Crispy Sweet Potato Fries with Dipping Sauces

These Crispy Sweet Potato Fries with Dipping Sauces have a wonderful crunch when you bite into them. Sprinkled with coarse sea salt and dipped in one of three sauces make this a delectable side dish or an afternoon snack. The secret ingredient to its crispiness is a coating of cornstarch before you bake them.

I love, with all my heart, a golden, crispy, hot french fried potato. I wish I could kiss whoever came up with the idea to take a brown rugged root vegetable from the earth, slice it into perfectly long strips, dunk it into a pool of scalding hot grease, and then douse them with loads of salt. In my book, this genius should go down in history as the ultimate recipe developer. How simple, but how profoundly innovative. If only they were healthy for you!

But then … along comes, a lovely orange beauty called the sweet potato! Who would've ever guessed? What an amazing array of things you can do with this delectable vegetable: sweet potato pie, sweet potato hash, sweet potato pancakes/waffles, and sweet potato bisque. It seems these days, you can put sweet potatoes into just about anything and make it work. But taking center stage in this post are Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Dipping Sauces.

Why I love these Fries:

Sweet potatoes are a delicious healthy treat. Baked sweet potato fries are a healthy alternative to the french fried potatoes that we all love and adore. Unless, of course, you eat a whole batch in one sitting. Okay, I do admit that I've done that a time or two.

They are baked in the oven NOT fried and actually come out of the oven deliciously crispy. I bet you thought you could never find a truly crispy "baked" sweet potato fries recipe. But there are several tips throughout this post that will help you achieve that very thing.

The dipping sauces top the fries off with AMAZING flavor. I have included three sauces in the recipe below - a sweet toasted marshmallow creme, grainy honey mustard sauce, and my favorite, spicy roasted tomato aioli. Each is very different from the other. But they're all bursting with flavors that complement these fries.

How to prep for crispy sweet potato fries

Big is not always better, especially to acquire really crisp fries. When cutting the strips, go skinnier. Try keeping them around ¼ x ¼-inch thick. First of all, this helps to bake each fry consistently, with none being over-done or under-done. And secondly, skinnier potato fries are probably the most important way to ensure crispy ones.

How to cut skinnier fries. Take the sweet potato and cut lengthwise ¼-inch thick from one side. Turn the potato on that flat end to stabilize it while you continue to cut. Cut lengthwise into ¼-inch thick slices from one side to the other. Rotate those slices and stack a few together. Again cut ¼ inch thick strips giving you long, skinny strips of potatoes. Here's a great video on Youtube showing a variety of ways to cut potatoes.

Toss the sweet potato strips into a large bowl and cover them with water and let them sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour. This process pulls the starch from the potato which helps them crisp up better. After an hour, remove the sweet potatoes from the water, and dry them on paper towels.

The mystery ingredient 

You might be surprised, but the secret to making these sweet potato fries really crispy is coating them with a type of starch. This could be cornstarch, tapioca starch, or potato starch. Put your dried strips of sweet potatoes into a jumbo ziplock bag and add enough starch to lightly dust them (about 4-6 teaspoons). Not too much or the fries will end up tasting like starch. Shake until every piece has starch on it.

A little bit of oil is all you need. After coating the sweet potatoes with starch, place them into a large bowl and drizzle a small amount of olive oil (2 tablespoons) and smear it on all of the potatoes. Be careful not to use too much, just enough to coat over the starch.

Getting the fries ready to go in the oven

Don’t overcrowd the pans. To have plenty of room on my baking pans, I used two and lined them with parchment paper. It's best to spray it with a light coating of cooking spray which guarantees no sticking. If the strips are too close together they will end up steaming instead of crisping, therefore, leave some room between each of them.

Baking to Perfection

Make sure the temperature of your oven is hot - 425°F., any lower than that and you'll end up with flimsy, somewhat soggy sweet potato fries. If you turn the temperature any higher, you'll end up with "burnt to a crisp" fries. There's nothing wrong with having a few brownish-black spots on the fries, that just adds to the character and the flavor. But any more than that, you lose the substance of the sweet potato itself.

Halfway through the cooking time, flip the fries over. A large metal spatula works great because it is thin and is able to get under the fries better. And since you're not using foil, there's not a problem with the parchment paper tearing.

When the fries are done, turn off the oven, open the door about halfway and let them sit for 10 minutes. This step is not completely necessary, but it does help with creating a crispier fry.

Do not salt your fries before baking them. Salt draws moisture out during the cooking process and will leave your fries soggy. Therefore wait until after you bring them out of the oven to add salt.

The dipping sauces

Concerning dipping sauces for these crispy delights, I'm giving full disclosure right now. There is nothing healthy or light about them. But every once in a while it's good to throw caution to the wind and indulge. I have included three sauces in the recipe below. Each is very different from the other. But each enhances the sweet potato fries in a unique way.

Toasted Marshmallow Creme - toasting the marshmallows creates a fruity, nutty, buttery flavor in this dipping sauce and gives it burnt speckles throughout the dip. Make the dip once the marshmallows come out of the oven and have just slightly cooled. It's really hard to dip the fries once the sauce has cooled completely. Consequently, the best time to enjoy it is when the dip is still slightly warm. If cooled too much, pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to warm it back up.

Grainy Honey Mustard Sauce - this combination of five power-packed ingredients (dijon mustard, stone ground mustard, mayo, honey and a pinch of cinnamon) brings an explosion to your tastebuds. This dip has rich, complex characteristics that work incredibly well with sweet potato fries.

Spicy Roasted Tomato Aioli - If I had to choose my favorite (which BTW is extremely difficult), it would more than likely be this one. Roasting Roma tomatoes, red onion, whole cloves of garlic, and thyme together contribute a depth of dimension to this aioli. An array of spices, chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, Tabasco sauce and of course mayo rounds this dip to perfection. If you can only try one, try this one for sure. It goes wonderfully with my Grilled Sweet Potato Rounds. 

The last thing a sweet potato wants to grow up to become is a flimsy strip of mush. What an embarrassment to every potato on the planet. But take heart. We can do our part in the world of “sweet potatoes.” We can help them find their true destiny which is to become this "Crispy, Crunchy, Sweet Spud." There are a few extra steps involved, but in the end, it is so worth the effort. And your sweet potatoes will be forever grateful.

Here are some other fabulous side dish recipes that you might want to try:

Grilled Smoky Sweet Potato Rounds

Grilled Potatoes and Onions in Foil

Roasted Veggies with Garlic and Herbs

Prosciutto Wrapped Roasted Asparagus Bundles

Candied Rainbow Carrots with Orange-Maple Syrup

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