How to make sweet potato fries in the air fryer

Sweet potato fries cooked in the air fryer turn out even crispier than when you bake them in the oven. A big advantage to us is that we don’t have to heat up the entire house with the oven.

That is a nice advantage but honestly, we just love cooking in our air fryer. Just last night we cooked baked sweet potatoes in it and they were so delicious.

Another advantage of cooking sweet potato fries in the air fryer is that you don’t have to use as much oil as you would when frying them.

I also appreciate the fact that it frees up the oven if I do want to use it for something different such as baking muffins for dessert.

What is the best oil to cook sweet potato fries in the air fryer?

We prefer to cook our sweet potato fries with olive oil. It is an oil that we always have on hand and a little goes a long way.

However, you have options when it comes to this recipe. You can also use avocado oil or grapeseed oil.

Tips on cutting sweet potatoes

• Be sure to wash the sweet potatoes thoroughly. If you plan to leave the skin on be sure to scrub them with a vegetable brush.
• If you plan to peel the sweet potatoes use a vegetable peeler. They are much safer and make it easier to do in general.
• Cut your fries into as evenly thick and shaped pieces as possible. This will help them cook more evenly and the fries will be less likely to burn.
• Create a flat edge on the sweet potato first. Slice off a long section of the potato lengthwise. This will help stabilize the potato for the remainder of the cutting process.

Sweet potato fries ingredients

Sweet potato – Make sure that your sweet potatoes are crisp and fresh. Don’t start with sweet potatoes that are squishy, wrinkly, or have big blemishes.

Olive oil – We prefer to bake our french fries with olive oil because it is light enough that the fries don’t come out greasy and we prefer the flavor. You could also use avocado oil if you would like to experiment with it.

Salt – It is difficult to imagine fries of any kind without salt. We prefer to use sea salt with our fries but if you don’t have any, use table salt.

Recipe variation ideas for sweet potato fries

Below are a few flavor and spice ideas. Try mixing and matching two or three of them together to get different flavor profiles. The options are endless. Wow, your guest with a mixture that they wouldn’t expect such as lime juice and cayenne.

Minced Garlic – Minced garlic makes just about everything more yummy and sweet potato fries are no exception.

If you decide to add minced garlic to your recipe add it after the fries are cooked. Add a teaspoon of olive oil and as much minced garlic as you would like to a large metal bowl.

Stir to mix and then add in the cooked fries and use tongs to stir and coat the fries.

• Lime juice 
• Cilantro, roughly chopped
• Bacon, roughly chopped
• Rosemary
• Parmesan cheese
• Cinnamon
• Sage
• Chili powder
• Lemongrass
• Cayenne

Homemade sweet potato fries recipe (cooked in the air fryer)

Cooking sweet potato fries in the air fryer is simple to do. The most important step is to not cut your fries too thick. I have found that fries that are about ¼” thick cook up best.

Step 1: Prepare the sweet potato. Wash it and dry it thoroughly. Then peel the sweet potato, if you want to do so.

Peeling the potatoes is purely optional. The skin on sweet potato fries are darn tasty. Finally, cut the sweet potato into fries.

Step 2: Season the fries. We keep our seasoning simple on our sweet potato fries most of the time. We simply coat the fries in olive oil and then sprinkle sea salt on them.

However, feel free to spice them up with any seasoning that you want. Experiment with different batches and flavors.

Step 3: Cook the fries. Preheat the air fryer to 375. Add the fries to the air fryer basket. Cook the fries for 10 minutes.

Remove the basket and shake the fries. Then cook them for an additional 10 minutes or until they are crispy.

Tips on making the best sweet potato fries in the air fryer

• Preheat the air fryer. The fries will cook better and be crispier if they are put in a hot air fryer.
• Add an additional sprinkle of salt to the hot fries after you remove them from the air fryer basket.
• The cook time for air fryers varies dramatically based upon the size and model of the air fryer. Check on your fries every 5 minutes after they have been cooking for 10 minutes.
• It doesn’t take long for air fryers to pre-heat so I recommend that you don’t start the pre-heat process until right before you are ready to cook them.
• If you are going to add additional herbs and spices do so after the fries are done. Do note to add the spices while the fries are steaming hot. That way the spices will stick to the fries better.
• Don’t overcrowd the fryer basket. If the basket is overloaded with fries, cook the fries in rounds. They will crisp up much better if the fries easily get circulating air.

Tips on making the best sweet potato fries in the air fryer

• Create a delicious sauce to go along with the fries. We recommend a garlic aioli sauce or a cilantro lime sauce or a homemade rach sauce.
• Time it so that the fries are served right as everyone is ready to eat. These fries are definitely best served piping hot.
• Place a piece of butcher paper or a paper towel under the fries. This will help keep them from getting soggy.
• Serve the fries on a big platter and provide tongs so that folks can serve themselves the amount that they want. (This is to facilitate the above step.)
• Sprinkle some fresh cut parsley or cilantro on top of the fries. This adds a bit of flavor and a beautiful presentation.

For more air fryer recipes:

For More sweet potato recipes:

Gather your supplies

There is nothing more frustrating when cooking than you realize that you are missing something. I have started making a habit of getting into the kitchen 5 minutes before I plan to cook and gather all of my supplies. This keeps me from digging through drawers with olive oil all over my hands.

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