Sweet Potato Fries with Turmeric Guacamole

Sweet potatoes ya’ll. My love knows no bounds.

I’ve mentioned a couple of times here and on the gram about my mission to find the best sweet potato fries. Whenever I’m at a restaurant and see sweet potato fries on the menu, I will order them. I simply must.

More often than not, I’ve seen those three little words on the menu, got myself all pumped up for sweet potato fries and then been massively disappointed when I’m served a sad excuse for sweet potato fries. Most often what you’ll get is a pile of saggy, mushy wannabe fries that smush rather than crunch when you bite into them.

I get it. It’s not an easy feat getting sweet potatoes to crunch. That’s just the way they roll, they go mushy and soft when they cook. But I’ve found a trick or two to prevent them from going all mashed potatoes on you. Here’s my top tips, and a recipe for a yummy turmeric guacamole to go with your fries.

My tips for getting crunchy sweet potato fries

• Don’t peel the sweet potatoes. Wohoo, less work! Skip the whole step of peeling the potatoes, just cut them into french-fry sized chunks, peel and all.
• No oil. I’ve got nothing against oil, there’s a ton of good oils out there that do wonders in cooking. However, I find that drizzling oil on sweet potatoes before they go in the oven actually prevents them from going crispy. So I skip the oil. Just rub some salt, pepper and whatever other spices you like (cinnamon or smoked paprika for example) on them.
• Oven temp and time. I find 200C / 390F to be the sweet spot. Spread the potato chunks out evenly on a tray and bake for about 30 minutes, flip and toss around a bit and then bake for another 15 minutes or so. Keep an eye on them. Let them get a little brown/black for ultimate crunchiness.

Alright, you ready to give these taters a try?

Sweet Potato Fries with Turmeric Guacamole

• 3-5 medium sized sweet potatoes, cut into french fry chunks (do not peel the potatoes)
• pinch each of salt, pepper, smoked paprika and cinnamon

For the turmeric guacamole

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbs vegan cream cheese, optional
• 1 tsp nutritional yeast, optional

Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set the oven to 200C /390F. Rub the spices over the chunks of sweet potato and spread them out on the tray evenly. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 30 minutes, keeping an eye on them. Once they’ve started to get some color (after about 30 minutes) take them out, flip and toss the sweet potatoes and bake for another 15 minutes, or until they’ve got a bit of color.

While your sweet potatoes are baking, make the turmeric guacamole. Add all the ingredients into a high speed blender, mix until smooth and then transfer to a jar until ready to serve.

To serve, just plate the slightly cooled sweet potatoes with a nice dollop of the turmeric guacamole and enjoy.