RECIPE | Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Boss Sauce

I'm not usually a fan of regular fries since I didn't eat a lot of junk food when I was little. Recently, I was tasked with the mission of dinner pick-up at Bad to the Bone BBQ down in San Juan Capistrano. After getting stares for being Asian and some recommendations raving about their sweet potato fries, I cursed myself for doubting the amazingness that is their sweet potato fries.

A couple weeks later, I found myself at Umami Burger with their equally as awesome sweet potato fries served with Umami ketchup (which frankly in my opinion, drowned out the sweet potato goodness). I'll save the Umami Burger review for another post, but here's a super easy and healthy(er) homemade version of sweet potato fries inspired by my adventures, including my secret ingredient: cinnamon! I actually don't really have an official recipe for this since I eyeballed the seasonings, so feel free to adjust to your taste :)

Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Boss Sauce

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

Fries

(1) 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
(2) 2 tsp sea salt
(3) 3 tsp cinnamon
(4) olive oil (I used grapeseed)
(5) 1 tbsp paprika
(6) 2 large sweet potatoes (mine were white because I accidentally picked up Korean yams, but they taste the same!)

(7) 1 tbsp oregano, parsley, or Italian seasoning
(8) 1 tsp chili powder (omit if you're not a fan of spicy)
(9) 1 1/2 tsp onion powder (not shown)

Boss Sauce

Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise (found at Asian supermarkets, can substitute with regular mayo)

Sriracha "rooster" sauce (also found at Asian supermarkets)

Steps

Fries

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash, peel, and cut the sweet potatoes into half-inch slices. Do try to keep the slices uniform so that they can bake evenly. Soak slices into a bowl of salted cold water (just eyeball the salt; it's just to keep the potatoes from browning) for about 5 minutes. 

2. While the slices are soaking, measure out the sea salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, oregano/parsley/Italian seasoning, cinnamon, and chili powder in a small bowl.

3. Drain the potato slices and discard the salted cold water. In a large mixing bowl, drizzle with sufficient olive oil to coat the slices evenly.

4. Add in your bowl of seasonings and toss (I used my hands) to coat evenly. 

5. Line baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup (I find that the fries stick to aluminum foil and burn more easily). Arrange slices into a single layer and bake. After 20 minutes, carefully flip the fries over with a spatula.

6. Bake for another 15 minutes, then crank up the oven temperature to 450 degrees for the last 5 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on the fries since they can burn easily. Serve with Boss Sauce. 

Boss Sauce

1. In a small bowl, squeeze 3 tablespoons of Japanese mayo and 1 tablespoon of Sriracha. Feel free to adjust to your spice level with the Sriracha.

2. With a fork or chopstick, mix mix mix! Serve with sweet potato fries. I love how the the Japanese mayo is sweet and cooling while balancing out the spiciness of the Sriracha and the chili powder.