Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Learn how to make crispy, oven baked sweet potato fries! Tossed with olive oil and sea salt, sweet potato fries are an easy and healthy homemade snack.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 10, 2024
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These sweet potato fries will change your life. I’m serious! They are salty-sweet, crunchy, and spicy if you wish. Baked sweet potato fries have been one of my favorite snacks since I first shared the recipe eight years ago.
These crispy fries beat their fast-food fried Russet cousins in simplicity and ease. They require fewer cooking steps because they’re baked rather than fried.
Over the years, I’ve learned a few tricks to make my sweet potato fries even more crispy. Crispy fries or bust!
You’ll learn all of them as you make the recipe, but I’m sharing my top tips in more detail below. Are you hungry for sweet potato fries yet?
How to Make the Best Sweet Potato Fries
I’ve tried baked sweet potato fries every which way, and these elements really do make a big difference in the crispy factor:
1) Slice your fries thinly.
You want your fries to be about 1/4″ wide, or close to it. Thick fries never get crispy.
Here’s how to slice a sweet potato into fries: Rest your sweet potato on its side on a sturdy cutting board. Working lengthwise, slice off a 1/4″ thick slab from one of the sides. Turn the sweet potato onto the flat side so it’s more stable. It gets easier from there!
Continue cutting the sweet potato into slabs, and then cut the slabs into thin fries. As you’re cutting the slabs, you’ll eventually want to turn the sweet potato onto the now-larger flat side to maintain stability.
2) Toss your sliced fries in cornstarch before oil.
Cornstarch really helps to get the outsides crisp! It’s a little trick I learned from a commenter named Jeni (thanks Jeni). I’ve played around with various amounts of cornstarch and olive oil and found the perfect ratio.
I’ve experimented with arrowroot starch as well, and it produced fries that were somewhat less crisp, but it’s worth using if that’s what you have.
3) Divide your fries between two pans and arrange them in even layers.
Overcrowded fries steam each other and never get crispy! You can fit one pound of fries per pan.
Be sure that each fry lies flush against the pan, not piled on top of other fries. The fries develop crisp edges when they’re resting on a hot surface.
4) Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Any lower, and your fries will be soggy. Any higher, and the oil will start smoking. Plus, at higher temps your fries will turn from crisp to burnt way too fast.
Halfway through cooking, you’ll flip the fries with a spatula and swap the pan positions (from lower to upper rack and vice versa). This helps ensure that they bake evenly, turning perfectly golden on the outside and cooking through on the inside.
5) Season last, if desired.
Add salt before baking the fries, but wait to add any spices until after baking. Otherwise, the spices will burn and lose their flavor. I love to balance the sweetness of the fries with a little cayenne pepper and garlic powder, and lots of freshly ground black pepper.
Another benefit of seasoning last? You can add spices to taste, so you won’t overdo it.
The Great Soaking Debate
I wondered if sweet potato fries would benefit from a soak in water like my crispy potato wedges do. Those wedges are made with Russet potatoes, and soaking them for 10 minutes in hot water helps release some of the starch in the potatoes and lets them absorb moisture, which leads to ultra-crisp outsides and moist interiors.
So, I tried soaking batches of fries in hot water, and batches in cold water, and baking them with and without cornstarch. You know what? It wasn’t worth the effort. Hot water actually seemed to inhibit crispiness. When I compared a batch of cold water and cornstarch fries with un-soaked cornstarch fries, the un-soaked actually fared better.
I hate extra steps as much as you do, so I’m pleased to report that you do not need to soak your sweet potato fries for great results!
Sweet Potatoes are Nutritious
Unlike regular deep-fried French fries, these baked sweet potato fries have a lot of redeeming nutrition properties. Standard orange sweet potatoes provide an excellent source of beta-carotene, which your body turns into vitamin A.
Sweet potatoes are also full of antioxidants and fiber, and have some beneficial blood sugar-regulating properties. Plus, they’re a very good source of vitamin C, manganese, copper, pantothenic acid and vitamin B6 (source). Winning!
Serving Suggestions
- These sweet potato fries would be awesome with my sweet potato veggie burgers (if you have a copy of my cookbook, Love Real Food, check out the updated version on page 177).
- I bet they would be nice with black bean soup or pinto posole.
- I’m happy eating them with just about anything, but they’d be especially fun with Mexican food, like tacos and quesadillas.
Recommended Equipment
You’re going to need some basic equipment to make these fries. Chances are, you already have everything you’ll need! These links are affiliate links.
- Sharp chef’s knife: Essential for safely slicing the fries into thin shapes.
- Vegetable peeler: Optional. I always peel my sweet potatoes, but you can leave the skin on if you prefer. Just give your sweet potatoes a good scrub and pat them dry before slicing.
- Half-sheet pans: These are large enough to accommodate 1 pound of fries each, and they have rims around the edges so no fries fall off. Half-sheet pans are the professional standard—all legit chefs and recipe writers use these when they create recipes, so if your baked recipes don’t turn out right, it might be your pan!
- Parchment paper: I recommend lining your pans with parchment paper so the fries don’t get stuck to the pan (there go your crispy edges).
Watch How to Make Sweet Potato Fries
Please let me know how these sweet potato fries turn out for you in the comments! I’m obsessed with them and hope you are, too.
Craving more crispy and salt snacks? You do not want to miss my ultra crispy baked potato wedges!
Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Learn how to make crispy, oven baked sweet potato fries! Tossed with olive oil and sea salt, sweet potato fries are an easy and healthy homemade snack or side dish. Recipe yields 4 side servings.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes (about 2 medium-large or 3 medium)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Optional spices: freshly ground black pepper, cayenne pepper and/or garlic powder
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit with racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven (make sure the top rack is about 6″ from the heat source and no closer). Line two large, rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper so the fries don’t get stuck to the pans.
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Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into fry-shaped pieces about ¼″ wide and ¼″ thick. Try to cut them into similarly sized pieces so the fries will bake evenly. Transfer half of the uncooked fries to one baking sheet, and the other half to the other baking sheet.
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Sprinkle the sweet potato fries with the cornstarch (use 1 ½ teaspoons per pan) and salt (¼ teaspoon per pan). Toss until the fries are lightly coated in powder. Drizzle the olive oil over the fries (1 tablespoon per pan) and toss until the fries are lightly and evenly coated in oil, and no powdery spots remain (use your fingers to rub visible cornstarch into the fries as necessary).
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Arrange your fries in a single layer and don’t overcrowd; otherwise they will never crisp up. Bake for 20 minutes, then flip the fries so they can cook on all sides. (The easiest way to flip them is with a metal spatula. Section by section, scoop up about ten fries and flip them with a quick turn of the wrist.)
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Arrange the fries in even layers across the pans again, moving any particularly browned fries more toward the middle of the pan so they don’t get overcooked. Return the pans to the oven, swapping their positions (former top pan goes to the lower rack and vice versa).
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Bake for 10 to 18 more minutes, or until the fries are crispy. You’ll know they’re almost done when the surface of the fries change from shiny orange to a more matte, puffed up texture. Keep an eye on them, as they can turn from crisp to burnt quickly. Sometimes the lower pan will be done a few minutes before the top pan. Don’t worry if the edges are a little bit brown; they will taste more caramelized than burnt.
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If desired, toss the baked fries with seasonings, to taste. I like to use lots of freshly ground black pepper, and a scant ¼ teaspoon each cayenne pepper and garlic powder. Serve warm!
Notes
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Followed your dir. Fries burned to a crisp on 7 minutes.
Hi Debra, is your oven conventional or convection?
Im Trying it for the first time lets see how it goes
Hi Kate, I am just outside KC near Leavenworth. I just found this recipe and planning to make them tonight. However I have a convection oven do you have any directions for using a convection oven vs regular oven?
I don’t. However, they will require less time. Let me know what you try!
I like the sweet potatoe fries using the cornstarch, they do come out crunchier. I’ve made them twice, the first time I believe I had the rack too close to the heat source. They came out overdone- blackish.
The second time I made sure the distance from the heat source was correct and there was an improvement, although they were darker than golden brown. The next time I make them I am going to reduce the temp to 400 degrees.
I used a bowl to sprinkle the cornstarch and then the oil, and I did use parchment paper. I think I just need to adjust the temperature.
What do you think?
Hi Mary, do you find your oven runs warmer? I would reduce the time vs the heat. Let me know how it works!
Soggy, not crisp at all and brown spots and burnt on ends. Will not make these again. Back to the drawing board!
I’m sorry to hear that. Did the starch get rubbed in well to the sweet potatoes? That’s my suspicion.
These are awesome with Greek lemon dip. 1/2 cup mayo, 2 tablespoons of lemon and clubhouse Greek seasoning. Amazing!
I had the wierd feeling there was not enough oil, bit still followed the recipe… a disaster. After the first 20 minutes, the fries were almost all burnt to a crisp. I wasted so much potatoes for that…
HI Za, I’m sorry you didn’t have luck with this recipe. How close were your pans to a heat source? Were you using a convection or conventional oven?
I did not move my rack when I put the fries in the oven, so I guess it would be middle top rack. My oven is convection, but it uses a setting that will match its temperature to be good with recipes that don’t use a convection oven…
That you for your reply.
Hi Za, both of those factors are why your fries didn’t turn out. Sorry!
Yep … these are a winner! I have made butternut squash fries before but never tried sweet potato fries. Your recipe was spot on, and will be added to our favorites! Just be careful not to cut the slices too thin … or they’ll turn out too crispy.
Thank you! My wife and are going to try your sweet potato recipe today. We harvest several hundred pounds per year. A few years ago we had a 12 pounder!
what is that sauce at the top of the recipe that looks like Ketchup?
I’ve hear of beet/date syrup. Have you? Perhaps that would go well with the sweet potato fries.
Just ketchup! :)
These don’t come out crispy at all. They also stuck to the parchment paper and I had to peel them off one at a time.
Idk why I even try to make sweet potato fries at home anymore they are NEVEr crisp.
Hi Ali, I’m sorry to hear that. How long did you leave them in for?
Kate
I saw in some comments you asked whether a standard or convection oven was used but I didn’t see an answer as to which one is used in this recipe. Which is preferred? I can do either one.
Thanks
Hi Coreen, this is standard oven. Convection oven isn’t ideal and likely burn your fries.
Does it matter if you use yams?
I haven’t tried it with yams so I can’t say for sure.
Would this recipe work in my cuisinart oven- air fryer setting?
I haven’t tried it, sorry!
it actually worked better for me in an air fryer than in an oven! found the oven took way too long and wasn’t even crispy
my Tefal air fryer did the job in under 15 mins
Used my oven on conventional. Not crispy at all. Left in extra time. Still limp.
Hi Nancy, I’m sorry to hear that. Were your pans overcrowded?
Hi Kate,
I love your website and was thinking of making this recipe but am concerned that so many people didn’t have good luck with it. Could it be a confusion between sweet potatoes and yams? Your picture looks like a yam to me. Do you have a suggestion about which I should buy?
Thanks.
Hi Zelda, I used garnet sweet potato for this recipe.
I agree these look like yams to me. Sweet potatoes aren’t this orange.
We don’t actually have yams in the USA. They are mislabeled orange. Sweet potatoes
I made the fries last night and they turned out perfect!! I also used arrowroot starch. Thanks for sharing your recipes!!
I’m happy you enjoyed it, Sandy!
Thanks so much. Followed the recipe exactly & they turned out perfectly.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Elizabeth!
I have your cookbook and I refer to recipes on your blog regularly. Your recipes are some of my favorites. They are easy to follow and I can usually depend on them to give delicious results. But, this one just didn’t work out for me. The potatoes didn’t crisp up. I tried to follow all the directions carefully. While there are plenty of commenters that had success, there are a lot of us that didn’t. That’s confusing, but I’d suggest that the recipe may need to be tweaked somehow. Is it possible that the type of sweet potato matters? Anyway, I won’t try this one again.
But I will continue to love your awesome take on creating good food! Thank you.
Hi Barbara, I’m sorry to hear this didn’t work for you. I have retested it several times and had great results. It could be the sweet potato, how old/new crop or another variable. I wish I could account for every variable. I’m glad you are enjoying my other recipes!
OKAY! I just did it. They came off like shoe string potatoes, crunchy as all get out. I only wanted something in between, but hey, I got fries!
Wasn’t sure from directions what and when to do the oil, so I just coated the parchment paper, not fries. Did it at 400 degrees (I’m slow)
It was hilarious how crispy they were. Why sweet potatoes aren’t extinct I don’t know. You’d think everybody would be eating them!
These are absolutely amazing! I had saved this a while back and just got around to trying it…. And will be doing it again tomorrow! Too late for a picture! All gone! The cornstarch is definitely the trick. I love the crunchiness. It is hard to get similar size fries, so some got eaten when I flipped the rest.
I’m glad you loved it, Meneta! I appreciate your review.
I’ve been making oven fries since I was a kid, but yam fries kind of always turned out soggy. I followed this recipe to the letter. I even have a manual thermometer in my oven, because my oven is slow and pretends it’s 425° when it’s really only 375!
So with the oven properly at 425, I bake them for 20 min, flip and bake for 15 min more. Perfect, sweet with slightly caramelized crisp edges every time. I’ve made them three times now!
They really only need salt for seasoning, and the cornstarch is an excellent tip!
I’m so happy they turned out well for you, Lori! I appreciate your review.
Made these with white flesh sweet potatoes, tossed them in a bowl with the cornstarch, oil, S&P, chipotle chili and garlic powder.
Cooked them in convection for 18 minutes. Delicious and crisp!
Hello, i have a convection oven, what would be the time per side considering??
Hi Julie, This is meant for conventional. I don’t have bake time to for convection. My assumption is less time, but I can’t say for sure without tryin it.
I couldn’t flip mine, they got stuck to the paper :-( still delicious though! Will try again another time
I’m sorry to hear that! Did you coat it with oil per the instructions?
I was looking for Sweet Potato recipes and landed here. I have not made them yet, as I start by reading reviews. After reading a bunch of reviews, I am forced to speak up. (I will try to keep it short).
1. Pans. I have a normal 4 burner residential stove. I purchased some “baking sheets” and found that I couldn’t get the oven door to close with them lengthwise. Bought smaller pans. 15″ x 10″. So I would need to adjust(shorten) the baking time and possibly lower the temp. Why? Because a smaller pan will heat up faster and yes, it will be hotter (burning fries). As the Author states “…Half-sheet pans are the professional standard—all legit chefs and recipe writers use these when they create recipes, so if your baked recipes don’t turn out right, it might be your pan!” Professional Half Sheet Pan is 18″ x 13″. Check your size !!!!
2. Time of baking. Are all you people burning “…to a crisp…” “..like charcoal…” by setting a timer for 20 minutes and then go sit down and watch TV till it goes off? First time making this, should start looking at 10-12 minutes (that doesn’t mean open the door and look, use the glass if possible. Every second the door is open, you lose 10°) The author even mentions arranging for the second bake …”Arrange the fries in even layers across the pans again, moving any particularly browned fries more toward the middle of the pan…” So this tells us that browning is happening all ready, and to look for it. Are you?
3. Second bake. The Author writes “…Bake for 10 to 18 more minutes, or until the fries are crispy. You’ll know they’re almost done when the surface of the fries change from shiny orange to a more matte, puffed up texture. Keep an eye on them, as they can turn from crisp to burnt quickly….”
She gives you an 8 minute window of baking time. In the same, THE SAME sentence, she writes”…or…OR, OR, OR, yes is says or until the fries are crispy. THIS MEANS WATCH THEM. Do not set the timer for television time. OK, ok, I’ll stop.
Lastly, Stop blaming the Author of this recipe for burning your food. If it burns its too hot or was in too long. That’s it! Physics doesn’t lie. Your controlling your stove. We all make mistakes, stop blaming someone else. So learn from your mistakes and make better food.
P.S. I know Kate wishes she could write this and more…
Great points…thank you!!!?
I thought that was awesome! Good job, Gregg. If mine burn tonight, I will blame my wife and not the author of the recipe, lol.
I love how the cornstarch gives some crunch. I used this idea for cubed sweet potatoes to add to tacos too. I just adjusted oven times accordingly. Very tasty.
Thanks!
I’m glad you loved it, Rachel! Thank you for your review.
Thank you so much for this recipe. Finally I got some good sweet potato fries!!! I have been trying for a long while but they always turned out soggy. Maybe it was the type of sweet potatoes I used? This time I used the ones with purple colour and white inside and they turned out great My 16 month old who is a picky eater enjoyed them too!!
Thank you for sharing, Sue! The type could have impacted it due to variation from variety to variety. I’m glad you were still able to enjoy them!
I made these tonight. All I can say is WOW, it really works!! Beautifully crispy fries. Thank you Kate
You’re welcome, Helen! Thank you for your review.
I tried your recipe it definitely worked. The process made alot of sense and I finally had crispy sweet potato fries !! So glad I came across your site today to enjoy my lunch.
I’m glad you found it too, Shan!
Delicious! I used an air fryer at 400 for 6 minutes. Have been looking for a sweet potato fries recipe for ages…
Thanks Kate!
You’re welcome, Harmeet! Thank you for your review.
I don’t normally have temperature problems with my oven, but tonight my husband was doing the cooking and 1) he thought I read to him to first cook them for 30 minutes, not 20, and 2) he missed the step about using parchment paper. In 30 minutes at 425°F half of the fries were burned, and they were all stuck. The ones not burned didn’t need any more cook time, so they didn’t get turned. The good news is he only cooked half of the potato, so we’ll try again tomorrow evening, and I’ll watch closely.
This recipe is great and I hope I can get my family to eat these and be asking for them again.
I was searching for a recipe on how to make crispy sweet potato fries and your recipe was a great help.
Thank you for sharing.
You’re welcome, Demi!
These are fanTAStic. We got so many nice sweet potatoes this year from our CSA, and made so many fries! Thank you!
I always add some smoked paprika to my seasonings.
Thank you! This is the first time I baked sweet potatoe fries that didn’t burn to a crisp. Changing where the oven racks were and switching the pans really made a difference.
Thank you for sharing, K! I’m delighted you loved them.
These are the sweet potato fries I’ve been looking for, thank you for the careful directions!
Im Trying it for the first time lets see how it goes
I hope you loved it, Will!
I found this recipe and it was the first time I managed to have crispy and very tasty sweet potato fries. Thank you, will definately save this for future times!
Great to hear, Stephanie! Thank you for your review.
I saw tis recipe and thought it was interesting because of the corn starch, (making the fries crispier) but it did not turn out well, soggy then burnt fries, it’s not the fault of the recipe, I should have watched the temperature more and the timing, I blame it on that beautiful Cote du Rhone I opened `and half finished while cooking!
I’m sorry to hear that, Rene!
Smoke filled my house and these burned to a crisp two mins early. We’ll, at least they’re crispy
I always love your recipes but this recipe calls for sweet potatoes but it looks like your using yams. Can i use either sweet potatoes or yams?
Thanks!!
Hi, this is for sweet potatoes. You could try yams, but I’m not sure if they will be the same.
These stuck to the paper and turned black after 18 minutes Would not attempt again
I’m sorry to hear that. What type of oven were you using?
Didn’t really get crispy. Maybe I cut them too thin or had too many in the pan. I’m going to try again to see if I can get them crispy.
I’m sorry to hear that! Where did you place your pans?
I only used one pan which was probably part of the problem. I had it in the middle of the oven. Next time I’ll try two. One bottom one middle and switch.
I am a big fan and have given your cookbooks out as gifts I love your recipes. Thank you for keeping us healthy!
You’re welcome, Linda!
Not crispy…still soggy and somewhat burnt. I described them as “limp” :) This didn’t pan out for me. I followed the recipe to the tee. My search for a crispy baked sweet potato fry continues. Unfortunately this wasn’t the one.
I’m sorry to hear that, Meg. I appreciate your feedback.
I made these but instead of cutting into chips i left them like scollops or cottage fries they were really nice. I cooked then for 7 minutes then turned them over for 7 minutes fan oven mark 180
These were so easy. They were perfect! I did not over crowd and cut them small.
That’s great to hear, Carole! I appreciate your review.
I’ve been looking around for a good potato fry recipe for a while.
We had a bit of a mishap, power outage about halfway through, so they unfortunately cooled down a bit before we noticed, but we still managed to finish them with enough crisp. I found this very encouraging and it makes me hopeful that this is the recipe for us!
We will be trying again.
Oh no! I’m glad you were still able to try them. Let me know if you try them again.
This is my first time commenting on any recipe. I am glad I didn’t read the comments before making these delicious sweet potato fries! I probably wouldn’t have tried! I followed your instructions exactly, even using my hands to make sure the cornstarch was worked into the fries. You mentioned trying many variations and landed on the perfect combination. I figured why mess that up so I didn’t. It bothers me that so many of the comments actually say they changed something and were surprised it didn’t work.
Excellent fries and I will be making them again!!!!
Thank you for sharing, Tammy! I’m glad you loved this recipe.
Hi Kate, Have you see the sweet potato dog snacks online? I bet Cookie would love them.
Yay crunchy sweet potato fries for the first time ever. Thank you!
Why peel them? Much better and healthier (and easier) to leave the peels on.
Now i know how to make sweet potatoes but i dont like them that much but ill eat them.
Thank you for sharing, Jayden!