How to make sweet potato fries in the oven for wonderfully flavourful and crispy results every time- without the need for a deep fryer! Including tips on how to cut, bake, and serve the crispy sweet potato fries!
As much as I love a delicious oven-baked sweet potato, sometimes you’re in the mood for crispy, finger-licking baked sweet potato fries. My fridge and freezer are practically overflowing with potato dishes at the moment – from creamy mashed potato to cheeky salt-baked potatoes. And I’ve loved taking the time to perfect and share my favorite potato and sweet potato recipes.
Sweet potato fries are simple to make and even better to enjoy. Follow my tips for even crispier results, how to cut sweet potato fries, topping and dips for sweet potato fries, and more!
By making oven-baked sweet potato fries, you’ll end up with spuds that are fluffy in the middle, with a crispy, caramelized outside. Plus, they’re healthier than traditional fried versions, and you don’t have to worry about dealing with large amounts of oil (that fill the air and make your entire kitchen smell like grease!).
Plus, these sweet potato oven fries are vegan, gluten-free, and paleo-friendly!
How To Make Sweet Potato Fries
The Ingredients
- Sweet potatoes – Choose potatoes similar in size and shape to cut them into more even fries, so they bake evenly.
- Olive Oil – Some people have issues with olive oil smoking due to the high temperatures. Though I haven’t had this issue before, you could use canola oil, coconut oil, or another neutral high-heat oil instead.
- Cornstarch – You could also use tapioca starch or arrowroot starch, though cornstarch gives the best results.
- Seasoning blend: salt, black pepper, paprika, everything bagel seasoning (optional)
The Method
Step 1: Clean the potatoes
First, make sure to wash the potatoes well, using a scrubber if you want to make skin-on fries (for extra nutrients and texture). If not, then you can then peel the potatoes.
Step 2: Chop the sweet potato fries
Slice the potatoes into fries either with a mandoline, ‘chipper’/fry cutter, or with a knife (read FAQ section for full instructions). Rinse the fries well and dry thoroughly with a kitchen towel (any wetness will reduce crispiness).
At this point, you could optionally soak the cut fries to further reduce the excess starch in the potatoes for crispier results. To do so, leave the cut fries in a bowl of cold water for at least 1 hour, then drain, rinse, and dry thoroughly.
Step 3: Season them
Next, it’s time to season the fries. First, you can mix all of the seasonings (check recipe notes for different seasoning suggestions), the cornstarch, and oil together in a bowl.
Then, pour over the sliced potatoes and toss everything together (in a bowl or ziplock bag) and make sure all the potatoes are thoroughly coated. Alternatively, line the sliced potatoes on a baking tray and then brush the seasoning mix onto your fries, turning them to cover all sides.
Alternatively, first, toss the potatoes with the starch lightly, so they all have a very light coating. Then toss with the seasoning/oil blend to thoroughly coat.
Step 4: How to bake sweet potato fries
Place the fries on a baking sheet, making sure not to crowd the pan too much. This will help them become crispier.
Bake in the oven at 425ºF/220ºC for 25-30 minutes, flipping once halfway through. The baked sweet potato fries are ready when they’re browned, crispy, and lightly puffed up.
The time will differ based on how thick you cut your homemade sweet potato fries. If you’ve cut them very thin, then check at 20 minutes. For thicker, it could take up to 35 minutes.
When ready, remove from the oven and serve immediately!
How To Make Ahead & Store
The freshly baked sweet potato fries are best eaten immediately (like all fries).
You can prepare the sweet potatoes ahead of time by slicing them up and placing them in a large container of water, kept in the fridge for up to two days in advance.
To freeze the un-baked fries, it’s a good idea to blanch the fries for 5 minutes in boiling water. Once soaked, drop them into ice water and dry well before freezing for between 3-4 months.
Note: the blanching step isn’t essential but will help the potato retain its flavor and texture, so I find it an important step.
To cook the fries from frozen, drizzle with a little oil and your seasonings of choice and then bake at 425ºF/220ºC until browned and crispy and slightly puffed up, shaking/turning occasionally. This can take anywhere from 20-40 minutes based on the fries’ thickness.
For extra flavor, toss with a little extra seasoning post-bake!
How To Serve
Use these baked sweet potato fries in place of regular fries for tons of meals. You can also serve them as a snack with dips or make ‘fully loaded’ crispy sweet potato fries. Here are some of my favorite ways to eat them.
Dips for sweet potato fries
- Homemade Ketchup
- Homemade Mayo – Garlic mayo, Chili mayo, etc.
- Mustard
- Chili sauce
- BBQ sauce
- Drizzle with tahini sauce
- Guacamole
- Lebanese Creamy Cucumber Yogurt Salad (Kh’yar bi laban)
You can also sprinkle the sweet potato home fries with some of your favorite herbs like parsley or cilantro.
FAQs
There are several ways you can chop your homemade sweet potato fries.
If using a sharp knife, I like to turn the potato onto its side and chop off the rounded slice. Place this flat side down against the table-top and slice into thin (1/4-1/2-inch) slices depending on how thick you want the fries. Then chop each slice into individual fries, optionally layering a few slices up for even-sized fries.
Alternatively, you can use a mandoline with a fries blade setting. Make sure to use the protective gloves/shield as the sweet potato is tough to cut through.
Alternatively, if you’re planning to make these sweet potato oven fries regularly, then you can buy specific ‘chippers’/ fry cutter tools.
No – in fact, I usually don’t and haven’t included the step within this main recipe. Soaking the sweet potatoes is great for getting rid of some of the potatoes’ excess starch and yield crispier homemade sweet potato fries.
To do this, soak the chopped fries in cold water for 60 minutes (to even overnight). Make sure to dry them thoroughly before moving on to the next stop, though!
However, you can still get fairly crispy results by omitting this step and making sure to use enough oil (use high-heat oil) and flip the fries while baking.
Sweet potato has more sugar/starch than other potatoes, so soaking the chopped fries in warm water before cooking can help release some of the starch and begin the cooking process in the middle of the fries (if using hot water) for tender, fluffy results.
You can also add a little bit of cornstarch to the fries before tossing them with the oil and spices. This helps to make them crispier in the oven too.
Also, make sure to give them plenty of room on the baking trays. If they’re too close together, they’ll essentially ‘steam’ one another, meaning there is less crispiness!
Recipe notes
- Other seasoning options: Garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, oregano, thyme, salt, pepper, cumin, za’atar, Italian seasoning, etc. For a sweet version, cinnamon sugar works well.
- Try to cut the fries as evenly as you can for more even cooking. I prefer 1/4-1/2-inch matchstick pieces.
- Omitting the salt until after the fries are baked may yield more crispy baked sweet potato fries than adding it before-hand.
- You can also omit the spices until the last 10 minutes of the baking time. This will help them to avoid burning in the oven and becoming bitter.
- It’s best to bake the fries on lightly oiled parchment paper or foil if you have issues with food sticking to your pans.
Related Potato Recipes
- Sweet Potato Black Bean Burger (Plant-based Burger)
- Rainbow Pizza with a Sweet Potato Crust
- Sweet Potato Burger With Portobello Mushroom Bun
- Easy Homemade Potato Gnocchi
- Super Crispy Smashed Potatoes (With Herbs)
- How To Make Creamy Mashed Potatoes
- Rosemary Garlic Crispy Roasted Potatoes
- Roasted Purple Potatoes and Crispy Baked Eggplant Fries
- Lebanese Spicy Potatoes Batata Harra
- Baked Sweet Potatoes
If you try this baked sweet potato fries recipe, then let me know your thoughts and questions in the comments. I’d also really appreciate a recipe rating and would love to see your recreations – just tag @AlphaFoodie.
How To Make Sweet Potato Fries (In The Oven)
Ingredients
- 2 sweet potatoes medium even in size and shape, if possible
- 1.5 tbsp olive oil or canola, coconut, etc.
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp everything bagel seasoning optional
Instructions
Step 1: Clean the potatoes
- Make sure to wash the potatoes well, using a scrubber if you want to make skin-on fries (for extra nutrients and texture). If not, then you can then peel the potatoes.
Step 2: Chop the sweet potato fries
- Slice the potatoes into fries either with a mandoline, 'chipper'/fry cutter, or with a knife (read FAQ section for full instructions). Rinse the fries well and dry thoroughly with a kitchen towel (any wetness will reduce crispiness).At this point, you could optionally soak the cut fries to further reduce the excess starch in the potatoes for crispier results. To do so, leave the cut fries in a bowl of cold water for at least 1 hour, then drain, rinse, and dry thoroughly.
Step 3: Season them
- Season the fries – you have two methods you can choose from here. First, you can mix all of the seasonings (check recipe notes for different seasoning suggestions), the cornstarch, and oil together in a bowl. Then, pour over the sliced potatoes and toss everything together (in a bowl or ziplock bag) and make sure all the potatoes are thoroughly coated. Alternatively, line the sliced potatoes on a baking tray and then brush the seasoning mix onto your fries, turning them to cover all sides. Alternatively, first, toss the potatoes with the starch lightly, so they all have a very light coating. Then toss with the seasoning/oil blend to thoroughly coat.
Step 4: How to bake sweet potato fries
- Place the fries on a baking sheet, making sure not to crowd the pan too much. This will help them become crispier.
- Bake in the oven at 425ºF/220ºC for 25-30 minutes, flipping once halfway through. The baked sweet potato fries are ready when they’re browned, crispy, and lightly puffed up.The time will differ based on how thick you cut your homemade sweet potato fries. If you've cut them very thin, then check at 20 minutes. For thicker, it could take up to 35 minutes.When ready, remove from the oven and enjoy warm!For extra flavor, toss with a little extra seasoning post-bake!
How To Make Ahead & Store
- The freshly baked sweet potato fries are best eaten immediately (like all fries).You can prepare the sweet potatoes ahead of time by slicing them up and placing them in a large container of water, kept in the fridge for up to two days in advance.To freeze the un-baked fries, it’s a good idea to blanch the fries for 5 minutes in boiling water. Once soaked, drop them into ice water and dry well before freezing for between 3-4 months.Note: the blanching step isn’t essential but will help the potato retain its flavor and texture, so I find it an important step.To cook the fries from frozen, drizzle with a little oil and your seasonings of choice and then bake at 425ºF/220ºC until browned and crispy and slightly puffed up, shaking/turning occasionally. This can take anywhere from 20-40 minutes based on the fries' thickness.
Notes
- Other seasoning options: Garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, oregano, thyme, salt, pepper, cumin, za’atar, Italian seasoning, etc. For a sweet version, cinnamon sugar works well.
- Try to cut the fries as evenly as you can for more even cooking. I prefer 1/4-1/2-inch matchstick pieces.
- Omitting the salt until after the fries are baked may yield more crispy baked sweet potato fries than adding it before-hand.
- You can also omit the spices until the last 10 minutes of the baking time. This will help them to avoid burning in the oven and becoming bitter.Â
- It’s best to bake the fries on lightly oiled parchment paper or foil if you have issues with food sticking to your pans.Â
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