My oldest daughter and I love these sweet potato fries. I make them every couple of weeks and they are usually gone by the end of the night. The younger two kids either really love sweet potatoes or they can’t stand them so I usually make them as an extra dish. They are so easy to make it doesn’t make it seem like I am doing extra work for dinner. Some nights I start them when the younger kids are eating and then eat them as an after dinner snack instead of dessert. It was yummy and way healthier than ice cream or cookies.
Wash sweet potatoes thoroughly with a vegetable scrubber.
I used three lovely sweet potatoes today. We buy a gigantic bag from Costco every month or two and store them in a cool dry place.
Cut the ends off and then cut the sweet potatoes in half. Stand each half upright on the wider end and cut it in half again. Then slice each quarter into roughly the same thickness.
Spread your sweet potatoes on a standard cookie sheet. I used a Silpat under mine but you can also use parchment paper. The sweet potatoes don’t have to be evenly spread and they can be touching since they will shrink as they cook.
Lightly coat your sweet potatoes with olive oil. Ha ha! There is no actual olive oil on my brush because I didn’t want it to glop on there unevenly while I took a picture but you get the idea. I love our silicone brush because I can just toss it in the dishwasher afterwards. Don’t ask me where we got it. My husband bought it many years ago and I have no idea where but they have similar ones on Amazon.
Sprinkle your salt and pepper. I don’t use a lot of salt in my cooking and if I add a bunch of pepper to these it is guaranteed that the little kids won’t eat them so I do a very light coat. They do taste wonderful though if you add lots of pepper and a decent amount of salt so sometimes if I am feeling extra inspired I will make another tray for the grownups with more seasoning. Turn your sweet potatoes over and repeat the olive oil, salt and pepper. I may forget to repeat the second side if my kids are extra distracting so you can skip this step but they taste way better with coating on both sides. Put them in the oven for about 20 min, flip them with a fork to check tenderness and put them back into the oven for another 15-20 min. Check them a second time. There should be a little carmelization on them but if you are feeding them to little ones it is better to leave them soft.
I made these for kids to eat tomorrow so I pulled them a little early to keep them soft You can see some carmelization on the smaller pieces.
Yummy sweet potato juice coating the cooked fries. Let the fries cool for a few minutes and enjoy! You could also add a pre-mixed seasoning salt to the fries or just do salt and have them be more like french fries.
I hope your family enjoys these as much as we do! Happy cooking!
Easy Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Baked sweet potatoes make a great snack or side to any dinner.
Ingredients
- 3-4 Sweet Potatoes
- 1-2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper to Taste
Directions
- Step 1 Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees and wash your sweet potatoes thoroughly.
- Step 2 Cut off the ends of the sweet potatoes and slice them in half twice. Cut them into roughly the same width (usually 1/4″ or so) to make them fry size. The actual width doesn’t matter, just remember the thicker they are the longer they will need to cook and the softer the fries will be. I usually cut each 1/4 of a sweet potato into 4-5 slices depending on how big it is.
- Step 3 Spread your fries evenly over a standard cookie sheet. I use a Silpat under them so they do not stick.
- Step 4 Lightly coat fries with olive oil, sprinkle them with salt and pepper.
- Step 5 Flip your fries and repeat olive oil, salt and pepper on the other side.
- Step 6 Bake sweet potatoes for 20 minutes.
- Step 7 Flip the fries with a fork and put them back into the oven for another 20-30 minutes depending on how done they are. If they are already soft put them in for 15 minutes and check them again. If some of them are still a little firm it will probably be closer to 25 or 30 minutes but check every few minutes to make sure.
- Step 8 Fries should be soft on the inside and have a little bit of carmelization on the outside. When I make them for the baby I leave them softer on the outside so he can chew them. Enjoy!
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