These are just one of my favourite foods EVER. So simple and so, so tasty, and if baked (yes, pedants, I know they’re called fries, but in my book it’s the fry size that makes them fries, not the cooking method) then they’re not that blinking bad for you either.
I discovered them on one of our trips to the US a few years ago, and my first thought on trying them was ‘why would anyone ever make a fry out of potato when you can make them out of sweet potato and they taste like THIS?’
They were unheard of in the UK a few years ago, but word is slowly but surely crossing that big pond, and they are now becoming more and more widely available on restaurant/cafe menus here.
There are lots of different ways to make them. One thing’s for damn sure, I’ve never had a bad one.
They are great deep fried, but they are honestly just as delicious this way. The most time-consuming thing is chopping and slicing the sweet potatoes, but once you’ve done that, you’ve nearly done. I’d say overall prep time is around 25 minutes.
You will need:
– A couple of big sweet potatoes, or three smaller ones
– Spraying oil (I prefer sunflower for this purpose)
– 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
– 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
– Salt
– Baking tray
– Greaseproof paper
What you do:
– Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees.
– Chop and slice the sweet potatoes into skinny, fry size lengths. If you have one of those fancy gadgets that does this, good for you. If not, get slicing! Don’t worry in the least if your fries are all different sizes, they are kind of meant to look a bit rough and ready. Just try to keep them skinny, around .5 of a centimetre thick.
– Line your baking tray with greaseproof paper, and lay out your fries as best you can.
– Spray your fries liberally. I find it’s better spraying oil than drizzling it from a bottle. It’s quite hard to gauge how much drizzles out and you can end up with your fries swimming in oil when you come to turn them.
– Mix the garlic powder and paprika in a small bowl.
– Sprinkle this mixture evenly all over your fries.
– Salt your fries thoroughly. Don’t be shy.
– They should now look something like this.
– Place in oven and bake for approx 20 minutes, turning them after 10. Take them out when they start to brown.
– This is how I accompanied this batch:
Sweet potato fries are a great side to, oooooooooh, ANYTHING, and amazing just as a snack on their own. You don’t even need to dip them in ketchup they are so delicious naked (of course you can if you need to). Need a crowd pleaser? Got kids/in-laws/friends coming over? They’ll love you forever for making these. Show me someone who doesn’t adore them and I’ll show you a big fat liar!