Savory Sundays: Sweet Potato Fries

I never liked sweet potatoes growing up. My family ate them solely at Thanksgiving, baked and covered in cinnamon and marshmallows, courtesy of my aunt. In my mind, a potato is a potato, sweet or not. I don't know about you, but I don't normally cover my baked potatoes in marshmallows. Sweet potatoes are funny shaped, have pointy ends, and try too hard to be real potatoes. But mostly I don't like them because they are orange.
I don't eat orange vegetables for fun. I eat them to punish myself after a bad (horrible, awful, delicious, mostly sugar-filled) day of eating. When I get the munchies late at night, I break out the carrot sticks instead of the salty potato chips (or the chocolate). I eat orange foods with a scrunched up, unhappy face. I bite them with bitterness and disdain. I curse in the name of beta-carotene.

But all of this was before I discovered sweet potato fries.

I love french fries. You love french fries. I haven't met a single person who doesn't enjoy eating them (and I bet you haven't either). I think my dilemma with sweet potatoes was that I was eating them sweet when I should have been eating them savory. Ohh, sweet potatoes were meant to be eaten this way, salty and spiced. It makes them everything nice.
These sweet potato fries are about 10 times healthier than the normal french fry. Sweet potatoes are naturally stuffed with antioxidants and are nutrient-rich, including vitamin A, vitamin C, and beta-carotene. By baking the fries (instead of frying), you can retain a lot of those nutrients and eliminate a lot of the fat. These sweet potato fries are lightly salted and have a little kick from the cayenne pepper. You might just find yourself making these a regular companion to your hamburgers.

Sweet Potato Fries

Yields about 4 servings

4 large sweet potatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
dash of oregano
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into thin chips or small wedges. Try to keep them equal length and width so they will bake evenly.
In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano, and cayenne pepper. Toss the sweet potato fries in the bowl with the olive oil mixture until the potatoes are evenly covered.
Place the fries on a baking sheet and spread them out so they do not overlap. Bake them for 20-30 minutes, or until lightly charred on the outside and soft on the inside. Your baking time could vary on the size of your sweet potatoes so remember to watch closely! Every 10 minutes, stir and turn over the fries to ensure even baking.
Serve hot! These are great with a side of ketchup or sour cream.

Comments

[Jo Romero]

Love your blog :) I never liked sweet potatoes much but I've always eaten them boiled and then mashed - as you say serving them spiced and savoury as fries makes them look really good! Going to have another go and make fries out of them next time! Thanks for the recipe.

[My Kitchen in the Rockies]

I recently had my very first taste of sweet potato fries. Surprisingly they tasted really good. Thanks for the recipe.

[Kimberly Peterson]

Congrats on FoodBuzz Top 9!! I just buzzed your post because I am a bit biased towards Sweet Potato Fries, hehehee LOVE THEMMMM!!

[meltingbutter.com]

yummm! I have sweet potatoes in the pantry and now I know what to do with them!

[eatgreek.net]

mmm... they must be very tasty! I've never tried fried sweet potatoes! :D

[K o r i]

Congrats on the top 9! Sweet potatoes are a big-time favorite in our house too, so we're roasting them and making fries all the time. I never thought of adding additional spices, though, so we'll have to give that a try!

[Lo-mo]

We love to serve sweet potato fries with a spicy mayo dipping sauce by mixing together mayo and sirracha hot sauce. Even my 14 year old eats them! Great post!

[nancy@skinnykitchen.com]

I just love sweet potato fries. They have so much flavor compared to regular and are aooo healthy too!

[Hot Polka Dot's Mom]

I love sweet potatoes and have been looking for a good recipe for sweet potato fries. Your recipe looks scrumptious. Thank you!

[this designer cooks]

Thank you!! Someone else agrees that sweet potatoes do not need to be prepared sweet. I love them savory. Nice post!

[briarrose]

Yummy. I love sweet potato fries especially covered in cajun seasoning. ;)

[shannon abdollmohammadi]

great recipe!!! Congrats on making foodbuzz top 9!

[Kimberly @ Servantless America]

You just made me totally in the mood for sweet potato fries. :)

[Krissyp]

I love them with a side of creamy horseradish dipping sauce. My favorite!

[katie @ recreational eating]

they look fantastic, and everything is better with cayenne pepper!

[kitchenmorph]

absolutely out-of-the-world. now i know how to scarf those boring nutritious roots!! thank you for sharing.

[Ileana]

My husband and I love sweet potatoes and when I saw this recipe I knew I had to make it...IT WAS THE BEST!!!!! It's addictive...I couldn't stop eating! Just for the record, I was 16 the first and the last time I had french fries! Now I'm 30! Thank you so much for posting this recipe! God bless you

[Antonia]

LOVE sweet potato fries - good call! And you know what else I've been cooking a lot recently? Parsnip fries! Another strange vegetable that completely transforms into deliciousness when turned into fries. I follow the same procedure: cut into chunky strips, toss with olive oil, salt and cayenne, then bake for 15 minutes at 425 F, then another 15 minutes at 325 F. And I eat them right away with hot sauce. So delicious, I think you'll love it!