Over the weekend I went on an internet mission to find the secret to sweet potato fries that are crispy, baked (vs fried), well-seasoned, and gluten free. I wrote down what I thought were the best ideas from a multitude of recipes, added seasonings I like, and put it all together in a Hail Mary, do-or-die attempt – failure was not an option. Thankfully these fries came out of the oven exactly as I hoped…nicely crisped on the outside, tender and sweet on the inside, and with a nice kick of spiciness.
These fries are simple to make, and you can customize them by adding whatever spices you are in the mood for!
Ingredients (2 generous servings):
- 2 medium to large sweet potatoes, peeled
- 1 heaping tablespoon arrowroot starch (or tapioca starch)
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt or coarse sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Spanish hot smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon seasoned black pepper (I like Florida Seasoned Pepper)
- Extra-virgin olive oil, or melted coconut oil
Slice the sweet potatoes lengthwise into approximately 1/2-inch slices, then cut each slice into thick fries (1/2 to 3/4 inches). Place the fries in a bowl of water at room temperature for 2-4 hours.
When ready to bake the fries, preheat the oven to 425F. Drain the potatoes and blot dry with a towel. (They do not have to be completely dry, so don’t spend a lot of time on this.) Place the arrowroot starch, salt, paprika, and pepper in a paper or plastic bag that can hold all the sliced potatoes. Add the potatoes to the bag, hold it closed, and shake vigorously to coat the fries evenly.
Remove the fries from the bag to a bowl (or you could use your baking pan), and pour a few glugs of oil over them. If there is a little remaining seasoning in the bag, you can add this to the bowl also (the salt seems to settle out to the bottom). Toss in the oil until evenly coated. They should not be dripping with oil, but they need a good coating to get crispy.
Line a large baking tray with foil, and place the fries on a rack over the tray. Do not crowd them too much or they will not crisp up. If you have a convection fan in your oven, use it now! Bake for around 20 minutes, until the fries are lightly browned and crisp to your liking. Serve them hot!
Ooh, sweet potato fries…one of my favorites! As is the musical selection, Songbook by the great New Orleans music man, Allen Toussaint. Legendary songwriter, piano player, producer and more, this is an intimate look at his many skills as he performs classics from his long career. And some songs about that great NOLA cuisine as well!
she cooks...he cleans 
Yummm thank you for the awesome pic and recipe. I love sweet potato fries and I have never heard of arrowroot starch so I’ll have to check that out!
Arrowroot starch is a good substitute for corn starch, but has a more neutral taste. Hope you enjoy the fries – -thanks for commenting!
Could I use corn starch though?
Yes, you can use corn starch. Or even tapioca starch, probably. I imagine any of the starchy flours would work.
LOVE doing this with butternut squash! 🙂
I love butternut squash! Can’t wait to try making fries with that – Thanks!
I think I must be missing something here. You emphasized these were gluten-free in the post’s title, implying that sweet potato fries, whether baked or fried, usually included gluten. But potatoes, sweet potatoes, and yams naturally don’t include gluten, and neither does cornstarch, commonly used to bake fries. What obvious point am I missing?
Well, Fred, I often emphasize that these recipes are gluten free because this is a gluten free recipe blog. Also having that in the title helps get us higher up in the search engine hits when people are googling “gluten free sweet potato fries”. The tags on the post also help direct readers to She Cooks, He Cleans. In the past month, we’ve gotten over 12,000 hits from search engine finds – one of the biggest referrers for us.
While sweet potatoes (and all other vegetables) do not contain gluten themselves, if you order them fried in a restaurant, chances are they are not gluten-free. Some places use flour in the coating to maximize the crispiness, or they are fried in oil that is contaminated with gluten from other fried goods.
These sound fabulous! Why do you put them in water?
We made them again last night – forgot to put them on a rack and they were still good (but had to turn them). Not entirely sure about the reason for soaking them. I read in several places that it would make them crispier, so I did it. From further investigation, it is something about pulling starches out of the potatoes and reducing the water content, which helps them brown and crisp. Sounds reasonable…
Ok, that does sound reasonable! Thanks!
good to know! last time we made them.. they were bunched together and weren’t as crispy as we would have liked.
Keeping them separate definitely is important to the crispiness!
Hey I did a post on that too! In June or something like that. They are great this way aren’t they?
Apparently no blog is complete without a sweet potato fries recipe! 🙂
Sweet potatoes are great, any way you cook them!
Oh, thank you for this recipe! I added Ancho chile powder and made homemade paleo mayo with sriracha sauce for dipping. Perfect side to jerk pork chops with pineapple salsa.
Oh my, jerk pork chops and pineapple salsa sounds fantastic! Thanks for commenting and making me really hungry! 🙂