Healthy French Fries – 2 Easy Swaps
Delicious, Healthy French Fries
Every so often, a hankering for some great french fries just can’t be denied! Fortunately, there are some nutrient-rich, oven-baked options for healthy french fries that can satisfy those cravings while keeping your health goals on track.
I’m sharing two recipes for oven-baked, healthy french fries: one with sweet potatoes, and one with turnips. Both are incredibly simple to make and are also versatile. You can easily adapt these recipes with your favorite herbs and spices or whatever you have on hand in the kitchen.
Sweet Potato Fries
I love these fries! Any time sweet potato fries are available at a restaurant, they’re always worth the swap, and not just because of the taste. Sweet potatoes are rich in a multitude of vitamins and minerals, including vitamins A, B, C, and D, calcium, magnesium, and potassium. They’re also rich in antioxidants, so they help your cells repair damage.
Fortunately, you can enjoy sweet potato fries at home as well as when you’re dining out. Simply scrub and wash the potatoes and cut them into matchsticks — peeling is optional. Thinner matchsticks will create crispier fries, and thicker matchsticks will make softer fries.
Next, toss the fries with olive oil and your herbs and spices of choice, and spread out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Then bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes (or longer for desired crispiness), flipping the fries halfway through.
I gave my fries a real kick by seasoning them with 2 teaspoons of dried minced onion flakes. Then I added 1.5 tsp of dried oregano (fresh from our garden!) and 1 tsp of dried rosemary.
Our favorite dipping sauce for fries by far is Vermont’s Butternut Mountain Farm Maple Barbeque Sauce. This sauce is just amazing and worth grabbing anytime you can find it!
Sweet Potato Fries
Equipment
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 ½ tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp dried minced onion flakes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Cut the sweet potatoes into matchsticks (peeling them first is optional). Thicker matchsticks will make softer fries, and thinner matchsticks will make crispier fries.
- In a bowl, toss the fries with olive oil and then with the minced onion, rosemary, and oregano.
- Spread the fries evenly onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 425 degrees, flipping fries halfway through baking time.
- Enjoy!
Turnip Fries
Turnips are a less traditional ingredient for making fries, but they’re just as delicious as potatoes and offer fantastic nutrients as well. Turnips are high in fiber, low in calories, and full of vitamins and minerals (vitamins A, C, K, and the B family, iron, folate, calcium, potassium, and magnesium, to name a few).
Make sure you peel the turnips first, and then the preparation method is similar to sweet potato fries. Cut them into matchsticks with your desired thickness. Toss the fries with olive oil and your choice of herbs and spices. With 3 turnips, I used a simple blend of ½ tsp garlic salt and ¼ tsp freshly ground pepper.
Spread the fries onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Then bake at 425 degrees for 45 minutes, flipping the fries halfway through.
During the baking step, turnip fries are a bit different from sweet potato fries because they won’t really get crispier the longer they cook. They can, however, get burned. I actually like the slightly charred flavor that the smaller fries get, but these fries can quickly turn from “slightly charred” to fully burned, so it’s best to keep an eye on your fries to make sure this doesn’t happen.
Turnip Fries
Equipment
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
- 3 turnips
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp garlic salt
- ¼ tsp ground pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Peel the turnips and cut them into matchsticks.
- In a bowl, toss the turnip fries with olive oil and then with the garlic salt and ground pepper.
- Spread the fries evenly onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 45 minutes at 425 degrees, flipping fries halfway through baking time.
- Enjoy!
What to Eat with Your Healthy Fries
As I noted before, the favorite dipping sauce for all fries in my house is the Butternut Mountain Farm Maple Barbeque Sauce. Other great options with turnip fries are ketchup (of course!) or ranch dressing.
We love serving these with veggie burgers (here’s how I prep best ever veggie burgers). It’s hard to beat a weeknight meal of burgers and fries, and you can enjoy the meal even more knowing that you’ve made a great swap in favor of your health.
I hope you enjoy these recipes!
