Roasted Sweet Potato Oven Fries
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 2inches lemon grass stalk, hard papery layers discarded, the rest coarsely chopped
- 1tablespoon coarsely chopped ginger
- Salt to taste
- ¼cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2pounds orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, also sold as yams
- ½teaspoon cumin seeds, lightly toasted and coarsely ground
- ½teaspoon coriander seeds, lightly toasted and coarsely ground
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
400 calories; 14 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 66 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 4 grams protein; 587 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Place the chopped lemon grass and ginger in a mortar and pestle and add a generous pinch of kosher salt. Pound and grind until you have obtained a coarse paste. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and work the ingredients together with the pestle. Scrape into a small saucepan and add the remaining olive oil. Stir together and bring to a very gentle sizzle over medium-low heat. Sizzle, shaking or swirling the pan often, for 2 minutes and turn off the heat. Allow the mixture to steep for 30 minutes. Strain into a large bowl, pressing the ginger and lemon grass against the strainer to extract all of the oil. You should have 3 tablespoons of oil. Add a little more olive oil if necessary.
- Step 2
Meanwhile preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment and brush the parchment with olive oil. Cut the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise. If they are very long, cut the halves in half crosswise as well. Cut each half into 4 long wedges – smaller sweet potatoes will yield 8 wedges, larger will yield 16.
- Step 3
Place the sweet potato wedges in the bowl with the oil. Add the ground cumin and coriander, and salt to taste, and toss together until the wedges are thoroughly coated with oil. Place on the baking sheet in a single layer (use 2 baking sheets if necessary). Place in the oven and set the timer for 10 minutes. Turn the wedges over and roast for another 10 minutes. Turn the wedges again and roast for another 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the wedges and how fast they are caramelizing. The wedges should be tender when pierced and there should be some caramelized bits, especially at the thin tips. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly before eating.
Tip
- Advance preparation: These will keep for a day or two in the refrigerator and can be reheated or served at room temperature. They won’t last that long though because they are so irresistible.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Martha Rose Shulman
There is no substitute for lemongrass, but you can leave it out and the recipe will still taste good. Lemongrass does have a slightly citrusy taste, so you might add a little lime juice to the mix.
Nico
We've been baking SP wedges for years. We microwave the wedges before any infusion to cook the inside and speed up the oven time (thickness determines oven time).
Sweet potatoes go from caramelized to charred very quickly - look at the photo here!
There are ways to make SPs crisp like french fries using various coatings (egg white, etc) but it's time consuming, not suited for a weeknight.
SPs are very nutritious, with much lower glycemic index than potatoes.
deegee
Anyone have a suggestion for what to use instead of lemongrass if that is not available? Thanks!
Nico
it will be hard to make them crispy like french fries if that's what you are after. They will be charred, which is not caramelized - you would send them back if a restaurant served them to you this way. Use about 400+ convection, and a short cooking time. Watch them very carefully. Turn them 3-4 times if you can.
A double-layered baking pan with an air gap in between may temper the heat somewhat to prevent them from charring so fast.
They have great taste on their own or with just cumin.
gail s.
These are delicious, but the other commentators are right, they do not get crisp like french fries. There's also no reason that I can see to strain your ginger lemongrass infusion. I crush up the cumin and coriander seeds in the mortar with the other stuff, and after the oil is heated a bit, I just dump it on the potatoes and toss without straining, and it's even more flavorful this way.
Pat
All time family favorite. I have to make 2 batches as my son and daughter will leave very little for my wife and me!
Evan
A dusting of corn starch, skip the parchment, and a preheated pan will help create a crispier crust. They still won't be like French Fries but they're a bit more satisfying.
SS
Higher temp, maybe. Wanted more crispy bits.
Beth Gahbler
One of our absolute favorite recipes. I have made it twice with the oil infusion and once without when I had less time. Always exellent.
Frank Wilk
By accident I discovered that soaking the potatoes in cold water up to two days really changes how these fries turn out. After soaking dry with a towel snd then spice up snd toss in olive oil. The heat can also be turned up to 450F with a 20-25 cook time.
Jo
Substituted freshly squeezed lime at the end since I didn't have lemongrass. This is a heavenly sweet potato dish.
Imbrod
Procedure was good, but the ginger-lemon grass-infused oil added nothing.
Mary J
I make sweet potato fries all the time with just a tablespoon of evoo, salt and pepper. I bake them at 200c for 30 minutes or until carmelized without turning. They are delicious. I’ll will try tossing in the coriander and cumin seeds with a bit more oil but I won’t go to al the fuss of the ginger and lemon grass.
Gary johnson
I used a few strips of lemon zest - very satisfactory.
Sunny
The potatoes turned out very soft but not carmelized; more like baked than fried. Tasty, but not what I was looking for.
Lizzie G
With these ingredients, this recipe delivers great flavor. Really easy, healthy, and vegan. I bought pre-minced lemongrass and ginger pastes to shorten step #1. I'm sure it's even better with fresh ingredients.
Alex
Great recipe!!! Short of time, I skipped the first step - grated the lemongrass (and ginger) very finely, mixed with olive oil, cumin, salt & pepper, then tossed the sweet potato slices in that. 1/4 to 1/3 thick slices worked well.
Gaby
For me it needed an extra kick so next time I'll double the cumin or maybe add cayenne pepper. Also I'll make sure the pieces are thiner cause the big pieces didn't cook as well I would've liked to.
gail s.
These are delicious, but the other commentators are right, they do not get crisp like french fries. There's also no reason that I can see to strain your ginger lemongrass infusion. I crush up the cumin and coriander seeds in the mortar with the other stuff, and after the oil is heated a bit, I just dump it on the potatoes and toss without straining, and it's even more flavorful this way.
Evan
A dusting of corn starch, skip the parchment, and a preheated pan will help create a crispier crust. They still won't be like French Fries but they're a bit more satisfying.
Sanaz
Evan, you mean dusting sweet potato wedges before tossing with oil?
Steve
I don't see any parchment paper in the photo. Perhaps that is how she achieved the crispness. I'll give that a try.
Petaltown
Even in the photo, they don't look crisp. I've never achieved crispness in sweet potatoes cooked this way--they're still very tasty, but not crisp. Parchment paper wouldn't help. Another commenter mentioned coatings, such as egg white. That's what you need to get them crisp.
Nico
We've been baking SP wedges for years. We microwave the wedges before any infusion to cook the inside and speed up the oven time (thickness determines oven time).
Sweet potatoes go from caramelized to charred very quickly - look at the photo here!
There are ways to make SPs crisp like french fries using various coatings (egg white, etc) but it's time consuming, not suited for a weeknight.
SPs are very nutritious, with much lower glycemic index than potatoes.
deegee
Anyone have a suggestion for what to use instead of lemongrass if that is not available? Thanks!
Martha Rose Shulman
There is no substitute for lemongrass, but you can leave it out and the recipe will still taste good. Lemongrass does have a slightly citrusy taste, so you might add a little lime juice to the mix.
Pat
All time family favorite. I have to make 2 batches as my son and daughter will leave very little for my wife and me!
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