Make it Clean Monday: Sweet Potato Fries (OR chips)

French fries! I LOVE them, I really do!

French fries were one of the first foods I gave up when I first started on my healthy eating journey. Well, at least I gave up the deep fried version. I then opted for the baked ones in the freezer section. And while baked is often much better than fried, these French fries were still made with white potatoes, vegetable oils, and a few other ingredients I can’t pronounce (should have been my first giveaway that they were not the best).

I then started making my own baked fries from regular potatoes until I found a new love for sweet potatoes… in fry form! Click here for a great article on the differences between white and sweet potatoes. But here in lies the problem. I don’t love baked sweet potatoes or those strange casseroles with marshmallows or brown sugar. So, I thought there was no way I would like sweet potato fries. But after making these fries I am in love. My husband will even eat them if he is hungry enough (he is not a huge fan of sweet potatoes in any form) and my kids beg for them. My son has even thrown a fit over not getting sweet potato fries immediately.  He was 2 and didn’t understand that I had to first cook them and that he in fact would not like them raw.  In hind sight I probably should have just given him a raw one so he could have seen for himself.

Anyways, these baked sweet potato fries made with coconut oil, sea or himilayan salt, and other spices are a delicious alternative to deep fried fast food fries.

What you will need:

• a cookie sheet (or 2… depending on how many fries you plan to make)
• parchment paper
• sweet potatoes
• Coconut oil
• real sea salt of Pink Himalayan Salt We buy our Redmonds Real Sea Salt from Thrive Market.
• Optional (garlic powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper or any other spices you might enjoy)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees

2. Cut the sweet potatoes into fries(I usually use 2 large ones or more if I have smaller potatoes). You can peel the potatoes but that’s up to you. I like to leave the skin on if they are organic and from the farmer’s market. In the supermarket they often spray the potatoes with a no spud chemical and so I peel my potatoes if using those. But there is a lot of fiber in the potato skins. Tip: The more uniform you can cut the fries the better so that you don’t have some of the thinner ones done before the thicker ones.

3. Put your cut potatoes in a big bowl and add a scoop (1 TBS or so) of coconut oil and mix with a spoon or your hands. I like to use my hands to make sure to coat the fries evenly.

4. Spread out your fries onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Try not to have the fries overlapping so they all cook evenly.

5. Sprinkle with salt, black pepper, and other seasonings you choose. When making for myself I like spicy cayenne pepper but I avoid this when the kiddos are eating them too. Or I make one cookie sheet spicy and the other just salted.

6. Bake for 25 min or so. Keep an eye on them as they can burn quickly.

My kids love these with mustard for dipping.

UPDATE:

If you don’t want to cut SO many little fries, you can make “sweet potato chips” instead. Cut your potatoes in the shape of chips. They may take slightly longer to cook (depending on how thick you cut your chips). I check them frequently after they have been cooking 18 minutes or so. I take out the “chips” that are done every so often and let the rest continue to cook until done.

Tip: If you use a mandolin to cut the sweet potatoes rather than a knife they will all be uniform slices and they will all take about the same time to cook. Otherwise you have to watch the sweet potatoes more carefully in the oven and take out the skinnier cut ones before they burn. AND if you do use a mandolin I highly recommend you getting the one that comes with safety gloves to prevent yourself from slicing off the top of your finger like my hubs did one day. Ouch! I use them and have happy safe fingers.

Here is a bowl of sweet potato chips. My daughter and I love eating these on taco salad night!

These are also great with my fajita style chicken and bean dip!

BUT, if you don’t have time to make your own sweet potato chips, the best store bought brand (in my opinion) is Jackson Honest Sweet Potato Chips. They are made with 3 ingredients, sweet potatoes, coconut oil, and sea salt. I LOVE them and I buy them at Thrive Market. If you have yet to make a purchase with Thrive Market you can receive 25% off you first order by clicking this link. 

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