Everybody needs a decent recipe for baked sweet potato fries.
This is going to be yours.
Baked sweet potato fries are on regular rotation in our house. We generally enjoy them once a week. I used to like to mix up the variety of ways to serve sweet potato, but somewhere along the line Jackson decided he didn’t like sweet potato.
Until I started calling it “sweet chips”.
(Yes, I’m a genius. I have a whole bag of tricks for picky eaters right here if you want more.)
Being the discerning lad he is, he will only eat his sweet chips if they are chip-shaped. You can’t very well call something a sweet chip if it’s any way circular or simply roughly chopped. Oh no. Can’t pull the wool over his eyes.
So yeah. To get sweet potato in my kid, I always make it the same way. Cut into fries, lightly oiled, lightly salted, baked. And he devours them.
We’re still working on Everley, but a win is a win.
Recently I was putting together these ideas for using more herbs and spices in your cooking. I was trying to think of some off-the-cuff ways to use cinnamon, and added sweet potato to the list because I’d heard of others doing it. Then naturally, I wanted to try it myself. You know, to make sure I was giving good advice.
Turns out adding cinnamon to your sweet potato is actually really, really good advice. Yay me!
The maple syrup is just a happy bonus.
This maple cinnamon baked sweet potato fries recipe is healthy, easy, quick to throw together and a real kid-magnet.
(Unless you’re Everley. Like I said, we’re working on her.)
It’s just a matter of chopping, drizzling, sprinkling and tossing, then letting the oven do the work for you.
They can also easily be adapted for the air fryer (see my recipe notes for more info).
Let’s just talk about my photography skills for a moment. They are clearly lacklustre. I honestly don’t know how to make these things look beautiful. All I know is how to make them taste delicious. And you can’t eat a photo, so I’m at peace with my decision to publish the ugliest photos known to man.
So literally all you do is:
1. Chop the sweet potato into fries
2. Pop them in a bowl with olive oil, maple syrup and cinnamon, give it a toss, and…
3. Bake ’em
4. Smash ’em in your mouth
Baked sweet potato fries make a great side dish for chicken, a festive addition to your Thanksgiving dinner table, a tasty afternoon snack, and leftovers can be mixed into a pasta or a salad the next night.
They just give and give, man.
How to cut sweet potato fries
Sweet potato is a pretty non-uniform shape – each one varies in size and shape so much! So sweet potato fries are never going to be perfectly uniform either.
I chop my sweet potato in half lengthways, then each half is sliced in half again, leaving me with four long, flat slabs of sweet potato, about 0.75 inches thick. I then evenly slice each slab into 4-6 extra-long fries (depending on the size of the sweet potato), and chop those lengths in half.
How long to bake sweet potato fries
Depending on how thickly they’re cut, sweet potato fries will generally need 35-50 minutes in the oven at 180C/350F. Flip them around the 15-minute mark to ensure even cooking, and remove from the oven once the tips begin to brown.
Are sweet potatoes healthy?
Um, heck yeah they are. They’re packed with vitamins and minerals and boast an array of health benefits from promoting gut health to improving vision (see more here). And being as delicious as they are, it’s easy to get in the habit of eating sweet potato!
Can I make sweet potato fries with no oil?
You can absolutely make sweet potato fries with no oil. Just be aware that the outside surface of the fries may brown/blacken more quickly, and the surface will be a little more of a dry texture. However, the taste on the inside will be just as good.
Maple Cinnamon Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet potato
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F. Prepare a baking tray with a layer of baking paper.
- Peel your sweet potato, then cut into chunky fries. Throw them in a bowl. Drizzle olive oil over the top and toss to coat.
- Sprinkle cinnamon and drizzle maple syrup over fries. Toss again to coat.
- Lay fries in a single layer on the baking tray. Bake in preheated oven for approximately 25 minutes. Flip fries over and continue to bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until tender.°
Notes
Quick Maple Cinnamon Baked Sweet Potato Fries Recipe
