Homemade oven-baked sweet potato fries are the perfect, healthy spin on our favorite side dish! With just a little bit of prep, and a screaming hot oven, you can have an easy batch of fries ready to pile high next to your burger.
Prep the Sweet Potatoes
To achieve the perfectly crispy oven baked fries, the secret is removing excess moisture and starch! No matter what kind of potato being used, or what the dish is (roasted potatoes, breakfast hash, potato wedges), start by removing excess starch and moisture.
Soak the washed, peeled, and cut potatoes in salt water for at least an hour. Overnight is best, but not all of us think that far ahead!
It seems counter-intuitive to soak something in water to remove moisture, but the salt draws out moisture in anything by drying it out. Letting potatoes soak in water helps prevent the potatoes from sticking together. Potatoes that don’t stick = crispy potatoes! That’s what we want.
Crispy Potatoes
After the potatoes have soaked and been completely dried, the next step to the crispiest of potatoes is the coating! Cornstarch mixed in with the seasoning blend of salt, pepper, sugar, onion powder, and paprika helps brown the potatoes. Not to get too sciency, but cornstarch is a good type of stable starch, and when used in coatings, will help foods brown and crisp.
Tossing the fries in olive oil and then a cornstarch blend will create the perfect sizzle in a screaming hot oven.
Toss halfway through cooking and serve!
What can you serve with sweet potato fries?
- Maple Butter
- Ketchup
- Mayo-chop
- Alongside Greek Turkey Burgers
- Grilled steak….Steak Frites anyone?
No matter what you dip these in, or serve them beside, oven-baked sweet potato fries will quickly become a staple side dish!
Sweet Potato Fries
Ingredients
- 2 medium sweet potatoes
- 1½ tbsp olive oil
- 1½ tbsp corn starch
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp paprika
Instructions
- Wash sweet potatoes with a vegetable brush (if leaving skins on) or peel potatoes
- Cut each potato into matchsticks by cutting the potato in half. Then place the potato flat side down and cut ¼ inch slices lengthwise. Lay each slice flat and cut ¼ inch slices to make matchsticks
- Soak the matchsticks in a bowl of room temperature water for 1 hour
- Preheat the oven to 425°F
- Drain potatoes and pat completely dry. Lay the potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. Mix together cornstarch, salt, pepper, sugar, paprika, and onion powder in a small bowl, and sprinkle on potatoes. Toss to coat.
- Bake for 15 minutes, flip all of the fries over, and return to the over for an additional 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle with an additional pinch of salt and sugar. Serve immediately.
