Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries

If my kids and husband had their way, they could probably eat french fries every single day of the week. My 4 year-old basically wants to live off of french fries and salad. At least I can get her to eat salad!

I love making roasted potatoes for dinner. They are relatively simple to prepare and pair with pretty much every meat. But, roasted potatoes just don’t have that same appeal as a crispy french fry.

Up until now though every time I’ve tried to bake homemade french fries, they just come out tasting like plain old roasted potatoes. Then I discovered this recipe from the Kitchn which says the secret to crispy baked fries is cornstarch! I was sold and gave it a try, but like many reviewers, the fries weren’t all that crispy, the cornstarch ended up sort of pasty, and a lot of the fries were soggy.

So I tried them again. And the second time I made sure to shake off all of the excess cornstarch, including the bits that got stuck on the bottom of the fries after coating them. I also made sure to use my largest baking sheet so the fries had more room to spread out. These steps helped the fries to actually crisp up! So I do not recommend skipping these steps in the recipe.

To make the basic recipe, you really only need some salt as a seasoning, however, if you want to kick things up a notch, adding garlic powder, chili powder, and cumin really add a nice little kick of flavor!

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Yield: 4 servings

Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Enjoy french fries without all the guilt! These sweet potato fries bake up nice and crispy thanks to one secret ingredient!

Ingredients

• 1 pound sweet potatoes
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Peel sweet potatoes and then slice into 1/4-inch-sized slices/planks. Try to make your slices as even as possible to ensure even cooking.
3. Transfer the sliced potatoes to a large freezer bag. Add the cornstarch, salt, and other spices (if using) and seal the bag. Shake the potatoes in the cornstarch mixture until fully-coated.  Pour the coated potatoes into a strainer. Shake off excess cornstarch and discard any extra cornstarch that falls to the bottom. Then, add the fries back to the bag and pour in the oil and toss again to coat the fries.
4. Arrange the potatoes on the baking sheet in a single layer, ensuring the fries are not touching each other (if needed, you can divide them onto two baking sheet and rotate halfway through). Cook for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, flip each fry with a spatula. Place back into the oven and continue baking for another 15 minutes or until the fries are tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. Season with additional salt if desired. Remove and let stand for 5 minutes (fries will continue to crisp up). Serve.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 225Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 306mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 3gSugar: 7gProtein: 2g

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