Sweet Potato Fries

Tanya Eisenwasser

Print Recipe

A low histamine sweet potato side with olive oil, cassava flour, sea salt, and fresh rosemary.

Prep 30 min

Cook 35 min

Serves 4

Gluten-freeDairy-freeVegan

Ingredients

• 2 large sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds), scrubbed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon cassava flour
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary (optional)

Instructions

Cut and Soak

1. Scrub the sweet potatoes well and cut off any sprouts or bruised spots. Leave the skin on.
2. Cut each sweet potato into sticks about 1/2 inch thick, keeping them as even as you can so they finish at the same time.
3. Put the sticks in a bowl of cold water and let them soak for 20 minutes. This pulls out surface starch.

Dry and Season

1. Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and line a large sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. Drain the sticks and dry them thoroughly with a clean towel. Any water left on them will steam instead of crisp.
3. Toss the dry sticks with the cassava flour until they are lightly and evenly coated.
4. Add the olive oil, salt, and rosemary, and toss again so every stick has a thin film of oil.

Bake

1. Spread the fries on the sheet pan in a single layer with space between them. Use two pans if they are touching.
2. Bake for 18 minutes, then flip each stick with a spatula.
3. Bake for another 12 to 17 minutes, until the edges are browned and firm.
4. Salt to taste and serve right away, while they are at their crispest.

Tips & Substitutions

• The soak is what makes them crisp. Twenty minutes in cold water pulls surface starch off the cut sticks, and drying them completely afterward matters just as much. Wet fries steam in the oven and come out soft.
• Give them room on the tray. Crowding is the most common reason oven fries stay limp. Leave at least half an inch between sticks and split the batch across two pans rather than piling one.
• Skip the paprika. Most sweet potato fry recipes call for smoked or sweet paprika. This one leaves it out and uses rosemary instead, which is a commonly tolerated herb on a low histamine diet.
• Swap the oil. Coconut oil works in place of olive oil and holds up well at 425°F. Both give a clean flavor without additives.
• No cassava flour on hand? Leave it out. The fries will be a little softer at the edges but still bake well. Potato starch is another option if you tolerate it.
• Want the simpler version? A whole baked sweet potato takes no cutting at all, and zucchini fries use the same oven method with a different vegetable.

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Why This Works

Sweet potato. Generally considered low in histamine and a common staple for people eating this way. Buying firm, unblemished sweet potatoes and cooking them the day you cut them keeps the dish as fresh as possible.

Olive oil. A commonly tolerated fat with a neutral taste. It coats the sticks so they brown evenly, without the butter flavoring or preservatives found in frozen fries.

Cassava flour. A plain single-ingredient starch that dries the outside of each stick before it hits the heat. It adds crunch without wheat or a seasoned coating.

Fresh rosemary. Generally considered low histamine and a straight swap for the paprika and chili blends that usually go on sweet potato fries. Tolerance varies, so start with a small amount.

Storage

Sweet potato fries are best within about 15 minutes of coming out of the oven. Freshly made is the version most people tolerate best, so eat them the day they are made. If you have extra, let them cool briefly and freeze them in a single layer the same day rather than refrigerating. Reheat them straight from the freezer in a 425°F (220°C) oven until they are hot all the way through, roughly 8 to 10 minutes, or in an air fryer, which brings back most of the crunch. Skip the microwave.