Holiday weight gain is evil. Who’s with me? I try to avoid having “bad food” in the house, but that’s kind of hard to do if you’re a food blogger and enjoy baking. It’s even harder to do when friends and family are coming over and expect great food. So I’ve resorted to moving the jar of Nutella and the bag of mini marshmallows to the top shelf and I can only reach them if I move a chair over to the kitchen cabinet. I have loads of chocolate chips in a nifty glass container on the kitchen counter and I suspect that will be the next to go to the top shelf. You can probably sense a trend. I love my sweets. In fact, once I saw a nutritionist that called me a “sweet junkie.” Lovely.
You want to know what else is sweet? Well, not literally… Great segue, T. 😉 These yummy sweet potato fries and dip! Not only are these sweet potato fries spicy and delicious, but they are baked and crispy perfect! No frying here, my friends. I paired these savory treats with one of my favorite sauces ever, a cucumber yogurt dip (aka tzatziki sauce to my fellow Greeks). 😉
Bear with me here, this one is a double feature. This is the first time I’ve ever done this, but the flavors of sweet potato fries worked so well with the guilt-free tzatziki that I just had to give them to you together.
Spicy Sweet Potato Fries Recipe
(About 4 servings)
Ingredients:
- 4 to 5 sweet potatoes
- 2 to 3 tablespoons cornstarch (depending on how many sweet potatoes you use)
- 1/4 cup olive oil (See Note below)
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Cover a baking sheet with a silicon mat or tin foil. (They tend to stick to either foil or the pan due to the natural sugars in the sweet potatoes, so if you own a silicon mat I highly recommend it for this one.)
- Peel and cut each sweet potato lengthwise. (Note that you can make them as thin or as thick as you like, but keep them all the same size or you’ll end up with some raw and others burnt. If you cut them thicker than mine, then you may need to keep them in the oven longer, depending on how done you like them.)
- Toss the sweet potato wedges in cornstarch. The goal is to lightly coat them.
- Toss the sweet potato wedges in olive oil.
- In a small bowl combine the smoked paprika, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and salt
- Season the sweet potato wedges with the spices.
- Lay the sweet potato wedges in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake them for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp (flip the sweet potato wedges about half way through the baking time).
Cucumber Yogurt Dip (Tzatziki Sauce) Recipe
(Makes about 2 cups of dip)
Ingredients:
- 2 cucumbers
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 16 ounces of Greek yogurt (fat free, 1% or 2%)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (See Note below)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 3/4 teaspoon dried dill
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Directions:
- Peel the cucumbers. Then cut them in half lengthwise and remove the seeds.
- Grate the seeded cucumber pieces, using a fine grater.
- Lay the grated cucumbers in between paper towels and gently press down to remove as much water as possible.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the prepared cucumbers, minced garlic, yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, dried dill, pepper, and salt.
The sweet potato fries are best if served immediately. Store the cucumber yogurt dip in the refrigerator.
* Note, you can use vegetable or canola oil (for the sweet potato fries or dip), but I tend to use olive oil with 99% of my cooking.
I don’t own a fryer. If I did then I’m fairly certain that I would turn into a doughnut because I’d probably eat my weight in fried doughnuts. While I’m sure that would be a tasty adventure, I’m also sure that won’t help me lose those pounds I was grumbling about earlier.
I’ve baked sweet potato fries in the past and unfortunately, they came out limp and soggy. Gross. (As noted by the fact that this is the first post on this blog about sweet potato fries.) If this has happened to you then you probably didn’t do anything wrong. Sweet potatoes have a lot of moisture in them so it’s hard to get them crispy in the oven (unless you like burnt fries). 😉
Cooking Tip For Crispy Sweet Potato Fries: Gently coat the raw sweet potato slices in cornstarch. The cornstarch will soak up some of the water that comes out of the sweet potatoes during the baking process which will in turn help give you crispy fries.
This cucumber yogurt dip is thick. Before grocery stores were stocked with loads of Greek yogurt options, my mom and I would strain plain yogurt overnight with a cheese cloth to remove some of the water from it in order to achieve a thick consistency. It was time consuming and annoying (and a little bit gross), but it was worth it. Thank goodness for the popularity of Greek yogurt because now I can whip this up in a few minutes!
You can’t beat homemade baked fries. They look rustic and imperfect, which I love. Baked sweet potato fries are delicious, but spicy ones are even better. These have just the right amount of kick to them. I always go for the crispiest ones first. 🙂
I’m sure many of you are familiar with sweet potato fries, but maybe you’ve never tried cucumber yogurt dip before. It’s a Greek sauce, traditionally served with souvlaki and gyros. It’s a creamy tangy sauce full of intense garlic flavors. The cucumber and dill add refreshing flavors and texture. I love it so much that I’ll pretty much eat it with anything else. In fact I’ve had the leftover sauce on crackers and a sandwich already.
This combo is amazing! The spices in the sweet potato fries pair well with the contrasting coolness from the dip. If you want to eat the spicy sweet potato fries with plain ketchup then I won’t judge you. 😉
Hope you enjoyed this double feature. What fun things do you like to combine?
Spicy Sweet Potato Fries adapted from: Shutterbean
Cucumber Yogurt Dip (Tzatziki Sauce) adapted from: All Recipes
Here are some other tasty savory snacks.
Endive With Sweet Potato And Bacon
We LOVE sweet potato fries. I’ve made them several times at home but they always turned out soft. Who knew the key was corn starch?! I’m totally trying that next time along with your combo of spices. Here’s hoping mine turn out as great as yours look!
I was skeptical about cornstarch being the cure here, but it really worked for me. Let me know how you make out. 🙂
These sweet potato fries look marvelous Tina! Sweet potato fries and sweet potato chips are my favorite salty snacks. Love the top to coat them in cornstarch to get them crispy!
I’m so addicted to sweet potato fries and I love them with these spices even more. 🙂
Ohhh mah gah. I love tzatziki sososo much! I have never put tzatziki on my sweet potato fries but since it’s delicious on everything I bet it’s AWESOME!!! These are really beautiful Tina!
Hehe, you always make me laugh! Love it. 🙂
Your fries look great. I keep saying to myself that I have to try and make fries with sweet potatoes. maybe, this is the inspiration I need.
Thanks so much Peter! Now that I know that I can make crispy sweet potato fries, I’ll be making these more often, especially come summer when we’re grilling lots of chicken and burgers. 🙂
Love sweet potato fries but have never paired them up with a dip. Sounds yummy! Can’t wait til my cucumbers are growing like crazy in my garden again.
Have a great day Tina!
That’s awesome that you’ll have home grown cucumbers! Thanks for stopping by Melanie. Have too have a lovely day. 🙂
I love baked sweet potato fries! Dare I say…even more than fried ones. This Tzatziki sauce looks amazing! I need to learn more greek recipes. A greek restaurant just opened up in town and it is SO good. Can’t wait to try : )
Hmm, to fry or not to fry…hard one because everyone does it different. Fried ones have to be REALLY tasty to accept the fat and calories that comes along with them.
Being Greek, it’s hard to find a good Greek restaurant around me. I hope the one near you is a good one. 🙂
Okay, I learned 2 great things in this post… first, coating the fries with a little bit of cornstarch to get them extra cripsy. Genius!! And two, pairing them with the cucumbe yogurt dip. Never would have thought of that combo! Thanks for the inspiration Tina! Pinned 🙂
Yes! I love sharing. 🙂
Thanks so much!
These look amazing! Love the fact they’re spicy and sweet, delicious! Absolutely LOVE tzatziki- takes me back to my holidays in Greece and Cyprus 🙂
That’s awesomee! I’ve been to Greece twice and would love to go back. In the mean time, I’ll bring their food to my home. 🙂
Looks delicious! Especially the cucumber dip. I love tzaziki 😀 Thanks for a guilt free version!
Thanks! 🙂
Tina, I’m the same way with my (many bags!) of chocolate chips. And the many other treats I have to put out of sight. Because those are my go to snacky foods… I’m so terrible! Love how you did these fries and the yogurt sauce!
It’s a relief to know that I’m not alone. 😉
I love all the spices happening with these fries, spicy and delicious!
Sweet! Thanks Pamela. 🙂
I LOVE this! Sweet potato fries are seriously my favorite and these sound awesome with all those spices! And then that cucumber yogurt dip …. I bet it is amazing with the fries!
I couldn’t get through this photo shoot quick enough…I kept stealing fries from the plate in between set ups. Lol. SO yummy.
Great idea serving tzatziki sauce with sweet potato fries, Tina! I’m going to have to try this very soon. 🙂
Awesome! Hope you love it as much as I do. 🙂
I love homemade sweet potato fries! I typically bake them right on the sheet pan as I think that helps them get brown and crispy, but the idea of adding cornstarch is genius. Can’t wait to try it!
Let me know how it works out for you because I’m curious if yours will turn out different with the added cornstarch.
The cornstarch trick is the best! Fries turn out so perfect that way ;–) The dip sounds like a wonderful addition that I need to try. Thanks for the inspiration! x
Cool! I hope you love this combo as much as me. 🙂
That cornstarch trick sounds so easy! Oh my, that dip – wow. Cucumbers are so fresh and fit right in with that dip. Yum!
I love finding simple tricks online to share with you. 🙂
Oh man I’m a total sweets junkie too (Shoot is that a confession?).
These look absolutely divine. I’ve eaten something similar at restaurants but had no idea how to make them at home.
Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. 😉
Oh boy, sweet potato fries are one of my big weaknesses too! Yours look awesome and they sound fabulous with all those spices and the cucumber yogurt dip 🙂
Thanks Kelly! 🙂
This recipe looks perfect year-round! I need to try to make sweet potato fries sometime.
I totally agree…great comfort food in the winter and great side for BBQs in the summer! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Tina, these are gorgeous! I’ve made my own fries with regular potatoes but not yet with sweet potatoes. I want to try your version for sure. I love that you made them spicy because I love the spicy-sweet combo. Beautiful job on the photos!
You’re so sweet! Thanks Andi. 🙂
Oh god I love sweet potato chips so much!!
I’ve never made them with cornstarch, but I know it’s used to crisp them up. That dip also looks delicious!
{Teffy’s Perks} X
Thanks so much! I appreciate you stopping by. 🙂