Golden brown, soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside, these are the best air fryer sweet potato chips! No soaking time and no boiling.
Depending on the size of your air fryer basket, you don't even need to be concerned about baking them in a single layer.
Simply season, add oil and maizena (cornstarch) and air fry without preheating the air fryer. With a cooking time of 20 minutes, your irresistible chips are ready!
Orange Sweet Potato Fries Air Fryer Recipe
We love roasted potatoes, oven-baked or air fryer potatoes, they are all the same delicious! Imagine my surprise when I decided to try orange sweet potato fries and they refused to crisp up😕
Starch content: At first I thought it may have been because orange sweet potatoes have less starch than regular potatoes, but even after I added maizena they were not impressively crunchy.
Iced the potatoes: I dunked the potato slices in ice water and ice cubes to remove excess starch. My old school brain said keep them in water to avoid browning, like we do when we make mashed potato.
Did that work? Covering them in water to prevent them from turning brown? Yes.
Icing them to get the crunch? Short answer, the result did not warrant the time it took to soak and dry.
Par-cooking: This idea was scrapped before I even started. Can't imagine a boiling cook time first when making air fryer chips.
Full recipe card below
Ingredients for this Sweet Potato Recipe
These potato chips (or fries for my American readers) in South Africa we call them 'chips'. We may even go as far as calling them air fryer sweet potato wedges.
Regardless of what you call them, they are still super crunchy, cooked through, delicious, nutritious and the perfect snack!
Using 5 affordable simple ingredients, healthier than deep frying, quick and easy!
- Sweet potato - I used Kara sweet (medium size) potatoes, white flesh, ideal for boiling or roasting. They have a purple sticker saying 'kara purple" from Woolworths.
- Maizena (cornstarch) - Definitely adds the crunchy texture.
- Oil - Use the neutral-tasting frying oil that you prefer (sunflower, avocado oil, grapeseed, vegetable etc.)
- Paprika - Regular paprika gives them great flavor and color!
- Salt & Black pepper - To taste.
How to Make the Crispiest Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes
This recipe is for sweet potato chips and can also be used for air fryer potato wedges. Thicker slices will require more time so check them.
Wash: If your sweet potatoes needs rinsing, then do so. You can peel them or leave the peels on (personal choice). I leave them on, and slice, they crisp up beautifully, are healthy and it's quicker!
Cut Into Fries: Next, slice the sweet potatoes into chips and add them to a large bowl or bag. I also like working off a sheet pan or a large mixing bowl to give them space during the prep.
Coat and Cook: Add the oil, salt, pepper, paprika and maizena (cornstarch). For best results use your hands to get them properly coated and into the air fryer basket. Cook till golden brown and shake it a few times (about 2-3) while air frying.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
I'd like to receive tips & recipes from Anosmic Kitchen.
Serve: These crunchy sweet potato slices have a natural sweetness which is enhanced with a touch of salt. Dip into ketchup, garlic aioli or sour cream.
What to Serve with Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries (or Chips)
Potato chips can be served with sandwiches or with Calzone Meat Pie and here are a few more ideas for you:
Before we get to serving, on a side note, I'm smiling as I remember my brother sending me a photo the other idea of a 'bunny chow'.
If you're smiling reading this then you know what it is:)
For those of you who don't, a bunny chow is an Indian South African dish where you remove the inside of the bread so you are left with a hollowed loaf and then you fill it with curry and a side of salad or in this case a side of potata chips.
- Crusy bread with chips dipped in braai sauce (BBQ sauce) or chipotle sauce. Try you favorite dipping sauce.
- Homemade ciabatta
- Serve these chips with a Baked Beans and Chickpeas Curry and then this What To Do With Leftover Bean Curry with a fried egg on top for the ultimate weekend brunch!
- Crispy chips are great with anything really including Salami Pizza With Cherry Tomatoes and Mozzarella Cheese
More Potato Side Dishes
Try these potato recipes for the perfect side dish!
Storage
If you have any leftover sweet potato fries can store them for later in an airtight container but they will have lost some of the crunch factor. When I made this batch there were no leftover fries, they were gone in minutes!
- Refrigerate: Airtight container for 3-4 days.
- Freezer: Sweet potatoes chips can freeze in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Cool completely before freezing. Unless you are making a really big batch, these will be demolished at the table!
- Reheat: In the air fryer for around 4-5 minutes on the 'reheat' setting or 180 degrees celsius which is around 356 fahrenheit.
Expert Tips
After my attempts at the best crunchiest tastiest air fryer chips, these are my tips for you to make them perfect first time!
- Chip size: Don't cut the potatoes too thin.
- Potato ends: Slice off the end bits, this gives the potato a smooth edge and prevents the tips from burning before the potatoes are cooked through.
- Oil: Use oil, it does help but too much will have the reverse effect. I used 2 tablespoons of oil for about 3-4 medium potatoes. Less potatoes, less oil.
- Shake the basket: Give the air fryer a shake twice in the cooking time. The hot air in the fryer seems to burn more in specific spots so you do need to shake the basket. However, there's no need to keep opening it, twice should suffice and then let it cook.
- Slicing: Use a sharp knife to make the cutting easier and safer.
Feel free to combine your own herbs and spices - garlic powder, chopped rosemary, parsley, thyme, chili powder, cayenne pepper or your favorite chip and potato spice.
Tip: It's best to add any herb flavoring in the last few minutes so they dont burn.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on the potato type, if you dry them good enough, how thin or thick they are and the temperature setting. Simply follow my recipe without soaking and still get crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside potatoes.
If you are making fries then 10-12 minutes but if you are making a chunkier cut like my chips, then 20-22 minutes.
Easy Air Fryer Recipes
Stay in touch!
Sign up to our newsletter and follow along Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for our latest recipes! Tag all your fabulous creations #anosmickitchen.
Please don't forget to leave a rating on the recipe card below and a comment. This helps my blog to grow and we can then continue providing free recipes for you.
The Best Air Fryer Sweet Potato Chips
Equipment
- 1 Air fryer
Ingredients
- 394 grams raw sweet potato slices, Kara purple sweet potatoes, red skin, white flesh (3-4 medium size sweet potatoes makes 394 grams cut slices)
- 2 tablespoons neutral tasting frying oil, the one you prefer (eg. grapeseed, avocado, sunflower, canola and vegetable oil)
- ½ teaspoon paprika (half teaspoon packed)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon maizena (cornstarch)
Instructions
- Wash and dry the potatoes then place them onto a chopping board. With a sharp knife, carefully slice down the middle lenghtwise and place the first half cut-side-down onto the board. Now start slicing each half into about 1cm thick slices.
- Slice off the end bits if they are pointed, they will burn first so discard. Any other pieces that you are not using, bag and freeze for stews, soups and mash if you like.
- Add the cut potato slices to a bowl or a large piece of parchment paper or a sheet pan to season them. Now add the salt, pepper, paprika and oil, use your hands to coat them all over, toss over the maizena/cornstarch and again with your hands, give them a quick toss.
- Tip them into the air fryer basket, close and set the air fryer to 190C/374F for 20 minutes. Shake twice in that time, for the rest of the time, let them cook.
- Serve with a touch of salt and a dipping sauce like ketchup, garlic aioli or sour cream.
Notes
- Indicated nutritional information is estimated per person (4 people)
- If you are using any mixed dried herbs or chili flakes, add them towards the end so they don't burn.
- You can peel your sweet potatoes before air frying but it's an unecessary step, the skin is edible, healthy and it crisps up!
- Shake the potato chips 2-3 times during the cooking process. I shook it twice and they were good so left them alone. No need to continue opening and closing.
Comments
No Comments