Perfect Paleo Sweet Potato Fries Recipe - My Natural Family (2024)

FAQs

Perfect Paleo Sweet Potato Fries Recipe - My Natural Family? ›

The secret to crispy (instead of soggy) sweet potato fries is to spread them out in an even layer with enough room so that they don't touch. This is especially important if you're making a big batch of fries. Instead of just piling more onto one baking pan, spread them out over two baking pans or cook them in batches.

The secret to crispy (instead of soggy) sweet potato fries is to spread them out in an even layer with enough room so that they don't touch. This is especially important if you're making a big batch of fries. Instead of just piling more onto one baking pan, spread them out over two baking pans or cook them in batches.

Sweet potato fries are slightly higher in calories and carbs but also more nutrient dense than French fries. The greatest nutrient difference is that French fries have no vitamin A, while sweet potato fries are high in this nutrient. Vitamin A is important for your vision and immune system ( 2 ).

Yes — sweet potatoes are generally considered a paleo-approved food, however, some paleo dieters prefer to limit their consumption to avoid consuming too many carbohydrates that spike their blood sugar levels.

In a low-carb diet, one sweet potato has half of the calories from carbohydrates that you may be allowed. But that's still less than the carb content of a white potato: 35 grams, on average. That's also less than those sweet potato fries. The way they're prepared raises their carb content to about 34 grams.

The cold water bath helps rinse the starch off the sweet potatoes so they're a bit more crispy. That said, if you do not have the time, you can still get crispy baked sweet potato fries by using high heat and a little drizzle of olive oil.

Before the air fryer became popular I was all about baked sweet potato fries. I still love them, but I have to admit that using the air fryer to make them is faster and they actually get crispier too. Spoiler alert: there's no need to soak your potatoes in water ahead of time!

The secret to crispy on the outside/fluffy on the inside is to cook them twice. Use russet (starchy) potatoes. Cut your fries and put them in an ice water bath to rinse off excess starch and prevent them from turning brown while you finish cutting. Try to keep the fries uniform in size so they cook evenly.

"With very similar nutrient profiles and the fact that deep frying either type of potato essentially makes both equally unhealthy, there's no real health benefit to choosing sweet potato fries over regular ones," adds Willingham.

You can still eat sweet potatoes if you have diabetes, assures Huff. The fiber content in sweet potatoes, especially if you consume them with the skin on, can help reduce spikes in your blood sugar. Plus, how you cook your sweet potatoes can also help reduce the extent to which your blood sugar rises.

Why is rice not paleo? ›

Strict paleo dieters exclude all grains from their diets — including rice — primarily due to their high phytate content. Although it's technically prohibited, many people still consume small amounts of white rice while following a paleo diet because it's lower in phytates, compared with other types.

While we have said in the past that coffee is not Paleo, we have changed our position based on new research and now we believe that coffee is fine for most people.

Monk Fruit Extract, Xylitol, and Erythritol

Like stevia, monk fruit is a natural plant extract that can be used to add sweetness to foods and beverages without calories or blood sugar spikes.

“Sweet potatoes are a source of carbohydrates, which raise blood sugars,” says White. “People with diabetes can eat carbs but need to watch portions of foods with carbs.” What this means: Limit portions to half a sweet potato per meal or snack.

Butternut Squash: Similar to sweet potatoes in flavor and texture, butternut squash is a good low-carb alternative. It contains less than 12 grams of carbs and is high in nutrients such as vitamins A and C, magnesium, and potassium.

The carb content varies depending on the potato variety. The lowest is Zerella with 8.9 g per 100 g. GiLICIOUS comes in at 10.3 g per 100. Both of these are marketed as low carb potatoes and claim '25% less carbs'.

My guess is you aren't blanching the sweet potato fries before you are frying them. In order to get crispy fries, of any type, you need to cook them twice. You begin by either boiling them in water, or frying them at 325, until they are just cooked through, but not so much that they lose their shape.

Don't overcrowd the baking sheet!

This is an important one! If the baking sheet it too crowded, the sweet potatoes will not crisp. You should provide optimal space for air to flow through, and the sweet potatoes shouldn't be touching.

Why do my air fryer sweet potato fries turn out soggy? A couple of reasons! It could be that the temperature of your fryer was too low, that you used too much oil, or that you crammed too many fries into one batch. Preheating before adding sweet potato fries to the air fryer also guarantees the crispiest results.

If they are still not crispy you might have skipped a step or you might not have let them cool down sufficiently. Make sure to cool them in a single even layer and also make sure that the oil has the right temperature. Or maybe you've used the wrong potatoes to make them.