Perfect Baked Sweet Potato Fries
How to make crispy baked sweet potato fries that are caramelized and on the outside and tender on the inside. No fryer needed here. Consider making a double batch, these are addictive. Jump to the Baked Sweet Potato Fries Recipe or watch our quick, straight-forward recipe video showing you how we make it.
Watch Us Make Sweet Potato Fries
How do you make sweet potato fries?
Sweet potato fries can be made two ways: you can fry them or you can bake them. Since we like to stick to the healthier side, we prefer to bake our sweet potato fries. Follow our oven baked sweet potato fries recipe and be rewarded with crispy, caramelized fries with tender middles.
My step by step method for homemade sweet potato fries
Step one, Scrub sweet potatoes clean and cut into fries. It is up to you as to how chunky you want the fries to be. I like sweet potato fries to be thin and crispy, so as you can see from our photos, we cut them pretty thin.
Step two, Season the fries and toss with oil. For the best tasting sweet potato fries, season them with a generous amount of salt and pepper. So that they brown and get crisp in the oven, toss them with a bit of oil. I like using olive oil, but you can use what you have on hand. Coconut oil adds a nice flavor, we actually use coconut oil in this roasted sweet potato recipe.
You can keep the seasoning simple or add even more flavor with spices. A pinch of cayenne, cumin, coriander, chili powder or other seasoning would be a nice touch. You can even use cinnamon sugar.
Step three, add the fries to baking sheets. We scatter the fries over two hot baking sheets — we use two so the fries aren’t too close to each other. If they were, they would steam instead of baking and crisping up. I like preheating my baking sheet, too. This way, the moment the fries hit the sheet pan, they start cooking.
Step four, Bake the sweet potato fries until browned and crisp. The fries will take between 15 and 25 minutes to bake, depending on how large you cut them. Just keep an eye on them while they bake so they don’t over brown on you.
Do you eat sweet potato skins?
I leave the skins of sweet potatoes on. I love the extra texture (and nutrition) it provides. Leaving the sweet potato skin on also makes prep time go quicker.
More Easy Sweet Potato Recipes
- Have you ever tried Mashed Sweet Potatoes? It’s easy to fall in love with our easy, ultra creamy sweet potato mash made with butter and a hint of cinnamon.
- I love these Healthy Baked Sweet Potatoes stuffed with roasted garlic, avocado and tomato salsa (delicious, vegetarian and vegan).
- Our Coconut Oil Roasted Sweet Potatoes are made with maple syrup, cinnamon, and toasted pecans.
- Make noodles out of sweet potatoes. Try our 25 Minute Sweet Potato Noodles with a creamy, dairy-free avocado sauce.
- These Vegetarian Tacos with Sweet Potatoes and Black Beans are one of our favorite easy meals.
Recipe updated, originally posted January 2014. Since posting this in 2014, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear and added a quick recipe video. – Adam and Joanne
Perfect Baked Sweet Potato Fries
- PREP
How to make crispy baked sweet potato fries that are caramelized and on the outside and tender on the inside. Keep in mind that baking time may vary depending on how large you cut your sweet potatoes and how accurate your oven is. (Ovens often run a little cold or hot – ours runs 20 degrees cold so we keep an oven thermometer inside to keep it in check). We like to keep the skins on for sweet potato fries, but if you prefer them without, go ahead and peel them.
Makes 4 Servings
You Will Need
4 medium sweet potatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
More salt for sprinkling over baked fries (we like flaky sea salt)
Homemade ketchup, optional
Directions
Heat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil then slide into the oven so they become hot.
Scrub then cut the sweet potatoes into 1/2-inch sticks. Add to a large bowl and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Tumble sweet potatoes onto hot baking sheets and spread into one layer. Try not to crowd them too much or else they will not brown.
Bake fries, turning once and rotating pans once, until edges are lightly browned and centers are tender; 15 to 25 minutes. The fries are done when the surface looks dry and the fries have puffed up a little. Don’t fret if the edges become brown, they will taste more caramelized than burnt.
Serve fries with a sprinkle of extra salt on top.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Cornstarch — Some swear by adding a generous pinch of cornstarch to the fries before tossing and baking to make the fries extra crispy. This does work so give it a try if you feel like it. We usually skip it, but that’s only because we’re very happy with the fries as-is.
- Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA Supertracker recipe calculator to calculate approximate values.
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste
Nutrition Per Serving: Calories 201 / Protein 2 g / Carbohydrate 26 g / Dietary Fiber 4 g / Total Sugars 5 g / Total Fat 10 g / Saturated Fat 1 g / Cholesterol 0 mg
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Hello, I’m a little confused, you say baking sheets but in the picture you have used foil, which one works better?
Hi Frances, Sorry for the confusion. You can do either. The fries do get a little more browned and crispy without the foil. Then again, foil helps with clean-up. It’s totally up to you.
I made these for dinner today. We had baked talapia and boiled cabbage with onion.Oh,so easy and so o o enjoyable! I also added a couple shakes of cummin and garlic powder to the ingredients. This will be my go to for french fries though they are roasted sweet potatoes.YUM!Thank You!
I just made these. They came out very black. I cut very thick fries so they weren’t too thin but they’re pretty much burnt 🙁 I tried taking them out after 25 minutes and I did turn in between but they weren’t done. They were already black after 15 mins. Maybe the oven temp is too high
Oh, no! Sometimes ovens can run too hot (ours does). You might want to consider buying an oven thermometer to check that what your oven says the temperature is matches the actual temperature. We have one in our oven and it has been so helpful! If you don’t want to invest in that, try reducing the temperature by 25 – 50 degrees next time and see if that helps.
Yummy these are so good.
I live out of town and hubby felt like hot chips, I didn’t have any white potatoes only sweet potatoes so gave your recipe a go. I’ve never tried sweet potatoe fries . Can I say they were bloody delicious.thanks
do they have to be served immediately, or they can wait a while and reheated right before the meal?
Thanks
Used coconut oil instead of the olive oil and it turned out great, sweet and savory! I cook it for thirty minutes instead of twenty five, and they’re very crispy and delicious.
Sounds great! Glad it worked well for you.
I use to make this with regular potatoes and they were great. I am trying to lose weight, so I am wondering about the calories. Does someone know?
At the moment we do not provide nutrition facts for our recipes. It is something we are considering, though. For now, a great resource is CalorieCount.com
It allows you to copy the ingredient list of our recipe and paste it into the form. Then it outputs nutritional facts. Hope that helps.
This is very similar to the recipe from Weight Watchers. If you are counting points, check out their website. Very FEW points.
Are low points good or bad ? Ty
Scrumpdeli ishus! Making these for the second time! I throw some fresh garlic in as well!
Yum … great idea!
Could you use veg oil I dont have olive oil
Yep, that will work fine.
I love baking sweet potato fries! I love using cayenne and cinnamon together. I’m going to try the two-baking sheet trick next time. I must be steaming mine, because they don’t get very crispy. Thanks!!
I just made something similar to this!!! I can not wait to try yours!
This recipe is so badly needed in my household. My husband and I are always trying to make baked SP fries, but we ALWAYS burn them. Well not always. When we don’t burn them, they’re mushy. haha. Thanks for this!
35 minutes or less?! I am in! Great side to lunch or dinner!
I’m terrified of frying but love a good sweet potato fry! Will have to attempt this!