Baked Sweet Potato Fries Recipe
You might have already gathered that here at Eat This, Not That!, we are constantly encouraging healthy eating choices and habits for our readers. This more often than not means avoiding unhealthy food choices, or switching them out for a better, healthier option. When it comes to French fries, it's actually an easier feat than you might think. Although the French fries you would order at a fast-food chain or diner are high in calories, it has more to do with the way they are prepared than anything else. If you've ever seen fries prepared at McDonald's, you'll see they are deep fried in fatty oils and loaded with unfathomable amounts of salt. When making your own fries, it is of course much easier to control how much fat and oil are used, and better yet, instead of using regular potatoes, you can swap in the much more nutritious (and equally delicious) sweet potato. Sweet potatoes have two big nutritional boons that regular potatoes lack: big doses of fiber and vision-strengthening vitamin A. Plus, the natural sugars found within them will intensify and strengthen when baked or roasted, and they pair just as perfectly with the fiery cayenne to make fries every bit as enjoyable as the ones that bathe in oil.
Nutrition: 70 calories, 2 g fat (0 g saturated), 200 mg sodium
Serves 4
You'll Need
2 medium sweet potatoes, each peeled and cut into 12 equal wedges
1⁄2 Tbsp olive oil
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Salt and black pepper to taste
How to Make It
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Combine all the ingredients on a large baking sheet and use your hands to mix them thoroughly. Spread in an even layer.
- Bake until the sweet potatoes are lightly browned on the outside, crisp to the touch, and tender inside.
Eat This Tip
There are many ways to prepare these fries, and like all of our recipes, we encourage you to swap out any of the spices listed in this recipe to make a fry that is most to your liking. Not into spice? Cut the cayenne and add a nice curry. Want to amp up the heat? Keep the cayenne and add in some red pepper flakes, too.
This recipe (and hundreds more!) came from one of our Cook This, Not That! books. For more easy cooking ideas, you can also buy the book!
