Sweet Potato Fries (The Pioneer Woman Cooks!)

I made sweet potato fries in the oven yesterday, and I snacked on them while watching an episode of “Forensic Files” on HLN as my boys watched football in the living room. And while we’re on the subject of forensics, how and why anyone ever believes they are going to get away with any crime just astounds me. Men and women with tweezers, microscopes and Luminol are way too adept and smart to let that happen!

Thank you for listening to my documentary television-related proclamations.

And thank you in advance for making sweet potato fries sometime this week! It will make me happy knowing that you’re enjoying one of the best snacks in the world.

Grab some sweet potato fries…

Peel off the skin…

And cut the taters into 4 to 5 slices. (Just be careful, as sweet potatoes can be a little harder than regular potatoes. Don’t cut yourself!)

Then just stack up 2 or 3 slices at a time and cut in the other direction to create sticks.

You can cut the sticks as thick or thin as you’d like, and you can also cut the potato slices in half before cutting sticks if you want a whole bunch of bite-sized sweet potato fries. Up to you!

Throw them all in a bowl and set them aside for a sec…

While you melt some butter! I let this go just a little past the melted stage until it was slightly browned.

Then, and this isn’t mandatory, skim the foam off the top.

Now, you can just discard this if you’d like…or you can be weird like me and add it to the mashed potatoes you made for dinner later that night.

Again: Up to you!

But I’d highly recommend the latter.

Now, just season up the butter: I used seasoned salt…

Chili powder…

And black pepper. Also, throw in a couple of cloves of pressed garlic! Heavenly.

(Use any spices you’d like! Paprika, onion powder, steak seasoning, cumin…anything goes.)

Stir this around until it’s all mixed together…

Then pour it over the sweet potatoes, making sure to get all the flecks and specks.

Toss them around with your hands…

Until they’re all fully coated.

Then pour the sweet potatoes onto two baking sheets…

And shake them around so that they’re not crowded on the pan.

Then just pop ‘em in a hot (450 degree) oven for about 15 minutes, shaking the pans once or twice during the cooking. They should be sizzling when you take them out!

I like to leave them on the pan for about 3-5 minutes before I take them off…

(Oh, and this would be a great time to sprinkle the fries generously with salt!)

And that’s the perfect amount of time to whip up some dipping sauce! Grab some Sriracha if you have it. And I sincerely hope that you have it.

Sriracha is my life.

(But you can also use plain ol’ ketchup!)

Mix 3 parts mayonnaise with 1 part Sriracha or ketchup…

And mix it together with a fork until it’s a beautiful shade of salmon pink.

If you used Sriracha, this is Spicy Mayo.

If you used ketchup, this is “Fry Sauce!”

Then just serve up the fries alongside a dish of the beautiful sauce.

Mmmm. I love sweet potato fries, especially when they’re on the thin side like this. Note that when they are baked in the oven, they aren’t going to be overly crisp as they would be if you were to fry them in oil…but because sweet potatoes are so naturally beautiful, they’re still delicious baked.

Make them for a snack or side dish this week! You’ll absolutely love ‘em.

Here’s the handy dandy printable!

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Recipe

Sweet Potato Fries

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 15 Minutes Difficulty: Easy Servings: 8

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Ingredients

6 whole Sweet Potatoes, Peeled And Cut Into Thin Sticks
1 stick Salted Butter
2 cloves Garlic, Pressed
1 teaspoon Seasoned Salt (or Plain Salt)
1 teaspoon Chili Powder
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons Ketchup OR Sriracha (more To Taste!)
Salt For Sprinkling

Preparation Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Melt the butter and skim off the foam. Add garlic, seasoned salt, chili powder, and black pepper. Stir with a fork.

In a large bowl, toss the sweet potatoes in the butter/seasoning mixture. Arrange on two baking sheets and bake in the oven for 15 to 17 minutes, shaking the pans halfway through, until the fries are sizzling (watch so that the edges don't burn). Remove from the oven and allow to sit on the pan for 5 minutes. Sprinkle generously with salt!

Mix the mayonnaise with the ketchup (or Sriracha). Serve fries with the dipping sauce!

Note: Sweet potatoes will not be overly crisp, but they should be firm...and, of course, scrumptious!

Posted by Ree | The Pioneer Woman on October 27 2014