Someone asked me for a truly crispy sweet potato fries recipe! Here you go. Using food science to achieve the crispy results! With this technique, you can finally achieve that perfect crispy texture with your sweet potato fries, turning a tricky task into a delicious success. Enjoy your crispy, golden fries!
Sweet potatoes have a higher sugar content and less starch compared to regular potatoes. This makes them behave more like carrots when cooked, releasing more moisture and caramelizing faster. As a result, they tend to steam rather than crisp up when baked, leading to that disappointing sogginess.
The Food Science Explained
When sweet potatoes are soaked in hot water, the heat helps to break down some of their cell walls, releasing moisture. This process reduces the overall moisture content, which is crucial for achieving crispiness. Cornstarch acts as a barrier, further absorbing moisture and promoting browning by creating a thin, dry layer on the surface. This combination helps the fries crisp up in the oven rather than becoming soft and mushy.
To combat the natural softness of sweet potatoes, two key steps can help achieve that coveted crispiness:
- Soaking in Hot Water: Soaking sweet potato fries in hot water before cooking helps to draw out some of their natural sugars and moisture. This process reduces the chances of them steaming in the oven, allowing for a better texture.
- Using Cornstarch: Tossing the fries in cornstarch creates a fine coating that absorbs excess moisture and helps form a crispy outer layer during baking.
Sweet Potato Fries
Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 tsp fine salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
- Optional Seasoning:
1/4 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp chipotle or chili powder, 1/8 tsp black pepper, pinch of cayenne
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 415°F. Set two racks to the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Line two baking sheets with the parchment paper.
- Bring a large pot of water to a near boil. Remove it from heat when you see large bubbles coming to the surface, just shy of the full boil.
- In the meantime, peel and slice your sweet potatoes uniformly into fries. Slicing your potatoes evenly is very important for even cooking. Look to have each potato 1/3 inch thick, any thicker and it may not crisp up as well.
Place your potatoes into the pot of water that you brought to a near boil in Step 1. Cover and allow to sit covered, off heat, for 30-60 minutes. - Remove your potatoes from the pot, dry well with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel. Sprinkle with cornstarch. Rub with your hands to ensure each fry is coated. Drizzle well with oil, again making sure each fry is coated and season with salt. Divide between 2 baking sheets, without overcrowding the pans, and place into preheated oven.
- Bake for 20 minutes until lightly golden brown on the bottom. Remove the sheets from the oven, flip each fry carefully with a spatula. Rotate the sheets 180 degrees and from top to bottom and place back into the oven. Bake another 20-25 minutes or so, until firm, dry, golden and crisp.
- Remove from the oven. If desired, season with spices of choice. My favourite spice combination for sweet potatoes is 1/4 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp chipotle or chili powder, 1/8 tsp black pepper, pinch of cayenne. But be careful, this is quite spicy! Adjust to taste.
Look how crispy these are! This recipe is a new and improved version of my original recipe posted in 2019.
