These homemade Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Avocado Cilantro Sauce are packed with flavor! A special ingredient is used in the chili garlic seasoning mixture that helps coat the outside and absorb some of the liquid, resulting in crispier than normal baked sweet potato fries (which sometimes have a tendency to stay mushy/limp after roasting). These sweet potato fries hold their shape and are perfect for dipping into the smooth and creamy avocado cilantro sauce!
The special ingredient? Corn starch! It’s so simple, and almost everyone has it hanging around in their pantry. Just a half tablespoon helps coat each fry with extra crispy results.
Now, don’t go into this thinking they are going to be as crispy as deep-fried white potato french fries. It’s just not possible to achieve that level of crispiness with sweet potato fries in the oven. But these are a healthier and delicious alternative to their deep fried cousins!
One of my new favorite shortcut meals to make lately is frozen veggie burgers. I love homemade veggie burgers, but they often require prepping what seems like a million ingredients.
When I don’t want to make a huge mess in the kitchen, I’ve been loving the frozen alternative. These sweet potato fries are the perfect way to add something homemade to a pre-prepped meal.
While they take a while to cook in the oven (about 40 minutes), the prep (and clean up) is minimal.
If you’re on a grain-free diet, such as paleo or Whole30, no worries- you can totally make these without the corn starch.
One of the other things that makes these fries crisp up is that they aren’t touching on the baking sheet. As long as you spread them out, you should be fine. Just keep an eye on them- they will have a tendency to overcook/burn as you are waiting for them to crisp up! The corn starch helps them crisp before they burn.
This sweet potato fries recipe explains how to make similar fries without the corn starch, with another dipping sauce made from mayonnaise, minced fresh garlic, and lemon juice. Also super delicious.
This recipe for fries is great. But the SAUCE. It’s basically a super smooth guacamole, with avocado, lime juice, salt, fresh cilantro, and a little bit of extra-virgin olive oil to help make it extra smooth. You may want to make a double batch to spread the extra on sandwiches or tacos for the rest of the week!
Another bonus: because it has lime juice infused into every drop of it, it won’t go brown as easily as other avocado spreads. It’s similar to this 5-minute avocado sauce.
If you love avocados, may also want to check out this recipe for the BEST avocado toast.
Other oven fry recipes
- How to make crispy oven fries with white potatoes
- Chili Garlic Sweet Potato Fries with Lemon Garlic Mayo
- Carrot Fries with Spicy Mayo Dipping Sauce
Here’s the recipe for Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Avocado Cilantro Sauce!
Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Avocado Cilantro Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries:
- 1/2 tablespoon corn starch
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 lb. sweet potatoes about 3 medium, unpeeled, washed, and cut into strips
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
For the Avocado Cilantro Sauce:
- 1 avocado
- 1 tablespoon lime juice from about 1/2 lime
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- To make the sauce: add all ingredients (1 avocado, 1 tablespoon lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, and 1 tablespoon olive oil) to a food processor and turn on, scraping down the sides occasionally, until a creamy, uniform sauce forms. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Set aside.
- To make the fries: mix the corn starch (1/2 tablespoon), kosher salt (1 teaspoon), black pepper (1/2 teaspoon), chili powder (1/2 teaspoon), and garlic powder (1/2 teaspoon) in a small bowl.
- In a large bowl, add the cut sweet potatoes, olive oil (2 tablespoons), and spice mixture. Mix with your hands to coat each fry evenly.
- Arrange the fries on the prepared baking sheet so they don't touch each other. If the sheet seems crowded, use two.
- Bake for 40 minutes, flipping around once halfway through cooking, or until browned and crispy- the fries should be stiff if you pick them up and not flop over.
- Serve fries with the sauce.
Notes
- Make it grain-free/paleo: The corn starch helps absorb some of the liquid on the outside of the fries, resulting in a crispier sweet potato fry that holds its shape. If you are on a grain-free/paleo diet, feel free to omit it- the fries will still be delicious!
- Sauce alternative: When I make sweet potato fries, I alternate between this sauce and a simple sauce of mayonnaise, fresh minced garlic, and lemon juice. If you want an alternative to the avocado cilantro sauce, I recommend this (get the recipe here).
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
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