Fire up the barbecue and make these grilled sweet potato fries seasoned with cumin and cayenne pepper. They are the perfect side dish to go with burgers, hot dogs or whatever you’ve got on the grill! Start with a quick parboil for perfectly crisp fries.
Oh, do I ever love grilled sweet potatoes; cooking them on the grill makes them deliciously sweet with a hint of smoke. Plus, they are just so gorgeous on your plate.
Why this recipe works
The key to making any kind of starchy vegetable on the grill is to parboil them first. This is so that they cook on the inside without burning on the outside. You don’t want to end up with burnt, raw sweet potatoes, so follow my tips!
You’ll cut the sweet potatoes into fries or wedges, drop them into a pot of boiling water, drain them and toss them in your favorite seasonings.
Ingredients you’ll need
- Sweet potatoes, look for medium-sized potatoes that are evenly shaped (this helps you have evenly shaped fries!). I like to keep the skin on mine, so be sure to give them a good scrub before slicing.
- Canola oil is my go-to neutral oil, it doesn’t really bring any flavor and it has a higher smoke point than olive oil.
- For the seasonings, I love a combination of earthy cumin with cayenne pepper for a little bit of heat.
- I always finish off a plate of fries with fresh herbs, parsley or cilantro are great options here.
- Salt because nobody wants an under-seasoned french fry. I recommend tossing the fries in some salt before grilling and then finishing off with a little extra sprinkle just before serving.
Expert tips
- I like to keep the skin on the sweet potatoes as it adds an interesting texture (grilled sweet potato fries don’t get crispy the way the deep fried variety do).
- Try to keep your fries uniform in size to ensure they all cook in the same amount of time.
- Start by parboiling the sliced sweet potatoes, this will ensure that they cook all the way through without burning on the grill. It may seem like an extra step, but trust me, you don’t want burnt sweet potatoes.
- I grill the fries crosswise across the grates so that they don’t fall through. You could absolutely use a grilling basket as well.
Serving suggestions
I’d serve these with grilled chicken wings or grilled salmon in foil. You could also serve these with other barbecue favourites like orzo pasta salad or summer quinoa salad.
Grilled sweet potato fries
Ingredients
- 3 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed and sliced into fries or wedges
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- parsley to serve
Instructions
- Preheat grill over medium-high heat.
- Boil salted water in a large pot, add sweet potatoes and cook for 3 minutes. Drain.
- In a large bowl, toss parboiled sweet potatoes with canola oil, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt.
- Grill, for 3 minutes per side.
- Serve topped with parsley.
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.
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