Fried Crispy Sweet Potato Fries
This recipe took me so many tries to nail down--let me share! These deep fried sweet potato fries have an amazing crunch while retaining the fluffy sweet potato centers you will love.
- Prep time
- 30 min
- Cook time
- 35 min
- Yield
- 3 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 2 sweet potatoes (medium size)
- 5 tbsp cornstarch
- filtered water
- neutral cooking oil (peanut, vegetable, or canola)
- paprika
- freshly ground black pepper
- kosher salt
Instructions
- 1
Prep & Par-cooking
- 2
Wash, peel (optional), and cut into 1/2" or 1/4" matchstick shape fries. 1/2" (preferred) will require par-cooking.
- 3
Rinse under running water, drain and repeat once more. Dry in salad spinner or with towels.
- 4
To par-cook: boil in water until tender, and just cooked all the way through, not mushy and breaking in our hands. About 8-15 minutes.
- 5
Cooking
- 6
Make some batter. About 4 parts cornstarch to 3 or 4 parts water until milky, but not too watery.
- 7
Dip fries (I do about 5 so they don't sit there as the cornstarch gunks up). Shake off excess.
- 8
Quickly drop into the fryer 1 at a time so they don't stick. About 1-2 minutes at 325-350 °F. We don't want it to brown too much yet.
- 9
Remove from oil, rest on paper towels to remove oil and cool off.
- 10
Repeat to finish all the fries, making sure you mix up the batter before each small batch (For me, each set of 5 fries). You might have to add some water if the batter is sludgy.
- 11
So after the first batch, they're pretty good now, but you have to eat them quickly or they lose the crunch. I have discovered that a 2nd dip & fry makes the crunch better and last much longer.
- 12
Dip + fry a 2nd time, following the same steps. Except this time you can leave them in the oil until the fries brown enough to your liking. It still should be around 1-2 minutes. Season each batch while hot. I like salt, paprika, and finely (freshly) ground pepper.