Spicy Baked Sweet Potato Fries (VIDEO)

These Spicy Baked Sweet Potato Fries are deliciously vegan and perfect for Meatless Monday! And sweet potato fries are also low-glycemic gluten-free, Paleo, Whole 30, Dairy-Free, and South Beach Diet Phase Two. Use Sweet Potato Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Or try Air Fryer Spicy Sweet Potato Fries if you’re an air fryer fan!

Click here to PIN these amazing Spicy Baked Sweet Potato Fries!

Watch the video to see if you’d like to make Spicy Baked Sweet Potato Fries!

I try to post a meatless main dish every week for Meatless Monday, but some weeks it just doesn’t work out. Last week I tried out an idea for a meatless pasta dish, and it was definitely tasty. Unfortunately, the photos were so unappetizing that the recipe still needs work. Luckily, I did manage to get some good photos this week to update this favorite recipe for Spicy Sweet Potato Fries. The first time I made this recipe, I took one bite and knew immediately I’d be making these sweet baked potato fries over and over.  My favorite sweet potatoes fries are not only meatless, but this recipe is deliciously vegan. Who knows, this just might become your favorite way to cook sweet potatoes? And if you have an Air Fryer, you might want to try Air Fryer Spicy Sweet Potato Fries, which are just slightly more crisp than the baked ones!

(If you’re a Meatless Monday fan, you can find more meatless recipes by checking the Photo Index for Meatless Monday, and you also might like to see my Meatless Monday Pinterest Board, where there are meatless recipes by food bloggers from all over the web.)

You can certainly make this recipe with those pre-cut sweet potato fries that show up in the stores this time of year, but I prefer to cut my own so I can make them a little thicker.  Having a little more thickness lets me cook them slightly longer for maximum crispness, although sweet potatoes don’t ever get as crisp as regular fries.

Sweet Potato Info:

Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes are often called “Yams” or “Sweet Yams” in the United States. but they’re really sweet potatoes.

Some stores sell the darker red sweet potatoes shown on the top and call them “Yams” or “Sweet Yams,” but they’re sweet potatoes, as are the slightly lighter-skinned ones on the bottom. Please trust me on this. (There’s also a tan-skinned variety of sweet potato with white flesh, but I haven’t tried making this recipe with those.)

Cut off both ends of the sweet potato and use a sharp vegetable peeler to peel off the skin. (Thanks to my brother Dave and sister-in-law Amy who gave me this Cutco vegetable peeler that I love!) Then cut the sweet potato in half lengthwise and again in half crosswise, so you have four pieces. Slice each piece longways into 2 or 3 slices. Then cut each slice into 5 or possibly five fries. I like to make thick fries, about 1/2 to 5/8 inch thick (15-18 cm.) I don’t mind if the pieces are a little irregular, it adds to the charm!

Put the fries into a large bowl and toss with enough olive oil so all the fries are very lightly coated with oil (1-2 tablespoons of oil for 2 sweet potatoes, depending on how big the sweet potatoes are.) Then sprinkle with 2-3 teaspoons of spicy sweet potato fry seasoning (see recipe.) Use the largest baking sheet you have and spray with olive oil or non-stick spray. Arrange sweet potatoes so the flat side is down and they’re not touching each other. (Use 2 pans if your pan isn’t big enough.) I used to bake these at 425F, but I’ve come to like them better cooked at 450F/230C, and that’s the temperature I used.

Cook 15 minutes, then use your fingers or a fork to turn them over (this photo is after they’re turned) and put back in the oven. Cook 15 minutes more and turn them again (this photo is after they’ve been turned a second time. Put back into the oven. Cook another 5-10 minutes, depending on how well-done you like them.  (I cooked mine about 7 minutes more.)

I promise, these Spicy Sweet Potato Fries will be a hit with anyone who likes sweet potatoes!

More Tasty Recipes for Sweet Potatoes:

Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes with Feta and Sumac ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
4-Ingredient Stuffed White Sweet Potatoes ~ Oh Sweet Basil
Sweet Potato Gratin with Goat Cheese, Parmesan, and Thyme ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Oven-Roasted Sweet Potatoes Southwestern Style ~ Rachel Cooks
Twice-Baked Sweet Potato Cups with Sour Cream, Chipotle, and Lime ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Rosemary Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Onions ~ Garnish with Lemon

Print Recipe

Spicy Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Yield: Use one sweet potato per person.

Total Time: 50-55 minutes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 35-40 minutes

Ingredients:

• orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, one per person
• olive oil
• Spicy Dipping Sauce with Sriracha or other dipping sauce. (See notes.)

Spice Mix Ingredients:

• 2 T ground coriander
• 1 T ground fennel
• 1 T dried oregano (use any Mediterranean oregano like Greek Oregano or Turkish oregano, but not Mexican oregano for this.)
• 1 T Aleppo Pepper (or use a smaller amount of cayenne pepper)
• 2 T kosher salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450F/230C.
2. In mortar and pestle or spice grinder, grind together coriander, fennel, oregano, and Aleppo pepper. Mix in salt. (This makes enough for several batches of sweet potatoes, so you’ll need a small jar to store the extra.)
3. Cut off both ends of the sweet potatoes and peel with a sharp vegetable peeler.  Then cut each sweet potato in half lengthwise and again crosswise so you have four pieces.  Slice each piece into 2 or 3 thick slices, then cut each slice into fries.  (I made them about 1/2 – 5/8 inches thick, or about 15-18 cm.)
4. In plastic bowl, toss together cut sweet potatoes, olive oil, and spice mixture. You will need 1-2 tablespoons olive oil and 2-3 teaspoons of the spice mixture for every two sweet potatoes, depending on how big the sweet potatoes are and how spicy you like it.
5. Spray flat roasting pan with non-stick spray. (Use the largest baking sheet you have.) Spread out sweet potatoes in single layer, with the flat side down and not touching each other.  (Use two baking sheets if yours is too small to do this.)
6. Roast sweet potatoes 15 minutes, then use your fingers or a fork to turn each sweet potato.  Roast 15 minutes more and turn again.  Roast another 5-10 minutes, depending on how done you like them.
7. Serve hot, with Spicy Dipping Sauce with Sriracha, if desired.

Notes:

Spicy Dipping Sauce with Sriracha is my favorite for dipping sweet potato fries!

Recipe adapted from Epicurious.com.

All images and text ©Kalyn Denny for Kalyn's Kitchen.

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Sweet potatoes are probably too high in carbs for most low-carb eating plans, but they’re considered a “good” carb for the South Beach Diet (unlike potatoes, which are very high on the glycemic index.) This would be a great side dish for phase two or three of South Beach.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use the Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Nutritional Information?
If you want nutritional information for a recipe, you can sign up for a free membership with Yummly and use the Yum button on my site to save the recipe and see the nutritional information. Another option is entering the recipe into this Recipe Nutrition Analyzer, which will calculate it for you.