Sweet Potato Fries (Air Fryer or Oven!)
Best Sweet Potato Fries Recipe – Learn the easy steps and top tips to make crispy, tender, and flavorful sweet potato fries in the air fryer or oven. These homemade fries are perfect to serve with your favorite dipping sauces for a yummy side dish or snack!
Why We Love Sweet Potato Fries
Sweet Potato Fries are a decadent yet nutritious addition to any meal! The tubers are packed with vitamins and just the right amount of sweetness, and that deep golden-yellow color is simply irresistible.
Although most fries are the crispiest when deep-fried, we prefer oven-baked sweet potato fries and air fryer sweet potato fries. These two methods use way less oil but still manage to get each fry nicely browned and lightly crunchy… And today we’re going to show you how to make both of these easy and healthier recipe versions!
Serve warm and crispy sweet potato fries straight from the oven or air fryer alongside any number of zesty and/or creamy sauces to dip. Keep reading for some of our favorite dipping sauce options, along with step-by-step instructions and best recipe tips!
Ingredients You Need
- Fresh sweet potatoes – about 6 to 9 medium-sized potatoes
- Olive oil – or other high-heat and neutral-tasting oil, like avocado or vegetable oil
- Spice – sea salt, garlic powder, black pepper
Optional Fry Seasonings –
Add some pep to the recipe and consider including a generous pinch of any of these spices or seasoning blends:
- Smoked paprika
- Ground cumin
- Onion powder
- Chile powder
- Cinnamon
- Italian seasoning
- Cajun fry seasoning
- Old Bay Seasoning
How to Make Sweet Potato Fries in the Oven
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Combine the spices in a small bowl.
- Next, peel the sweet potatoes, one at a time. After peeling each potato, cut it into ¼ to ½ inch fries that are 3-4 inches in length. Place the fries in a large bowl, then pour the olive oil over the top of the fries. Toss the fries in oil to coat them evenly.
- Repeat peeling the sweet potatoes, slicing them into fries, and tossing in the oil. This process of working one-by-one helps to keep them from browning.
- Once all the fries are cut and tossed in oil, spread them out in a single layer on two large rimmed baking sheets.
- Sprinkle the seasoning mix over the top of the fries, and toss them gently to coat. Bake them for 12 minutes, then carefully flip the fries over with a flat metal spatula.
Keeping baking for another 12 minutes or so, until the sweet potato fries are crispy.
Get the Complete (Printable) Best Sweet Potato Fries Recipe Below. Enjoy!
How to Make Sweet Potato Fries in the Air Fryer
Begin by following the same first 3 recipe steps as oven-baking fries. Once all the fries are cut and tossed in oil, preheat the air fryer to 380°F.
Working in small batches, place a single layer of fries in the air fryer basket. Sprinkle with seasoning. Air fry for approximately 12 minutes, flipping the fries at the 6-minute mark.
Note: The amount of batches required to cook all the fries will depend on the size of your air fryer basket.
Recipe Tips
- We are peeling the sweet potatoes in this recipe. However, you do not have to peel the sweet potatoes. If you like fries with a bit of skin, just make sure to scrub them well before slicing.
- Slice the potato fries into similar sizes so they cook evenly.
- Cut down on mess by lining the baking pans or air fryer basket with a piece of parchment paper.
- Don’t crowd the air fryer basket or baking sheets! They can touch a little bit, but for the crispiest fries they should not be layered on top of one another.
- Shake the basket around halfway through the cooking time. Then give it another shake after checking for doneness if you find they need a few more minutes.
- Serve the sweet potato fries immediately while warm. You can technically reheat them in the air fryer or oven, but they certainly taste and have the best crunch freshly prepared.
Serving Suggestions
Serve sweet potato fries as a side dish or a snack with any of your favorite dipping sauces or dressings! Try them with:
- Ketchup
- Aioli
- Ranch dressing
- Blue cheese dressing
- Thousand island dressing
- Big Mac sauce
- Southern comeback fry sauce
These fries are phenomenal with homemade smash burgers, spicy cowboy burgers, turkey burgers, or to add some oomph on the side of a Big Mac Salad.
They’re also delicious to pair with air fried hot dogs, Choripan Argentino, or a classic patty melt sandwich.
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s essential to use the right amount of oil and cook the potatoes using high heat, either in the air fryer or oven. Also, as noted, be sure not to overcrowd the baking sheet or fry basket. You might need to cook the fries in smaller batches for the right crispiness.
These fries taste best when served warm shortly after cooking. But leftovers will last in an airtight container in the fridge for a day or so.
The best way to reheat fries is in the air fryer. But you can also re-bake them in the oven for 5-10 minutes until hot and crispy again.
Looking for More Easy Side Dish Recipes? Be Sure to Try:
- Shoestring Fries (Julienne-Cut)
- Chili Cheese Fries
- Crispy Ribbon Fries in Oven
- Air Fryer Potato Wedges
- Baked Crispy Polenta Fries
Sweet Potato Fries Recipe (Air Fryer or Oven!)
Ingredients
- 3 pounds fresh sweet potatoes
- ¼ cup olive oil or canola oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper
- Optional Add-Ins: smoked paprika ground cumin, onion powder, chile powder, Italian seasoning, cajun seasoning, old bay, or cinnamon.
Instructions
How to Make Sweet Potato Fries in Oven –
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Set out a small bowl for the seasoning. Combine the salt, garlic powder, and black pepper. Stir well.
- Set out a large bowl. Peel the sweet potatoes, one at a time, and cut into ¼ to ½ inch fries that are 3-4 inches in length. Place the fries in the bowl, then pour the olive oil over the top of the fries. Toss the fries in oil.
- Repeat peeling the sweet potatoes, slicing them into fries, and tossing in the oil to keep them from browning.
- Once all the fries are cut and tossed in oil, spread them out in a single layer on two large rimmed baking sheets.
- Sprinkle the seasoning mix over the top of the fries. Bake for 12 minutes. Then carefully flip the fries over with a flat metal spatula. Bake for an additional 12 to 14 minutes until crispy. Serve the fries warm with your favorite dipping sauces.
Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries –
- In a small bowl, combine the salt, garlic powder, and black pepper. Stir well.
- Set out a large bowl. Peel the sweet potatoes, one at a time, and cut into ¼ to ½ inch fries that are 3-4 inches in length. Place the fries in the bowl then pour the olive oil over the top of the fries. Toss the fries in oil.
- Repeat peeling the sweet potatoes, slicing them into fries, and tossing in the oil to keep them from browning.
- Once all the fries are cut and tossed in oil, preheat the air fryer to 380°F.
- Working in small batches, place a single layer of fries in the air fryer basket. Sprinkle the seasoning mix over the top of the fries. Air fry for approximately 12 minutes, flipping the fries at the 6-minute mark. The amount of batches required to cook all the fries will depend on the size of your air fryer basket.
These turned out great and are much healthier than deep-fried sweet potato fries. :)
Made these in the air fryer and they were perfect. Can’t wait to make them again!
I didn’t think crispy sweet potato fries were possible in the oven until I tried this recipe! YUM!