Crispy Oil-Free Sweet Potato Fries

Crispy, air fried sweet potato fries are the perfect healthy snack or side. Prep them ahead of time and store in the freezer for easy weekday snacking! Gluten-free, oil-free, refined sugar-free and LOADED with fiber, they're far healthier than regular fries. Indulge in these with no reservations.

About the recipe

Who doesn’t love sweet potato fries??  They’re a little sweet, salty, fatty, “fancy”, and feel somehow healthier than regular fries.  They’re the perfect side dish for beer, burgers, sandwiches, dinners out, or dinners at home.

Here’s the downside: in one pound of sweet potato fries, there are roughly 840 calories and 36 grams of fat!! 

You may be thinking...who eats a whole pound of sweet potato fries?  Honestly, I don’t know. I never stop to weigh the fries that come with my beyond burger.  What I DO know is 1 pound of sweet potato (with nothing added) is 389 calories and 0.3 grams of fat.  


That means that the deep-frying process roughly doubles the caloric density of these humble potatoes and adds a whopping 36 grams of fat to a usually low-fat, low-calorie food.

This is an excellent case study to demonstrate why reducing or completely eliminating oil is so powerful (for weight loss, at least).  By making sweet potato fries oil-free, you can eat an entire pound of food and save nearly 400 calories while not sacrificing taste or texture AND not restricting yourself.  

I know what you’re thinking.  There’s no way oil-free fries are as good as the real thing.  Maybe you’ve tried making oil-free fries before and have been sorely disappointed.  I feel you. If you bake or air-fry fries from raw, you end up with a weird potato/pillow/cloud monstrosity that isn’t crispy- it’s crunchy.  And the interior isn’t fluffy. It’s chewy.  What a disgrace to the good name of french fries.


My husband, Dan, is obsessed with french fries.  He’s a connoisseur. So it was imperative that I find a way to make TRULY delicious fries that are crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, a little salty, full of flavor, and completely satisfy the craving for french fries.  

But why am I telling you this?  You came here because you’re already curious about making oil-free fries.  I don’t need to convince you! So let’s just dive into the recipe notes:

RECIPE NOTES

1. Try to find and use smaller sweet potatoes!  The SKIN is what gets the crispiest in the air fryer!  By opting for smaller potatoes, you have a better chance of getting that glorious, crispy skin in every bite.

2. As always, I use my Instant Pot to cook my potatoes.  I’ve tried baking, microwaving, steaming, and grilling.  Pressure cooking is by far the best. For smaller sweet potatoes, try pressure cooking for 10 minutes.  For large, try 13. If the potatoes are still slightly hard in the center, that’s okay! They will continue to cook in the air fryer later!  What we want to avoid is mushy sweet potatoes that have lost all structural integrity.  

3. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, microwave them in a covered, microwave-safe container until they are fork tender.

4. After you cook your potatoes, put them in the freezer or fridge to cool down.  Cutting them in half lengthwise will speed this process!  

5. Seasoning the fries before freezing and cooking allows the spices and salt to stick to the starchy, sticky potato surface (no oil needed!).  I haven’t included an amount for salt. Some people like a ton of salt on their food, some people don’t, and some people can’t have added salt in their diet.  You know who you are- go with God and use as much or as little salt as you’d like. BUT I recommend kosher salt because the large flakes cling to the fries better.

6. When you can comfortably handle them, cut the potatoes into large french fry pieces (about twice the thickness of restaurant fries) and freeze.  Fries that are cut too small dry out and burn too quickly in the air fryer.

7. The added step of freezing allows ice crystals to form within the fries, making them extra crispy when cooked while maintaining the soft, fluffy interior.  It also ensures that you can easily transfer them to the air fryer OR store them in a freezer safe container!

8. When you air fry these, DO NOT FLIP OR SHAKE HALFWAY THROUGH!!!  They are too soft to handle!  Wait until you have just a few minutes remaining, then flip them over and finish air frying.

I prepped these at the beginning of the week (cooked the potatoes, cut them to size, seasoned them, and froze them) so Dan and I could enjoy them as a side or snack throughout the week.  Once all the annoying prep work is done, these fries go from frozen to ready-to-eat in a mere 15 minutes! After they’ve frozen completely, you can transfer them to a freezer safe container and make them as needed throughout the week.

Three pounds of potatoes should make 4-6 servings.  

Did you make this recipe? Let me know! Tag me on Instagram @notlikemama. I love to see your versions of my recipes!

Serve these delicious fries as a filling side with giant salads, black bean burgers, soups, or as a healthy after-school snack for kids!

Happy Cooking,

✌️Courtney