An easy side dish made on the barbecue! Grilled sweet potato fries are sweet and salty, with a perfectly tender and fluff inside and crispy outside. Keep the skins on and cut them into wedges for the perfect sweet potato fry on the grill. They are the perfect side dish to go with burgers, hot dogs or whatever you've got on the grill!
A smoky and delicious take on sweet potato fries, this recipe uses the grill to add some char and flavour to the sweet potatoes.
You’ll want to make a homemade chipotle dip or tzatziki sauce, and serve it alongside grilled Greek chicken and an Italian coleslaw and you’ve got yourself the perfect summer dinner.
I also love to make baked sweet potatoes on the barbecue or baked potatoes on the grill as easy side dishes.
Why this recipe works
Toss parboiled sweet potato wedges in a simple spice rub of canola oil, cumin and garlic powder and grill them until heated through and charred. Parboiling the potatoes ahead of time means they will be perfectly tender without burning.
Ingredients you’ll need
- Sweet potatoes, you’ll want to choose sweet potatoes that are evenly shaped, I find oval ones are a bit easier to slice into even wedges. Because I like keeping the skins on, you’ll want tot give them a good scrub before cooking.
- For the spice rub, I use a combination of cumin, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. I like the subtle earthy notes that cumin brings, and the cayenne pepper adds some much needed heat to balance the sweetness of the vegetables, but they won’t be spicy. Garlic is a must with sweet potatoes!
- In terms of the oil, use a neutral oil like canola oil. This won’t add any flavor to the dish and it has a higher smoke point than olive oil.
Expert tips
- I recommend slicing the sweet potatoes into wedges, this creates more surface area for grilling (more flavor from charred grill marks!) and will also create slices that are thick enough that they won’t fall through the grates super easily.
- You’ll want to parboil the wedges in salted water for about three minutes. This means the sweet potatoes will be partially cooked before they hit the grill and you’ll only need to grill them for about three minutes per side.
- Place the sweet potato wedges crosswise across the grates to avoid the wedges from falling in between. You could also use a grill basket.
Grilled sweet potato fries
Ingredients
- 3 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed and sliced into fries or wedges
- 2 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- parsley to serve
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil salted water in a large pot, add sweet potatoes and cook for 3 minutes. Drain.
- Preheat grill over medium-high heat.
- In a large bowl, toss parboiled sweet potatoes with canola oil, cumin, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and salt. Place crosswise across the grates (to avoid wedges from falling in) and grill, for 3 minutes per side until dark grill marks appear and wedges are fork tender.
Notes
- Slice the fries into a uniform size so that they cook evenly.
- After a quick three-minute parboil, they won’t be fork tender yet because they’ll still need six minutes on the grill.
- Place the fries crosswise on the grill so that they don’t fall through the cracks or use a grill basket.
Let me know if you give these grilled sweet potato wedges a try in the comments below.
Stacey
Do we know how many calories are in these?
Lou
Hi Stacey, unfortunately I do not, but I believe there are tools online that can help calculate the nutritional information for you.
Josh
YUM! Sweet potatoes are sooo freakin’ good, thanks for sharing.
Lou
They sure are, thanks for your comment Josh! :)
Keenan
This blog post was just to honest. I haven’t tried the recipe yet… Key word yet. Will though soon.
Your post is almost 1 year old. Hope the seasons in life are still the “trendy thing”???
Thanks for the recipe and the extra’s. :)
Shirley
I am starting to love sweet potato fries & this recipe sounds awesome & easy to prepare! I am going to treat myself this evening!
Colleen Milne
Hi Lou! You beat me to this, as grilled sweet potato wedges were my next post. Yours look wonderful, and I agree with you on the “seasons” concept. We are all doing what drives us for a reason, and sometimes we just have to go with it, because that’s where our greatest inspiration may come. Lovely post!
Lou
Hi Colleen! Great minds think alike! I’m sure your grilled sweet potatoes are equally as delicious! Thanks for your encouragement, I think you’re right on that one. :)
Joyce
Love the flavour of cumin! This sounds like a great side dish for any BBQ!
Lou
Thank you Joyce :)
Meaghan
I think all those feelings are completely normal as a 20 something year old. At least they were in my experience. It is all about being ready for your next adventure! And in the meantime those grilled sweet potato wedges look like the perfect treat to enjoy with friends while contemplating or commiserating life.
Lou
Thanks Meaghan. I love hearing that people have had a similar experience, it makes me feel like maybe I will eventually figure everything out. Thanks for your comment. :)
Cathy
These look wonderful! I must try them! I like the idea of seasons of life, too. I think that’s a very good way to look at things.
Lou
Thank you Cathy, let me know if you try them!
Samantha @mykitchenlove
I too am an over thinker. In this case I’ve never (over) thought to grill sweet potato wedges! They look great. I’ll definitely be giving it a try. Hope you swing into a blogging season soon ;)
Lou
Thank you Samantha, I hope so too! I think I’m on my way now. :)