These baked sweet potato fries are crispy, salty-sweet and coated in savory spices! Easy to make in the oven, they are full of flavor and a favorite healthy snack.
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Crispy Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries
This baked sweet potato fries recipe makes an amazing, delicious and healthy snack. They turned me into a sweet potato lover and now I make all types of sides with them, like roasted sweet potatoes, air fryer sweet potato cubes or these grilled sweet potato wedges. Yum!
While I like regular french fries or potato wedges, I love homemade sweet potato fries! They are crispy and seasoned to perfection. I love to dip them in fry sauce or burger sauce but there are lots of different condiment options that would taste great!
Recipe Ingredients
Baked sweet potato fries only require a few simple ingredients! Here is what you will to make these fries.
- Sweet potatoes: You will need 4 medium sized sweet potatoes. I like to buy sweet potatoes that aren’t super curvy and are a little longer in size vertically. It makes cutting them a little easier.
- Oil: Olive oil or canola oil can be used, I find that canola oil has slightly crispier results.
- Seasonings: I love the classic combination of kosher salt, pepper and garlic powder. Sea salt could be used in place of kosher salt.
- Optional: Cornstarch for coating your fries before baking.
Favorite Seasoning Ideas
There are so many different ways to customize your fries! I took the classic approach in this recipe, but below are a few of my other favorite spices.
- Spicy: Oil, kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika (or chili powder, cayenne pepper or chili seasoning).
- Cinnamon-sugar: Oil, kosher salt and cinnamon sugar.
- Rosemary: Oil, kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder and rosemary.
- Italian: Oil, kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning.
How To Make Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Achieving perfectly crispy oven baked sweet potato fries isn’t hard to do, just follow these tips and steps for best results. They are healthier than store-bought plus vegan and gluten-free!
- Cut sweet potatoes into matchsticks. Peel your sweet potatoes and cut off both ends. Slice in half horizontally, then cut halves vertically into 4 pieces. Slice again each piece vertically into 8 pieces then finally cut the sweet potato pieces into thin sticks, about 1/4″ inch thick and 3″ inch long.
- Soak fries in cold water: For the best extra-crispy fries soak uncooked matchsticks in large bowl with ice cold water for 30 minutes. Drain then pat dry and place in a zip-top bag with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch and shake until evenly coated.
- Place on baking sheet: Place the sweet potato sticks in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment. Toss with olive oil.
- Bake: Oven bake your fries at 415 degrees F for 15 minutes. Mix together the seasonings and sprinkle evenly over the fries. Then flip them and bake an additional 10-15 minutes, or until crisp.
Expert Tips
- Thickness: Make sure to cut your sweet potatoes 1/4″ thick.
- Evenly sized: One of the main keys to making the fries crispy is to cut them into evenly sized matchsticks so that they all bake the same.
- Peeling: While I like to peel them for smoother fries, sweet potato skins are edible and add extra texture and nutrition. Some say it also makes them crispier!
- Cornstarch: Add the fries to a bag and shake 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch on top so you have a thin coating.
- Oil: Use canola, grapeseed, sunflower or peanut oil for a crispier edge.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan: Make sure to line them in a single layer then flip the fries half way through baking to make sure each side is evenly crisp.
- Bake on a metal rack over a baking sheet: This will allow the hot oven air to reach all sides of the fries and as a bonus you will not have to flip the fries!
“This recipe is absolutely amazing and super delicious 🤤… the best healthy snack in my opinion!!!”
Serving Suggestions
These fries are so flavorful that you might find you don’t even need to dip them in anything! If you’re looking for yummy dipping sauce ideas, try ketchup, BBQ sauce, garlic aioli or ranch dressing. Sometimes we even use honey mustard sauce, guacamole or buffalo sauce!
If you’re doing the Whole30, you can make a compliant fry sauce by mixing together homemade mayo and Tessamaes ketchup. I use about 1/4 cup mayo and 1 1/2 Tablespoons ketchup.
Sweet potato fries also make a great side dish with:
FAQs
This is usually because you have cut your fries too thick. It’s better to actually cut them on the thinner side versus risking that they are too thick.
Another reason may be that they are not cut in uniform sizes. Uneven sizes can cause some fries to get done faster than others. Last, if you have overcrowded your pan, your fries will steam rather than get crispy.
Yes, this is actually my favorite way to cook these fries, you will just need to cook in 2 to 3 batches so the fries do not overcrowd the basket and steam them instead of getting them crispy. Preheat the air fryer to 380°F. Cook for about 12 minutes (turning half way) or until crisp.
That is the great debate! You can soak, pat dry and then toss them with cornstarch for a crispier fry.
I have found that baking them at 415°F produces the best results in my oven. All ovens vary slightly and you may find that increasing your oven to 425°F produces crispier results. If you have a convection oven, even better as it will circulate the air inside the oven leading to fries that lightly browned and crisp.
Love potato recipes? Try this recipe for scalloped sweet potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes or best twice baked potatoes, too!
More Sweet Potato Recipes
Baked Sweet Potato Fries Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 4 medium sweet potatoes , peeled and cut into thin sticks (about 1/4" x 3")
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika or chili powder , optional
- 2 Tablespoons oil (I use canola or olive oil)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 415°F. Line a baking sheet parchment paper. If using foil, lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. (If making extra-crispy fries, follow instructions in notes before moving on.)
- In a small bowl, Mix together salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika, if using.
- Place sweet potatoes in a single layer on the baking sheet. Toss with oil and and sprinkle salt mixture evenly over the top. Bake 15 minutes. Flip and bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes, or until crisp.
- Serve fries while hot! These are best served right away. Enjoy with your favorite dipping sauce.
Last step: Please leave a comment and rating after you make the recipe.
Notes
- Classic: Oil, kosher salt, pepper and garlic powder
- Spicy: Oil, kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika (or chili powder or chili seasoning)
- Cinnamon-sugar: Oil, kosher salt and cinnamon sugar
- Rosemary: Oil, kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder and rosemary
- Italian: Oil, kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning
- Peel the sweet potato and then cut off the ends.
- Slice in half horizontally, creating two equal-sized pieces about 3 inches long.
- Next, cut the pieces in half vertically. Once you have 4 pieces, cut each piece in half vertically again to make 8 pieces.
- Slice each piece vertically into 1/4 inch fries. Each piece should produce about 3-5 fries.
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
MamaMS
I plan to make these tonight. I am so excited as we love sweet potato anything in my house. However, could you clarify the steps when choosing to use cornstarch for crispness? After soaking them in cold water and then shaking them in a bag with cornstarch, when would I spray with oil? Also, would coconut oil still work with the cornstarch option, or should I use canola oil spray only? Thank you so much in advance!
Sarah @IHeartNaptime
After soaking, patting dry and shaking with cornstarch then continue with the recipe – placing on pan and spraying with oil. I would use canola oil here! Enjoy!
Marilyn
The video shows to bake the fries 15 min, then add the salt mixture and does not show flipping the fries. I will add salt mixture before baking and let you know how it goes.
Sarah @IHeartNaptime
Salt should be added before baking the fries as instructions in the recipe indicate.
Gail
I made these last evening. They were good, but not very crispy. Question…early on you say 2 teaspoons of cornstarch but in the notes in the recipe it says 2 tablespoons. I did teaspoons as I wasn’t sure. If you can make the correction to clarify and then I will try them again. Thank you!
Sarah @IHeartNaptime
Thanks for that catch! We recently re-tested the recipe and determined that 2 teaspoons was not enough for the amount of fries. Two tablespoons works best! I have updated the text to match the recipe card.