Crispy on the outside and tender in the center, these oven baked sweet potato fries are everything you want without frying. A simple technique ensures they come out golden and never soggy every time. Serve with a smoky chipotle aioli for an easy, flavor-packed side.
Why this Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries Recipe Works
- Eat no more soggy fries! Thanks to our secret ingredient, corn starch, we get very crispy fries each and every time!
- Save time, waste less and increase health benefits! Thanks to keeping the sweet potato skins on, which are flavorful and packed with antioxidants. Let’s waste less food and use all the edible parts of produce that we can!
- Seasonal year round! Sweet potatoes are available year round and don’t spoil easily.
- Recipe is versatile! Quantity can easily be halved or doubled. Other spices can be added to the fries too.
- That chipotle aioli! You can skip the fries all together and just make the chipotle aioli. Yes, it’s that damn good!
These fries have a deliciously tender interior and are a crispy and crunchy exterior and…. are not fried!
The Secret Ingredient: Corn Starch
Cornstarch helps to absorb moisture in potatoes, leaving the outside of the fries crispy and crunchy just how we want ‘em!
I did NOT invent this technique… I’m merely sharing it with y’all! It’s all over the internet and the inventor of adding-corn-starch-to-potatoes is elusive though I’d love to credit them!
Cornstarch is also used to thicken sauces, fry foods and in baking.
With our fries, it helps achieve that beautifully golden color and the extreme crunchiness we’re going for.
Using cornstarch this way also works for all other types of potatoes!
The Chipotle Aioli – Aioli vs Mayonnaise
Aioli and Mayonnaise are both creamy emulsions. Mayo is traditionally made with egg yolk and a canola or another neutral oil and aioli is traditionally made with garlic and olive oil.
Our aioli has egg yolk too, but it remains an aioli as opposed to mayo cause it uses olive oil. Make sense? There’s a lot of aioli/mayo confusion out there. I can tell ya from experience that clients will adamantly veto having mayo anywhere on the menu.. but they love seeing aioli!
Mayo has a bad rap from Hellman’s Mayo thinks me, but I’ll save ya that rant for another time.
And wait till ya see how easy it is to make your own!
In nutshell:
Aioli: made with olive oil and has garlic
Mayo: made with a neutral oil, such as canola (though it can have garlic too!)
How to Make these Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries
- Scrub those sweet potatoes well and them in somewhat even sizes. The reason is for even cooking – so we don’t end up some under and some over cooked. No need to get to perfectionist about it. Somewhat even will do the trick.
- Mix your oil and cornstarch together in a small bowl.
- Toss the sweet potatoes with cornstarch mixture and spread on a baking sheet. Don’t crowd the pan! We’re going for a single layer of sweet potatoes, so they have room to roast instead of steam. Use 2 pans if you must.
- Flip them over during cooking time. Worth the few extra minutes to do this! Cause we want ‘em crispy on both sides.
- While the sweet potatoes roast, make your aioli.
These oven baked sweet potato fries with herby tahini were inspired by the ladies at Crowded Kitchen.
Cooks Tips
- When possible, buy local and organic sweet potatoes.
- Scrub ‘em clean! Cause we’re leaving the peel on.
- For best results, remember not to crowd the plan!
- Arrowroot powder can be substituted for cornstarch.
- Use parchment paper or a silicon baking matt for easy cleaning.
- Chipotle aioli can be sealed container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Ingredients
For the Sweet Potato Fries
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes any variety can work, washed and unpeeled
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- flaky sea salt
For the Chipotle Aioli
- 1 whole egg
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 4 medium clove garlic minced
- 1 cup olive oil
- kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 3-6 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce start with less and add more to taste, depending on how spicy you want it
Instructions
For the Sweet Potato Fries
- Preheat oven to 425 F degrees.
- Cut potatoes, somewhat evenly, into sticks.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, corn starch and salt.
- On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the sweet potatoes fries with the corn starch mixture until evenly combined and spread on a single layer. Use 2 baking sheets if necessary. Crack freshly ground pepper over the fries.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then flip the fries over with a spatula and bake for another 15, 25 minutes total, until the fries have developed a crispy exterior. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with flakey sea salt.
For the Chipotle Aioli
- Place the egg, lime juice, mustard and garlic in a blender. Blend on a low speed and slowly drizzle in the olive oil, a little at a time, until all the oil is emulsified and the aioli is formed.
- Add salt, smoked paprika and chipotle chilies to blender and pulse until all is combined. Add more chilies if you want it spicier, and more lime and salt to taste.
Notes
- When possible, buy local and organic sweet potatoes.
- Scrub ‘em clean! Cause we’re leaving the peel on.
- For best results, remember not to crowd the plan!
- Arrowroot powder can be substituted for cornstarch.
- Use parchment paper or a silicon baking matt for easy cleaning.
- Chipotle aioli can be sealed container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Want Potato Recipes?
Looking for potato recipes? Especially purple ones - the antioxidant-rich members of the potato family. Sweet potatoes included.
- No-Mayo Potato Salad - a bright, herbaceous potato salad tossed in smoky paprika vinaigrette.
- Smashed Potatoes - boiled, flattened, then roasted until golden brown and ultra crispy – the best of all potato worlds.
- Hasselback Potato Gratin - the best of creamy potato gratin and crispy hasselback potatoes in one epic mash-up.
- Greek Potatoes - braised in a lemony-garlicky broth, then roasted until golden — one pan, two cooking methods, extraordinary results.
- Red, White and Blue Potato Salad — a very 4th of July friendly potato salad with goat cheese vinaigrette that happens to be mayo-free.
- Giant Potato Latke – baked until golden and crispy with a tender center.
- Potato Soup - Creamy, comforting, and vibrantly pink.
- Sweet Potato Salad - A colorful sweet potato salad with feta and a bright maple-lime vinaigrette.
- Purple Sweet Potato Pie - a vibrant purple twist on classic Southern sweet potato pie with gingersnap crust and pecan streusel.
- Purple Sweet Potato Cheesecake - a vibrantly dramatic purple cheesecake with pecan-graham cracker crust.
More Roasted Veggie Recipes You Want In Your Life
Enjoy these utterly simple and better than they should be recipes:
Roasted carrots, roasted cabbage wedges, roasted beets, roasted artichokes, roasted potatoes (smashed), and simple roasted cabbage.
If ya tried it, I'd love to hear - leave a comment below and tag me on IG, @danielagerson, so I can see too!
There's a whole lot more seasonal recipes and colorful produce guides waiting for ya on the site.
Let's make waves in the kitchen.
Leave a Reply