I have a love/hate relationship with sweet potatoes. I don’t like them, but I love their nutritional content! I would much prefer white potatoes for taste and definitely for French fries. But, white potatoes don’t offer anywhere near the health benefits. So, I decided it was time to say goodbye to the white potato and begin a relationship with the sweet potato.
One thing I do like about sweet potatoes is that they have a flavor that can be hidden fairly well. I use pureed sweet potatoes in my spaghetti sauce and in my vegetable smoothie. Occasionally I can tolerate a sweet potato in my soups or stews as well.
I do love French fries though, and up until this recipe have not been able to eat the sweet potato variety. They are mushy and too sweet for my taste. I went in search for a recipe that I might actually be able to eat.
The first thing I found out looking online is that it is very hard to make baked sweet potato fries crispy like traditional fries. This is apparently because they have a higher water content. So, instead of aiming for crispy, I decided to aim for flavoring them in a way that covers their true taste. Bizarre, but it worked! Here’s what I did:
First, I used my mandolin to cut the fries very tiny. Eating a huge sweet potato wedge was not something I was interested in. My mandolin has a fry feature that cuts them very small, about the thickness of a pencil (and the perfect size for toddlers). Sweet potatoes are so tough to cut, and tough to cut small. The mandolin makes it much easier.
Second, I flavored the French fries in a Ziploc bag with about a tablespoon of olive oil, a tablespoon of Italian seasoning, and about a tablespoon of poultry seasoning. I mixed them up in the bag, and spread them out on a pan greased with cooking spray. I then seasoned them on the tray with just a little more poultry seasoning.
It is apparently important to make sure the pan is not crowded (something I read on several sites, I’m not sure why). Then, I cooked them in the Convection oven for only 10 minutes at 425 degrees. That’s another reason I love this recipe. My traditional fries I cook for 30 to 40 minutes, and probably due to their size, these were done very quickly.
I actually really enjoyed these fries! I didn’t miss the crispiness of regular fries because these were so tiny. The flavor was very good. I’m excited to have another option for sweet potatoes and I believe my days with white potatoes are numbered!
Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
1 tablespoon Poultry Seasoning (or mixed seasoning of your choice)
1. Peel the sweet potato and cut into the tiniest fries you can (If you use large fries, you will just need to adjust cooking time).
2. Put the fries into a ziploc bag, add oil and seasoning and mix.
3. Lay the fries onto a baking sheet greased with cooking spray. Arrange in single layer. Add additional poultry seasoning if desired.
4. Bake with the Convection feature at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.
One thing I do like about sweet potatoes is that they have a flavor that can be hidden fairly well. I use pureed sweet potatoes in my spaghetti sauce and in my vegetable smoothie. Occasionally I can tolerate a sweet potato in my soups or stews as well.
I do love French fries though, and up until this recipe have not been able to eat the sweet potato variety. They are mushy and too sweet for my taste. I went in search for a recipe that I might actually be able to eat.
The first thing I found out looking online is that it is very hard to make baked sweet potato fries crispy like traditional fries. This is apparently because they have a higher water content. So, instead of aiming for crispy, I decided to aim for flavoring them in a way that covers their true taste. Bizarre, but it worked! Here’s what I did:
First, I used my mandolin to cut the fries very tiny. Eating a huge sweet potato wedge was not something I was interested in. My mandolin has a fry feature that cuts them very small, about the thickness of a pencil (and the perfect size for toddlers). Sweet potatoes are so tough to cut, and tough to cut small. The mandolin makes it much easier.
Second, I flavored the French fries in a Ziploc bag with about a tablespoon of olive oil, a tablespoon of Italian seasoning, and about a tablespoon of poultry seasoning. I mixed them up in the bag, and spread them out on a pan greased with cooking spray. I then seasoned them on the tray with just a little more poultry seasoning.
It is apparently important to make sure the pan is not crowded (something I read on several sites, I’m not sure why). Then, I cooked them in the Convection oven for only 10 minutes at 425 degrees. That’s another reason I love this recipe. My traditional fries I cook for 30 to 40 minutes, and probably due to their size, these were done very quickly.
I actually really enjoyed these fries! I didn’t miss the crispiness of regular fries because these were so tiny. The flavor was very good. I’m excited to have another option for sweet potatoes and I believe my days with white potatoes are numbered!
Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
1 tablespoon Poultry Seasoning (or mixed seasoning of your choice)
1. Peel the sweet potato and cut into the tiniest fries you can (If you use large fries, you will just need to adjust cooking time).
2. Put the fries into a ziploc bag, add oil and seasoning and mix.
3. Lay the fries onto a baking sheet greased with cooking spray. Arrange in single layer. Add additional poultry seasoning if desired.
4. Bake with the Convection feature at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.