These are the hottest potatoes in restaurants these days. It's no wonder--the little spears are tasty. Although they share the same name as the standard potato, they taste quite different. They're sweeter and far more nutritious. Instead of deep frying them, we're baking them coated with a small amount of olive oil. The skinny on a serving is 106 calories and 4.5 grams of fat. A medium size French fries at Carl's Jr. has an astounding 710 calories and 33 grams of fat. The sodium content of our potatoes is only 207mg compared to Carl's Jr.'s at 1,790mg.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 25-30 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 (12ounce) bags Sweet Potato Spears from Trader Joe's or 2 large sweet potatoes (~2 pounds)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Fresh ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- If you're not using already prepped bags, peel the sweet potatoes and cut into 1/8 inch spears.
- Place sweet potato spears on a baking pan and drizzle the olive oil over the potatoes. Toss well to coat evenly.
- Arrange potato spears on the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until tender and crisp. Turn potatoes once during baking.
Serves 6
Food Fact: Sweet potatoes are sweeter than a regular potato and grow in warmer climates. In America we grow two main types of sweet potatoes: One is a pale sweet potato and the other is a darker-skinned variety.
Healthy Benefits: Sweet potatoes have a high nutritional value. They're loaded with vitamin A. In fact, one sweet potato has twice the amount of vitamin A a person needs in one day. They also contain an impressive amount of potassium, fiber and vitamin C.
Shopping Tip: We found our prepped sweet potato spears at Trader Joe's but you can find them at most supermarkets.
Storage Tip: Store sweet potatoes as you would white potatoes--in a cool, dry place.
Serving Tip: Serve these sweet potato fries with our turkey burger.
Skinny Facts for One Serving of Skinny Sweet Potato Fries: 106 calories, 4.5g fat, 1.2g protein, 17g carbs, 3g fiber, 207mg sodium, 3g sugar
Fat Facts for a Medium-Size Carl's Jr. French Fries: 710 calories, 33g fat, 8g protein, 62g carbs, 5g fiber, 1790mg sodium, 1g sugar