Chop, coat, and fry – it’s that simple and easy to make deep-fried sweet potatoes. This recipe only requires 3 pantry ingredients: sweet potatoes, egg yolk, and cornstarch. Enjoy this as a delicious snack or as a side dish for a sandwich or finger food.
What To Love About Deep-Fried Sweet Potato Fries
What makes sweet potatoes different from your regular potato? Sweet potatoes are naturally sweeter with a mild nutty taste. It is soft and starchy, just like a regular potato.
You will love this tuberous plant as it is packed with nutritional benefits, from boosting the immune system to supporting gut health and keeping the eye healthy, among other things. It is easy to pair this with most dishes, such as salt and pepper chicken wings, crispy pork belly burger, and corn and pork floss sandwich. To make this recipe, you will need sweet potato fries, egg yolk, and cornstarch.
The sweet potatoes are chopped into French fries and coated with egg yolk and cornstarch. With this coating combination, it gives the fries a delightful extra crunch and eggy taste. Lastly, the coated sweet potato fries are deep-fried in hot oil to cook each piece evenly, giving you a soft and crunchy result.
If you like more creative ways to cook starchy vegetables, here are recipes worth making:
- Baked Sweet Potato Slices
- Smiley Face Potato Fries
- Potato Cheese Pancakes
- Three Methods To Make Taro Fries
- Accordion Potatoes
- Salt And Pepper Potatoes
Top Tips And Alternatives To Consider
If you are thinking of ways to customize this recipe, check out my top tips and alternatives below. You can change, add, or omit an ingredient according to your liking.
- Sweet potato: I used orange sweet potatoes, but you can use other types of sweet potatoes if you like. If you don’t know yet, sweet potatoes have several varieties, such as garnet, purple, and Japanese sweet potatoes. If you need an alternative to sweet potatoes, go for regular potatoes, taro, or yam. For your unused sweet potatoes, use them to make the following recipes:
- Cutting the sweet potatoes: The potatoes are cut diagonally and then into French fries. When cutting the potatoes, make sure to cut them in even slices to cook them consistently in the pan. Having a mix of thick and thin cuts will result in an uneven cooking result. Basically, thicker cuts will need more time to cook than thinner ones. It helps to use a French fry cutter to create equal sizes of potato fries.
- Egg yolk: I used two beaten egg yolks to coat the sweet potato fries. This adds an eggy taste and an extra puffy crust. Coating the potatoes with egg yolk helps the cornstarch stick better. Moreover, it gives the potatoes a beautiful golden color. If you want to omit the eggs, you can replace them with chickpea flour and water slurry. Mix 3 tablespoons of chickpea flour with 3 tablespoons of water and season it with a pinch of black salt for an eggy taste.
- Separating the egg yolk from the white: To separate the egg yolk from the white, crack open the egg in half and use the egg shells to pass the egg yolk back and forth until the egg whites are fully drained. Alternatively, you can also crack the egg in a bowl and use the half egg shell to scoop out the egg yolk. If you have a plastic bottle, use this as a suction to extract the egg yolk.
- Cornstarch: After coating the potatoes with egg yolk, I covered them with cornstarch for a crispy outer layer. Not only is cornstarch great for a crispy texture, but it also prevents the sweet potato fries from overcooking from deep frying. This can be swapped with tapioca flour, potato starch, arrowroot powder, flour, and rice flour.
- High-smoke point oil: Since deep-frying requires even heating and a longer time to stay hot, I recommend using the type of oil that is more heat stable and with a high smoke point. Cooking oil with a high smoke point reduces the amount of oil oxidized and is better for cooking at high temperatures. Use avocado, peanut, canola, and corn oil. But if you want a healthier option, use olive, avocado, sesame, or safflower oil. If you want a neutral taste, use peanut, soybean, or vegetable oil.
- Testing the hot oil for deep-frying: Whichever oil you use, make sure it is heated to about 160°C or 320°F. You will know when the oil is hot for deep-frying when it starts to smoke and sizzle. To test if the oil is ready, carefully place a small amount of egg or a piece of potato. If it starts to sizzle and bubble, then the oil is hot enough. If not, the oil needs to be heated longer. If you try to cook the sweet potato fries in oil that is not well-heated, the potatoes will only absorb the oil and not become crispy. This will give you cooked potato fries but will be much soggier.
- Flavoring ingredients: My recipe is plain and takes its flavors from the sweet potato’s natural taste and the egg coating. That is why it is quite easy to pair it with another flavoring ingredient like a dipping sauce or powdered seasoning. You can spice things up and change the taste with these flavoring ingredients:
- Dip it with a dipping sauce:
- Ketchup
- Mayonnaise
- Mustard
- Sweet chili sauce
- Creamy garlic dressing
- Spicy garlic dressing
- Ranch dressing
- Hot sauce
- BBQ sauce
- Buffalo sauce
- Sour cream
- Sprinkle powdered seasoning all over:
- Bbq powder
- Cheese powder
- Chili bbq powder
- Sour cream powder
- Wasabi powder
- Sour cheese powder
- Salt and/or black pepper powder
- Salt and pepper seasoning
- Chili powder or cayenne powder (for a spicy version)
- Smoked paprika
- Parmesan cheese
- Garlic powder and onion powder
- Dip it with a dipping sauce:
Prepare These Ingredients And Kitchenware
The kitchen items to prepare are a knife for chopping, bowls for mixing, and a pan with high sides for deep-frying. Using a deep pot is also great for deep-frying. Make sure to have a strainer or paper towel to absorb the excess oils from the fried potatoes.
Here are the ingredients to prepare:
- 1 to 2 large sweet potatoes
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup of cornstarch
- Cooking oil (enough for deep-frying)
- Ketchup (or your choice of dipping sauce)
Instructions On How To Make Sweet Potato Fries
This recipe can be completed in 15 minutes or less! Check out my tutorial video on Instagram or TikTok to learn more about the steps. Simply chop the potatoes, coat them with egg yolk and cornstarch, and deep-fry them in hot oil until crispy.
The most exciting part? Eating them with your favorite dipping sauce of course! When you are done making this recipe, don’t forget to tag me @kitchenmisadventures and post a comment to share your thoughts and recommendations.
- Prepare the sweet potatoes. Clean, peel, and cut them into strips just like French fries. Transfer the sweet potato fries to a bowl.
- Prepare the egg yolk. Crack open 2 eggs and separate the egg yolks. Mix the sweet potato fries with two egg yolks until well combined.
- Then, coat all sides of the sweet potato fries evenly with cornstarch. Toss them to ensure an even coating.
- Prepare your pot or pan with cooking oil. Heat the cooking oil to about 160°C or 320°F. Test if the oil is ready for deep-frying by placing a small piece of sweet potato into the oil. This should sizzle and start to bubble.
- Deep-fry the sweet potato fries on medium heat. Continually stir and turn them over to cook all sides evenly. The oil should start to bubble more in this step. Although this recipe is for deep-frying, you can try cooking it in other cooking methods, such as baking and air-frying if you prefer less oil.
- Continue frying until the sweet potato fries are golden and crispy.
- Take out the fries with a strainer and make sure to remove excess oil to prevent the fries from going soggy. You can use a paper towel to absorb the oil fully.
- Serve the crispy sweet potato strips with ketchup or your choice of dipping sauce. If you love potato-based recipes, try making cheesy mashed potato waffles, potato cheese puff pastry tart, and potato noodles.
Golden And Crispy Sweet Potato Fries (Deep Fried Method)
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 large sweet potatoes
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup of cornstarch
- Cooking oil enough for deep-frying
- Ketchup or your choice of dipping sauce
Instructions
- Prepare the sweet potatoes. Clean, peel, and cut them into strips just like French fries. Transfer the sweet potato fries to a bowl.
- Prepare the egg yolk. Crack open 2 eggs and separate the egg yolks. Mix the sweet potato fries with two egg yolks until well combined.
- Then, coat all sides of the sweet potato fries evenly with cornstarch. Toss them to ensure an even coating.
- Prepare your pot or pan with cooking oil. Heat the cooking oil to about 160°C or 320°F. Test if the oil is ready for deep-frying by placing a small piece of sweet potato into the oil. This should sizzle and start to bubble.
- Deep-fry the sweet potato fries on medium heat. Continually stir and turn them over to cook all sides evenly. The oil should start to bubble more in this step. Although this recipe is for deep-frying, you can try cooking it in other cooking methods, such as baking and air-frying if you prefer less oil.
- Continue frying until the sweet potato fries are golden and crispy.
- Take out the fries with a strainer and make sure to remove excess oil to prevent the fries from going soggy. You can use a paper towel to absorb the oil fully.
- Serve the crispy sweet potato strips with ketchup or your choice of dipping sauce. If you love potato-based recipes, try making cheesy mashed potato waffles, potato cheese puff pastry tart, and potato noodles.
