These air fryer sweet potato fries are quick cooking and become perfectly crispy, making for a healthier alternative to French fries!
So you have a new air fryer, or you’re thinking of buying one, and the question inevitably comes up…”Can I make French fries in this thing?”
Well I’m happy to report that yes, you can make some darn good fries (regular and sweet potato) in the air fryer! No deep fryers or cornstarch needed here. Click the links below to jump around the post:
I used a Philips Air Fryer (affiliate link) to make these air fryer sweet potato fries and absolutely love it, though any air fryer should do the job! (Curious about which air fryer is right for you? We rounded up the best air fryers here.)
Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries
Step 1: To cut traditional or shoestring fries, cut your sweet potato lengthwise into thin planks. Cut each plank into strips to make fries! You can also use a mandolin slicer, though the sweet potato may be too firm depending on the quality of your slicer.
Step 2: Soak sweet potato fries in cold water for 30 to 60 minutes (or as long as 8 hours) before air frying. This is critical for removing excess starch and helping the fries to become crispy.
Step 3: Drain and pat dry sweet potato fries. Add to a bowl, then drizzle with vegetable oil (about 1 teaspoon per potato) and a pinch of salt. tossing to coat.
Step 4: Add fries to your air fryer, spread out in as single of a layer as possible. Cook at 390 degrees F (200 C) for 15 to 20 minutes, shaking the basket a few times during cooking to evenly cook.
Air Fryer Sweet Potato Wedges
Step 1: To cut sweet potato wedges, cut your sweet potato in half lengthwise. Cut in half lengthwise again, then cut each of those halves in half again. (Each potato should make 8 wedges, though you can cut them down smaller if your sweet potato is large).
Step 2: Soak sweet potato wedges in cold water for 30 to 60 minutes (or as long as 8 hours) before air frying. This is critical for removing excess starch and helping the fries to become crispy.
Step 3: Drain and pat dry sweet potato wedges. Add to a bowl, then drizzle with vegetable oil (about 1 teaspoon per potato) and a pinch of salt, tossing to coat.
Step 4: Add wedges to your air fryer, spread out in as single of a layer as possible. Cook at 390 degrees F (200 C) for 15 to 20 minutes, flipping the wedges over once to evenly cook.
Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fry FAQ
Lightly grease your air fryer basket or racks, then add frozen fries and cook at 390 degrees F (200 C) for about 20 minutes. Make sure that fries (especially frozen fries) are in a single layer and are not overcrowded or they won’t crisp up as well!
While you can preheat the air fryer (takes about 2 minutes), it’s not necessary. If you don’t preheat, you may just need to add a few extra minutes to the cook time, but it shouldn’t affect how your fries turn out.
Air frying can produce some seriously crispy food without oil, but I prefer to add a small amount to make these fries even crispier and to improve the flavor.
Soaking removes surface starches, which in turn helps make your fries more crispy. In a rush? You can blanch the fries by boiling them for 30 seconds then plunging them into a bowl of cold water.
In a way, yes! Sweet potatoes, while having the same amount of carbohydrates as white potatoes, have more fiber, twice the vitamin C, and WAY more vitamin A.
I used a Philips Air Fryer to make all of these air fryer potato recipes and absolutely love it! You can get a bunch of handy accessories like a baking pan or grill skewers (though I just used the basics to make these potato recipes). Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 sweet potato
- 1 tsp olive oil 5 mL
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Cut: To cut traditional fries, cut your sweet potato lengthwise into thin planks, and cut each plank into strips. To cut sweet potato wedges, cut your sweet potato in half lengthwise. Cut in half lengthwise again, then cut each of those halves in half again. (Each potato should make 8 wedges, though you can cut them down smaller if your sweet potato is large).
- Soak: Soak fries in cold water for 30 to 60 minutes (or as long as 8 hours) before air frying*.
- Dry: Drain and pat dry sweet potato wedges. Add to a bowl, then drizzle with vegetable oil (about 1 teaspoon per potato) and a pinch of salt, tossing to coat.
- Air Fry: Add fries to your air fryer, spread out in as single of a layer as possible. Cook at 390°F (200°C) for 15 to 20 minutes, shaking every few minutes to evenly cook.
Tips & Tricks
Nutrition Information
Which air fryer is best?
Not sure which air fryer is best? Here are a few of our favorites (complete list of best air fryers here).
Patricia says
Do I have to peel the sweet potatoes?
Sarah says
Nope you don’t! 😀
witclcik says
I love potatoes too. This looks so yummy 🙂 I would love for you to share this on my Friday T.G.I.F. linky party 🙂 Have a great weekend!!
Kim K says
Just made a batch of the fries and they came out perfect! Super tasty, cooked all the way through and very crispy as promised!
Any tips on keeping the first batch warm and crisp while the second batch cooks?
They got kinda soft while sitting but I put them back in for two minutes after the others were done and they did crisp back up ok.
Thanks for the great easy to follow recipe!
Sarah says
Happy to hear you liked them! You could try keeping them warm by spreading into a single layer and popping them in a warm oven while the other batch cooks 😀
ruby says
I just made a batch of these for the grandkids in my air fryer. I’ve tried a couple of other recipes, but this one steals the show 🙂 This is officially my go-to recipe for sweet potato fries, thanks so much!!
David Bories says
Made these in a Breville Smart Air Oven. DELICIOUS!!!
Sarah, I want to thank you for all your wonderful recipes. So far, with some adjustments to my air fryer at times, everything is delicious! We are slowly trying more recipes and trying to see how many vegetarian meals we can add to replace meat.
Sarah says
So happy to hear it, David! Thanks for letting us know how it went! 😀
SUZY says
Want to make sweet potato fries for my dogs treats she has bad allergies is it possible to skip the oil?
Sarah Bond says
Yes! The oil is just for crispy texture. I’m sure your pup won’t mind a less-than-crispy texture 😀
Natalie says
This is the first dish I cooked in my second hand fryer.
Your instructions are clear and easy to follow.