoes (peeled and cut into French fry-sized strips; about ¼-inch thick)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- Coarse or kosher salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- Place the sweet potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle over the olive oil, then sprinkle with the chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Toss and then spread them out, making sure the fries all have space between them.
- Bake for about 25 until they are nicely browned and very tender. They won’t get super crispy; sweet potato fries have a hard time doing that. Serve hot.
