These days you can find sweet potato fries on many restaurant menus, but just ten years or so ago that wasn’t the case. I still remember the first time I ever tasted them- it was at McMenamins when we lived in Portland. They were were served plain with just a sprinkling of salt, and they were so good. I didn’t expect to like them but when I bit into that crispy, salty exterior and found a soft fluffy center, I was sold. I came home right away and tried a homemade version that was baked in the oven instead of fried. These baked sweet potato fries with honey-lime dip are a fun side dish and healthy alternative to both traditional oil-fried fries and also regular potato dishes.
Sweet potatoes are packed with vitamin C, fiber, and tons of antioxidents, just to name a few. They’re also are lower in carbs than a regular potatoes. If you battle blood-sugar issues, sweet potatoes are a better choice than traditional potatoes. The sweetness comes from complex carbohydrates (the good kind) and not simple carbs (the bad kind) Combine that with heart-healthy olive oil and this little number packs quite a punch.
How to Make Baked Sweet Potato Fries
First cut your sweet potatoes into matchsticks. I actually don’t even peel my potatoes anymore! I also keep mine pretty thin because I like a higher ratio of browned exterior to fluffy center. Then you’ll drizzle them with Olive Oil. Hands down my favorite Flavored Olive Oil for sweet potatoes is our Rosemary Olive Oil!
Seasoning Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Then you’ll toss them with seasoning. There are a lot of flavor variations you can use with sweet potatoes, and this one is fairly simple with salt, pepper, garlic, onion, parsley, cumin, oregano and coriander.
How to Bake Sweet Potato Fries
You’ll want to spread them out in a single layer on a baking sheet. It’s important fries aren’t piled on top of each other. If you have convection mode on your oven, you can play around with that. I’ve found it helps brown the outside of the fries and you’ll want to keep an eye on them because they will bake much faster than normal!
Making a Dip for Sweet Potato Fries
The dip is easy to mix up while your fries are baking. It’s plain yogurt, a drizzle of honey and a squeeze of lime juice and some herbs and seasoning.
Serving Sweet Potato Fries
You’ll want to serve baked sweet potato fries immediately after baking. They will cool quickly and just won’t be as great. That being said, if you have leftovers, chop them up and store them in the fridge. They’re great for tossing on salads later!
These are definitely different than oil-fried sweet potatoes, there’s no getting around that. But they’re still great in their own right and a fun alternative to mix things up at dinner at home. Hope you try them and love them!
Nutrition Info:
This recipe serves 4 and each serving has 147 calories, 5 g of fat, and 4 grams of fiber.
This recipe serves 4 and each serving has 147 calories, 5 g of fat, and 4 grams of fiber.
Love sweet potatoes? Try these recipes out as well!
Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Honey-Lime Dip
Slim cut roasted sweet potatoes with a healthy sauce for dipping!
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Fries
- 1 lb peeled sweet potatoes cut into 1/4" match-sticks
- 2 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon parsley
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- Honey-Lime Dip
- 6 oz container plain low-fat yogurt
- 1 tablespoon mayo low cal is fine
- 1/2 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Mix all ingredients until combined. Chill until ready to use.
Instructions
- *you want 1lb sweet potatoes after they are peeled, sliced, etc. If you weigh them at the store make sure you have a little more than a pound to allow for the peeling, and tossing of small pieces.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Place sweet potatoes in a pile directly on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Use hands to toss until all pieces are well coated. Sprinkle seasoning mixture on top and toss again with hands to coat.
- Arrange sweet potatoes in a single layer so that pieces are not touching each other. Place pan in oven and bake for 15 minutes. Use a metal spatula to gently flip fries and then return pan to oven. Cook for an additional 15-20 minutes or until fries are starting to lightly brown and crisp. Remove pan from oven and cool 5 minutes.
- While potatoes are cooking, mix all dip ingredients and place in fridge to chill. Serve fries immediately.
Did You Make This Recipe?Snap a picture, and hashtag it #ourbestbites. We love to see your creations on our Instagram @ourbestbites!
Questions & Reviews
Making these right now. I just combined the all the ingredients into a ziplock baggie and shook them up. I didn’t add quite as much olive oil. We will see how they turn out. It took me about 10 minutes!
Hey there! I found your recipe on Pinterest, and I am laughing because I have the same long spatula from Pampered Chef. Now I have a great use for a utensil that often is forgotten. Thanks for the recipe, we lurve sweet potato fries.
XXOO
Michelle
What is T and t mean?
T is tablespoon and t is teaspoon 🙂
I’m eating your fries right now, and they are astounding! The only sub I had to make was because I’m unexpectedly out of cumin, since I wasn’t expecting to spill the whole jar. I subbed in smoked paprika, and it’s a huge hit. Thanks for this recipe. It’s an immediate favorite.
Thanks also for the picture showing how you sliced the sweet potatoes–that really helped in the preparation.
Trader Joes sells sweet potatoes already cut up!! now you guys have no excuse not to make these delicious fries!!
All of my friends love when I make these and they have asked if I could make them for a BBQ this weekend. Do you know if you can cut the sweet potatoes ahead of time? Or will they go brown like potatoes? I would love to take them already cut up and just have to throw them in the oven. Any suggestions?
Carie, I think cutting them ahead of time would be just fine. Just keep them refrigerated 🙂
Mine were soggy too. 🙁 I couldn’t have cooked them longer because they started to burn. I’m going to give them another try, and use the blanching method a previous person suggested. I know with regular potato fries you can soak them first to get some of the starch out so maybe that will help! Even soggy, they still tasted yummy! Loved the blend of spices.
Hey Sara. 🙂 Me and a friend have both made these and they didn’t ever crisp up! :/ My friends were like mush she said (although she commented that the flavor was good), and although mine weren’t actual mush, they just weren’t crispy. Do you have any suggestions as to why this might be?? Help! 🙂
Well for starters, sweet potatoes will never be as crispy as regular fries- they just can’t be that way. The closest you can get is when they are deep fried, but even then they’re a bit softer. The only thing that improves the crispy factor is cutting them very thin and making sure to cook them long enough. Hope that helps!
That’s the secret… cut thin and bake until they just start to look over done.
Love this recipe – I’ve made it probably a dozen times in the past 6 months! I like mine with a little bit of seasoned salt and some paprika, though. I also throw in some Tony Cachere’s creole seasoning. the seasoning provides just enough spice for me – it’s delicious! 🙂
Thanks Sara for posting a “South Beach Friendly” recipe. What other recipes on your site would you put in the same category?