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Y’all. This one took us foreverrrrrr to get right. I don’t know what was wrong with us! I think we wanted it too bad. We are obsessed with sweet potatoes in my house. Seriously. I could eat them for every meal. My sweet potato breakfast bowl in the morning, sloppy joe stuffed sweet potato for lunch, and these fries with my dinner.
Why You Need an Air Fryer
Have you bought yourself an air fryer yet? Know anything about them? If the answer to either of these questions is no, you better listen up, learn, and then go order yourself one! Believe me, you will thank me once you do.
An air fryer can give your foods that delicious fried taste and texture with just a tablespoon or less of oil! Whereas in a deep fryer your foods literally just soak in oil, with the air fryer you can use as little or as much as you want! It is up to you because you are in charge of pouring the oil on your food before placing it in the fryer. I highly recommend getting an oil mister (this is the one I have and I LOVE it). This will allow you to pour your favorite type/brand of oil into this tool, and then spray it in a way a can of Pam would. First of all, this lets you cover more food with less oil. Second of all, you can still use whichever oil you want! So you have all of the control here.
These are great at cooking frozen foods (those ones that would usually go into the deep fryer) – like chicken tenders or french fries – without any oil at all! And if you are making your own fries, like in this recipe, it takes very little. It is also incredibly versatile. We have made shrimp, egg rolls, and more with ours! And are still enjoying experimenting with new ideas all the time. Ready to give it a try yet? Get yourself an air fryer!
The Perfect Potato
Like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, this recipe took us forever to perfect. Why? Probably because I was being stingy with the oil and tried to make it without any. But we used extra virgin olive oil, so although yes it adds fat to the meal, they are healthy fats! It is important for us all to remember (and I even need a reminder sometimes!) that all fats are not created equal, we actually need fats for our bodies to function properly, and there are healthy sources out there to get them from! So here are my main tips on this recipe so you can perfect it the first time:
- Oil – You need it! You can use your favorite, whether that is EVOO or coconut oil or whatever, but get it out so you can make the best fries.
- How To Oil – I first recommend getting a mister like I mentioned before. This will ensure all of your potatoes get oiled, while also using less of it. Spray the bottom of the pan before putting the fries in. And then also spray the potatoes themselves.
- Cutting the fries – Don’t stress out about this TOO much, but try to keep all of the fries the same size/thickness. You want them to cook at the same rate so they all turn out perfectly at the end, instead of some burnt and others raw!
- Placement of the fries – Bake one layer at a time. Don’t just throw all of the fries in there laying on top of each other. Take the extra ten seconds to lay them all down on the bottom of the pan side by side. And if you have too many to fit, cook in batches!
- Timing – I think timing is one more thing we struggled with. And I think the instructions below will lead you to a great fry, but the main key is to watch them and to flip them. We opened our air fryer roughly every four minutes to flip the fries and thought they were perfectly cooked in about 14 minutes. But watching and flipping them allows you to decide when they are done to your preferences!
Ready to get started??
Crispy Sweet Potato Fries
Ingredients:
- One large sweet potato
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- Dash of cayenne (optional)
- Olive oil (I suggest you use a mister for this – don’t have one? Get one here!)
Instructions:
- Cut your sweet potato lengthwise into fries, trying to keep them as evenly sized as possible (so they cook at the same rate!).
- Place fries in a bowl, spray with olive oil, and then season with your spices (shaking so the spices coat evenly).
- Spray the bottom of your air fryer with olive oil. Place fries on the bottom, in one single layer, do not overlap. (If you have too many fries for this, cook in batches).
- Turn your air fryer to 400 F.
- Cook 12 – 14 minutes, opening the air fryer to flip every 4 minutes or so to ensure even cooking.
This served two of us as a side for our dinner. But you can definitely douple, triple, or even quadruple this recipe as you see fit!
Are you as obsessed with everything sweet potato as I am?? If so, I’ve got you covered for every meal! Be sure to try my sweet potato breakfast bowl in the morning, my sweet or savory sweet potato side dish for lunch or dinner, and finish your day off with my ahhh-mazing sweet potato cookies!
