Sweet Potato Fries Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why won't my sweet potato fries get crispy? ›

The secret to crispy (instead of soggy) sweet potato fries is to spread them out in an even layer with enough room so that they don't touch. This is especially important if you're making a big batch of fries. Instead of just piling more onto one baking pan, spread them out over two baking pans or cook them in batches.

Sweet potato fries are slightly higher in calories and carbs but also more nutrient dense than French fries. The greatest nutrient difference is that French fries have no vitamin A, while sweet potato fries are high in this nutrient. Vitamin A is important for your vision and immune system ( 2 ).

TIPS & TRICKS to Make this Recipe: The main secrets to achieving that incredible crispy texture, is to soak the cut sweet potatoes in cold water for at least 30 minutes. This helps remove the starch from the sweet potatoes so they´re not limp & soggy.

As oil heats up it breaks down—cooking oils with a high smoke point will break down more slowly—and that creates crispier fries. The general rule of thumb is that you can reuse frying oil three or four times, or for a total of six hours cooking time.

Cornstarch really helps to get the outsides crisp!

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.

Hannahs are dense, firm, and creamy, and much less prone to becoming waterlogged than orange sweet potatoes. Their firmness and dense texture makes Hannah sweet potatoes ideal for roasting in chunks, turning into fries, or mashing as a side dish.

So if you want a sweet, sweet potato, you have to cook it until it reaches 135–170°F (57–77°C). And you want to keep sweet potatoes in that range for as long as possible. That will maximize how sweet the potatoes taste.

If you'd like, you can soak the sweet potato slices for 30 minutes up to 2 hours before frying to remove excess starch. Personally, though, going through this step didn't make a real difference for my fries. Peels on or off — it's up to you!

Why put sweet potato fries in ice water? ›

Transfer to a bowl filled with ice and water and let it soak for 30 minutes. The cold water helps with removing excess starch and crisping up the potatoes later.

In a pinch, you can also use all-purpose flour, but your fried foods won't be as crispy.

In test after test, potato starch produced the crunchiest, most cohesive coating—even when compared to cornstarch. Cornstarch samples were slightly more brittle and delicate. Not only was the potato starch coating crispier, but the crispy coating remained crispy up to 2 hours longer at room temperature.

Corn Starch: Adding a thin coating of corn starch to the potato fries before frying can help create a crispier exterior. When the corn starch comes into contact with the hot oil, it forms a barrier that traps moisture within the potato while also developing a crunchy crust.

Old, oxidated, and irregularly filtered frying oil can really affect the quality and taste of your fries. A well-used fryer oil should be filtered at least once a day, making sure any free-floating bits and slivers are removed completely.

Recipe Tips and Tricks

To help the flavor pop, sprinkle the fries with a pinch of additional kosher salt immediately after removing them from the air fryer. Banish Soggy Sweet Potato Fries. If your air fryer fries are soggy, it is likely because you over-crowded them in the basket.

This sure sounds a lot like potatoes that have been stored too long, in too cold of an environment before cooking. When potatoes are held below 41°F for too long a period, the starches convert to sugar and it changes the cooking chemistry.

Remember, fries are full of water. The more fries you add to a tray, the more steam they'll be releasing in your oven, reducing crispness. Load the oven quickly. This prevents heat loss that can result in soggy fries.