Baked Sweet Potato Shoestring Fries

I have a great love for sweet potatoes. There was a time when I wouldn't think twice about these beauties. Those days are long gone and I have been finding as many ways as I can to enjoy their sweetness, nutrition and versatility. These baked shoestring fries are yet another great way to enjoy this favorite tuber! 

Now before we go any farther, I must confess that baking sweet potato fries won't make the majority of them crispy (at least not for me), so be warned that most of your shoestring fries will be on the soft side while some will get a bit more french fry like and crispy. I still find them to be great on the soft side, even if I'm alone on that one, and I see myself having these every now and then. If you're looking for a truly 'crispy' fry this is not the recipe for you. This is one of those give and takes, and I certainly don't mind. Just the flavor alone is great! I seasoned these with thyme, mineral salt & ground chipotle and paired it with this Sriracha Cashew Cream. It's a nice combination of sweet and spice! You can just as well eat these with a fork if needed, kinda like the way you would with chili fries. In fact, these would be great under a vegan chili making for sweet potato chili fries...that may be something in the near future! 

You can also serve these alongside a sandwich or eat alone as a snack or light meal. I made The Ultimate Vegetable Lentil Loaf yesterday and made myself a lentil loaf sandwich today with the leftovers. It made for a great sandwich and these fries paired perfectly with it. As an old friend of mine used to say, ''How does it get any better than this!''. As a matter of fact, that same friend is the one who inspired and nudged me into this wonderful vegan lifestyle. I am truly grateful for that connection. Namaste Rob. :)

Let me share with you a little tutorial and a bit more about the recipe at hand...

Slice the sweet potato in half, place flat side down and cut thin slices, about 1/4 inch thick. Then turn your thinly sliced pieces on their side and do the same as before cutting thin slices. Try to get them as uniform in thickness as possible so they cook evenly. You may want to go through after cutting and double check your work.

Rinse your potatoes thoroughly to help remove some of the starch. Dry well removing as much water as possible before the next step. 

Place potatoes in a single layer on your rimmed cookie sheet/s, add a small amount of olive oil across your potatoes (about 1 or 2 teaspoons at most), toss gently and coat well. Sprinkle with mineral salt, chopped fresh or dried thyme and ground chipotle pepper, or other seasonings of choice. I added a few thyme strands to the batch, this is optional. Bake for 30 minutes and serve with choice of condiments. 

Note: After a few tries without getting a full batch of crispy fries I searched the internet and tried a few suggestions like using cornmeal or cornstarch. All had the same effect for me but you may find your circumstances to be different than mine. I did like the addition of cornmeal from My New Roots, Crispy Cornmeal Sweet Potato Fries. I love her recipes and enjoyed the added texture and slight flavor from the cornmeal. Unfortunately, I still had the same effect no matter what I tried, even with slightly thicker slices like she calls for. I will keep trying and update here when crispy happens but until then I happen to like my fries. :)

As for the corn starch, I personally didn't care for it much and so I leave you with just the recipe from My New Roots. The picture above on the left was a cooked batch that I experimented with the cornmeal while the picture on the right is precooked using nothing but oil and seasonings. These were my favorite ways but ultimately my recipe will not call for cornmeal so be sure to check out Sarah's recipe at My New Roots.

Baked Sweet Potato Shoestring Fries

Ingredients

• 1 sweet potato per person
• drizzle of olive oil
• mineral salt, to taste
• 1 heaping teaspoon fresh or dried thyme
• ground chipotle pepper, cayenne or smoked paprika, to taste and depending on your mood

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Wash your potato and remove any unsightly areas. Slice the sweet potato in half, place flat side down and cut thin slices, about 1/4 inch thick. Then turn your thinly sliced pieces on their side and do the same as before cutting thin slices (see tutorial above). Try to get them as uniform in thickness as possible so they cook evenly. You may have to go through after cutting and double check your work.

Rinse your potatoes to help remove some of the starch. Dry well removing as much moisture as possible using a large dish towel. 

Place potatoes in a single layer on your rimmed cookie sheet/s (I used two), add a small amount of olive oil (about 1 or 2 teaspoons at most), toss gently to coat, sprinkle with mineral salt and seasoning of choice, toss again if you like being careful to place back in a single layer. Bake for 15 minutes, remove sheet/s and rotate positions, bake for another 15 minutes. Once done, check on potatoes, add an extra 5 minutes or so if potatoes are on the thicker side keeping an eye on them so they don't burn. Serve immediately with choice of condiments. 

Feel free to use other spices instead, or in addition too, like garlic powder, nutritional yeast, cumin, chili powder, curry, cinnamon or smoked paprika, etc...as well as other herbs. 

Enjoy!

I would love to hear any tricks you have to making your baked sweet potato fries crispy. :)