How to Cut Sweet Potatoes for Fries
One of the keys to getting crispy sweet potato fries is to cut them as thin as possible. With a knife and cutting board, you should be able to cut your sweet potato into french fry pieces that are roughly 1/4-inch thick.
It’s okay if the fries are slightly uneven, as the shape of all sweet potatoes are different, but the more consistent you cut the fries, the more evenly they will cook. Super-small pieces will cook faster, and could burn in the air fryer, so you may want to check on those a few minutes before the cooking cycle is complete. Sweet Potato Cutting Tip: I think sweet potatoes are the easiest to cut thin when they are standing up vertically. Watch my Sweet Potato Toast video, for an example of this.
How to Make Crispy Sweet Potato Fries
It’s important to know that sweet potato fries won’t ever be as crispy as fries made with white potatoes. You could possibly coat them in a batter, similar to an onion ring, to make them crispier, but if you want to keep the sweet potato fries relatively healthy (which is why I assume you’re using an air fryer) I think you should lower your expectations when it comes to crispiness. Instead, expect to get sweet potato fries that are sturdy (not soggy!), with crisp edges. Here’s what you can do to get the best sweet potato fries: Sweet potatoes in general are more difficult to create crispy fries, when compared to white potatoes, so you’ll notice that the crispiest sweet potato fries are the ones that get very brown on the outside, and almost-burnt. You’ll want to watch your fries closely towards the end of the cooking cycle to make sure they don’t cross over into burnt territory!
The Air Fryer You Use Makes a Difference
I own two different air fryers, and tested these fries in both models, because the difference is HUGE. Make sure you know the watts of your machine, so that you can choose the appropriate cooking time.
900 watt oven: Cook the fries for 18 to 20 minutes at 360ºF, turning after 12 minutes. 1500 watt oven: Cook the fries for 10 to 12 minutes at 360ºF, turning after 8 minutes. 1700 watt oven: Cook the fries for 10 minutes at 360ºF, turning after 7 minutes.
I tested this recipe with my NuWave Air Fryer (which cooks at 900w, 1500w, or 1800w) and my Instant Vortex Air Fryer (which cooks at 1700w).
Do You Need to Soak Sweet Potatoes for Fries?
If you’ve tried my other Air Fryer Fries before, you may have tried soaking white potatoes to help remove some of their starch content before air frying them. This works well for white potatoes, but when I tried it for these sweet potato fries, the soaking seemed to make no difference. So, I’m sharing this to let you know that I don’t think soaking the potatoes is worth the extra time and effort. Recipe Notes:
I used my Instant Vortex Air Fryer and NuWave Air Fryer for testing this recipe, but I assume it will work similarly with other makes and models of air fryers. Please report back if your air fryer works differently!
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it. If you make any modifications, I’d love to hear about those, too! (Especially if you try a different seasoning combination– though I’m addicted to this one right now.) We can all benefit from hearing about your experience. – Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite way to use your air fryer? I’d love to have more ideas on how to get the most out of mine. (I mostly use mine for french fries!
