My easy baked sweet potato fries recipe guarantees crispy, golden-brown outsides with sweet and tender insides. Trust us, you’ll want to make a double batch.
Our family absolutely devours these sweet potato fries! If Joanne is in the kitchen while I’m making them, she starts eating them straight off the sheet pan. That’s why we always recommend making a double batch. Bonus: they’re unbelievably easy to make!
We’re pretty picky about fries, which is why we’re obsessed with how these turn out. Perfectly caramelized and crispy on the outside, yet sweet and tender in the middle. If you love these, be sure to check out some of our other favorites, like our baked french fries, potato wedges, and homemade tater tots.
Key Ingredients
- Sweet potatoes: I like medium sweet potatoes (sometimes sold as yams) for these fries. It doesn’t matter if the label says sweet potato or yam, as long as you buy small-to-medium potatoes with orange flesh. Look for Beauregard, Jewel, or Garnet sweet potatoes. They make the best fries.
- Oil: I use avocado oil or olive oil for coating the fries before baking.
- Salt and pepper: I keep them simple, but this is a great time to bring out seasoned salt or your favorite spice blend (I love this Cajun seasoning).
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make the Best Sweet Potato Fries
Tip 1: Don’t worry about peeling. I bake my sweet potato fries in the oven. They’re not quite as crispy as deep-fried fries, but they’re healthier and taste incredible. I don’t bother peeling the sweet potatoes. Just scrub them clean under cold water before slicing.
Tip 2: Cut them thin. It’s up to you how thick you want your fries, but we like them thin and crispy, so we slice them on the thinner side. Cut the sweet potato into slabs, then slice the slabs into thin fries. Watch our video to see exactly how we do it. It’s really easy!
Tip 3: Don’t overcrowd your baking sheet and preheat it. The secret to crispy baked sweet potato fries is giving them plenty of space. If they’re packed too tightly, they’ll steam instead of crisp up. I also like to preheat my baking sheets before adding the fries since it gives them a head start and helps them brown beautifully.
Toss the fries with oil, salt, and pepper, then spread them out on foil- or parchment-lined, preheated baking sheets.
Tip 4: Bake at a higher temperature. Bake the sweet potato fries in a 425°F oven until they’re golden brown and crisp. Depending on how thick you cut them, this usually takes 15 to 25 minutes. Keep an eye on them near the end so they don’t over-brown. Sweet potatoes can go from perfectly caramelized to too dark pretty quickly.
Serving Suggestions
Serve these delicious oven-baked sweet potato fries with burgers, veggie burgers, Caesar salad, sandwiches, and turkey meatloaf. My son also loves these with homemade fish sticks and chicken nuggets.
Depending on your favorite dipping sauce, you can make a homemade sauce alongside them. I love homemade ketchup, mayonnaise, or this creamy honey mustard sauce. Garlic aioli is another favorite, and don’t forget fry sauce!
More Sweet Potato Recipes
Perfect Baked Sweet Potato Fries
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
This is my favorite sweet potato fries recipe. The fries bake up with caramelized edges and tender centers every time. Watch our recipe video to see exactly how we cut the sweet potatoes into fries. I like to keep the skins on for extra texture and flavor, but you can peel them if you prefer.
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
4 medium sweet potatoes
3 tablespoons avocado oil or olive oil
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Directions
1Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C). Set aside two baking sheets. The fries caramelize best when placed directly on the baking sheet, but you can line them with aluminum foil for easier cleanup.
2Preheat the baking sheets: Place the baking sheets in the oven while it heats. Preheating them gives the fries a head start and helps them crisp up.
3Prepare the sweet potatoes: Slice the sweet potatoes into ½-inch sticks. Add them to a large bowl and toss with oil, salt, and pepper until evenly coated.
4Arrange the fries: Carefully remove the hot baking sheets from the oven. Divide the sweet potatoes between them and spread into a single layer. Avoid crowding them, if the fries are too close together, they’ll steam instead of brown.
5Bake the fries: Bake the sweet potato fries, turning once and rotating the pans halfway through, until the edges are lightly browned and the centers are tender, 15 to 25 minutes. They’re done when the surface looks dry and puffy. Don’t worry if the edges turn brown; they’ll taste caramelized, not burnt. Serve the fries hot with your favorite dipping sauce and a final sprinkle of salt.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Cornstarch: Some swear by adding a generous pinch of cornstarch to the fries before tossing and baking to make them extra crispy. It really does work, so give it a try if you’d like. We usually skip it because we’re already happy with how crispy the fries turn out as-is.
- Storing leftovers: Store cooled fries in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. They’ll soften as they sit, but you can easily bring them back to life.
- Re-crisping fries: To reheat, spread the fries on a baking sheet and bake at 400°F (204°C) for 5 to 10 minutes until warmed through and crisp again.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
Have not tried this yet, but sounds delicious.
So good, lost count on how many trays I’ve made and enjoyed already!
That’s great, Gina! So happy you enjoy them so much.
These will definitely be a regular in my snack rotation from today. Thanks!