Looking for a healthier alternative to starchy, greasy french fries?
Then you’ll love this baked sweet potato fries recipe!
Since I started baking sweet potatoes and adding the right spices, I’ve never looked back on regular French fries.
I just love the earthy but sweet flavor they give, plus a little extra fiber, too.
So whether you want a sweet potato side dish or just a snack, I can’t recommend these sweet potato fries enough.
How to Make Sweet Potato Fries
Ready to make your very own sweet potato fries? Here’s how to do it.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F or 200 degrees C.
- Cut your sweet potato into evenly sized fries.
- Place sweet potato fries in a bowl and add in Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Toss to be sure fries are coated with other ingredients.
- In a baking tray, arrange fries in one layer, making sure they are spaced evenly and are not touching.
- Bake for 30 minutes, turning once at 15 minutes.
- Let cool for 5 minutes and serve.
Tips and Tricks for the Best Fries
For extra tasty and perfectly crisp sweet potato fries, here are some things to keep in mind!
- You’ll want your fries to cook evenly, so be sure you cut them up into even slices! If you want them thick but still crispy on the outside, cut ½ to 1-inch fries. For extra crispy sweet potato fries, you can make them as thin as ¼ inch. It’s important to make sure they’re cut evenly, so take your time!
- Here’s a tip for making extra crispy fries: wait until after you’ve baked them to add the salt! Salt can bring out some moisture in the sweet potatoes, so save it for last.
- Another way to ensure that each piece is cooked properly is to spread them out evenly on your pan. If they get too close, they might stick together or burn. Never stack your sweet potato fries! The ones at the bottom could end up soggy, and you won’t want that.
- Be sure to flip them over halfway through baking! Sweet potatoes burn more easily than regular potatoes. You won’t want one side to be wonderfully crisp only to find that the other side is blackened and burned.
- Always use parchment paper! Some say a greased pan is fine, but I find that parchment paper helps a lot with getting them nice and crisp and avoids overcooking.
- When your sweet potatoes are ready, they’ll look and smell so good, it will be hard to resist taking a bite right away. But be patient! Let them cool down for just 5 minutes to give them time to get even crispier. Trust me, the wait is worth it.
- Don’t wait too long either. This fiber-packed snack is best served warm. You don’t want cold and stale sweet potato fries, so be sure to eat them within the day. I’m sure it won’t be a problem given how delicious they are!
Ingredients
To make your very own baked sweet potato fries, you’ll only need four ingredients.
4 sweet potatoes – You can choose to bake these peeled or unpeeled. I like mine with the skin for a bit of texture, but always make sure to clean your sweet potatoes thoroughly before slicing.
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning – Store-bought and ready-made Italian seasoning work great for this, but it’s also easy to make your own with some dried oregano, dried rosemary, dried parsley, dried thyme, and garlic powder.
Salt and pepper to taste – With my sweet potatoes, I like to use sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
2 tablespoons olive oil – If you really want to make sure these are the healthiest possible fries, use extra virgin olive oil!
Variations & Add-Ins for Sweet Potato Fries
This recipe is super simple and delicious, but if you’ve had it as many times as I have, you might want to give it a little spin.
Here are some variations and add-ins for your sweet potato fries.
- Instead of the usual fries, you can also cut your sweet potatoes into ¼ inch discs. I love to do this when I’ve made a dip with lots of herbs and spices!
- Want them even crisper? Coat your fries with cornstarch! It’s best to use the same amount as olive oil, so for this recipe, you can add in as much as 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
- If you’re craving a bit more flavor, try garlic powder! There might already be some garlic flavors in your Italian seasoning, but just a bit more just makes it taste even better.
- Add heat! I love spicy food, so I’ll usually sprinkle over some cayenne pepper or even chili flakes on my sweet potato fries.
- If you’re not in the mood for Italian seasoning, you can also try adding in cajun seasoning, taco seasoning, or even curry powder.
- I will add cheese to almost any dish so if you’re a cheese addict like me, sprinkle some fresh parmesan right when you take your sweet potatoes out of the oven.
- SWEET sweet potato fries? Why not?! If you’re not feeling all these savory add-ins and want something sweeter, add in some brown sugar instead of the Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. You’ll love it!
- You might want to enjoy your fries with a dip. Some of my favorites are ketchup, spinach, and cream cheese, garlic aioli, sriracha, or even honey.