These crispy sweet potato fries are baked until golden with crisp edges and tender centers. A light coating of cornstarch helps create the crunchy exterior, while paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, and grapeseed oil give every fry plenty of savory flavor.
Serve them alongside Chicken Kabobs in Oven for an easy dinner. If you love crispy potato sides, try my Easy Baked Potatoes next. Dip the fries in Lemon Yogurt Sauce, or add Honey Roasted Carrots for another easy vegetable side.
These fries are baked rather than deep-fried.
Cornstarch creates a thin coating around the potatoes that helps the exterior dry and crisp in the oven.
Soaking the cut sweet potatoes before baking removes some surface starch and gives you a cleaner surface for the cornstarch coating.
Paprika adds color and a mild earthy flavor, while garlic powder and black pepper keep the seasoning simple and savory.
They work as a side dish, snack, burger side, or easy party food.
Table of contents
What You Need
How to Make Crispy Sweet Potato Fries
Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Lay down a sheet of parchment paper on a large rimmed baking sheet.
Cut the fries
Peel or scrub sweet potatoes. Cut into even sticks (1/4- to 1/2-inch / 6- to 12-mm-thick).
Dry well
Dry the fries very, very well with paper towels (this will enable crisping).
Season
Place fries in large bowl. Dust with cornstarch, garlic powder, black pepper, paprika and a pinch kosher salt. Toss well.
Drizzle oil
Drizzle the fries with grapeseed oil, and toss again until coated.
Arrange
Lay fries on the baking sheet in a single layer, piece by piece (this may require two pans).
Bake
Bake 25–30 minutes total, flipping once halfway through until browned on edges and tender inside.
Serve
Taste and add more kosher salt as necessary. Serve hot.
Why Cornstarch Makes Sweet Potato Fries Crispy
Sweet potatoes contain plenty of moisture.
That makes getting genuinely crisp oven fries more difficult than with some regular potato varieties.
Cornstarch creates a very thin dry coating over the surface.
Once exposed to high oven heat and oil, that coating helps form a drier exterior around the sweet potato.
The key is using just enough cornstarch.
Too much can leave the fries powdery instead of crisp.
For this recipe, 1 tablespoon for 1 1/2 pounds of sweet potatoes is enough.
Why Soak Sweet Potatoes Before Baking
This recipe uses a 1-hour cold-water soak.
After soaking, the fries need to be drained and dried extremely well.
The combination of soaking and thorough drying prepares the surface before the cornstarch is added.
Skipping the drying step defeats much of the purpose.
If the fries enter the oven wet, that water becomes steam.
How to Cut Sweet Potato Fries
Start with a peeled sweet potato.
Trim both ends.
Cut it lengthwise into approximately 1/2-inch slabs.
Cut each slab into 1/2-inch-thick sticks.
Don’t worry about making every piece mathematically perfect.
The goal is simply to avoid having very thin fries mixed with very thick ones.
Thin pieces can burn before thick fries finish cooking.
The Best Seasoning for Sweet Potato Fries
The seasoning in this recipe is deliberately simple:
- Paprika
- Garlic powder
- Black pepper
- Kosher salt
Paprika works particularly well with the natural sweetness of sweet potato.
Garlic powder adds savory flavor.
Black pepper adds mild heat.
Salt goes on after baking.
If you want a smoky version, substitute smoked paprika for regular paprika.
Why Salt Sweet Potato Fries After Baking
For this method, salt is added only after the fries finish baking.
The potatoes are already exposed to moisture during the soaking step.
After they are dried and coated, the goal becomes keeping the surface as dry as possible while they bake.
Seasoning with kosher salt immediately after baking gives it a chance to stick to the hot fries without interfering with the crisping process.
FAQs
Not required. For a crispier bake, drying well + cornstarch + high heat is sufficient.
They’re either too wet or there’s not room for them on the pan. Dry well, coat in cornstarch and spread on a single layer.
Yes. Scrub well and cut evenly. Skin-on fries are a bit chewier but still great.
Yes. Work in batches to air fry at 380°F–400°F (193°C–205°C), shaking the basket halfway through, until browned and tender.
Yes. Slice up to 24 hours in advance and keep submerged in cold water, covered, in the refrigerator. Drain and dry very thoroughly before seasoning. (assumption)
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Crispy Sweet Potato Fries
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C) and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. (assumption)
- Peel or scrub the sweet potatoes and cut into even sticks (about 1/4–1/2 inch thick / 6–12 mm).
- Pat fries very dry with paper towels.
- Toss fries with cornstarch, garlic powder, black pepper, paprika, and a pinch of kosher salt.
- Drizzle grapeseed oil over fries and toss until evenly coated.
- Spread fries in a single layer on the baking sheet with space between pieces.
- Bake 25–30 minutes, flipping halfway, until browned and tender. (assumption)
- Taste and season with more kosher salt if needed. Serve hot.
Nutrition
Video
Notes
- Don’t overcrowd the pan; use two pans if needed.
- Oil swaps: avocado oil, canola oil, or light olive oil.
- Cornstarch swaps: arrowroot or potato starch.
- Sodium below assumes 1/2 tsp kosher salt; adjust if you use more or less. (assumption)
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