Unflattering Confession of the Day, Part 1: I am the girl who never orders her own plate of fries but will steal a few of yours. My exception is Grilled Sweet Potato Fries, which leads me to Unflattering Confession of the Day, Part 2…
Email Me the Recipe!
From time to time, we'll send you the best of Well Plated. Already registered? Log in here.
I want the extra-large Grilled Sweet Potato Fries order. And I don’t want to share.
I know it’s hypocritical. I’m THAT girl at dinner who will happily mooch your fries (I promise I only want a few!), but when a healthy version of sweet potato fries is on the table, I can’t help but want every last delicious wedge all to myself.
Fortunately, with this easy method to make Grilled Sweet Potato Fries at home, everyone can munch barbecued sweet potato slices to his or her heart’s content.
About These Grilled Sweet Potato Fries
I’ve set a goal this summer to grill more often and to increase my grilling prowess while I do it. Although I could probably subsist on Grilled Chicken Fajitas and Grilled Pesto Chicken Skewers for the next three months and be a happy girl, for the sake of balance and variety, I wanted to learn to grill more vegetables too (like these Grilled Brussels Sprouts and Grilled Potatoes).
After all, what is a Green Chile Grilled Chicken Burger or Portobello Mushroom Burger without a side of fries (or Brussels Sprouts Chips or Grilled Asparagus) to go along with it?
I played around with a few different ways to make sweet potato fries on the grill (and with Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries, and in the oven for Sweet Potato Fries too), and the method for grilling sweet potato slices I’m sharing today (loosely adapted from Bobby Flay) was by far the most effective.
You begin by boiling the sweet potatoes whole on the stove until tender, then slice them into wedges, toss them with the spices, and grill. The pre-boil does add a bit of extra time, but the resulting creamy interior and crisp exterior is absolutely worth it.
If you need to speed the process along, you can boil the sweet potatoes a day in advance, then store them whole in the refrigerator until you are ready to fire up the grill.
Once you have your sweet potatoes ready for the barbecue, you can toss them in any blend of spices you like. My go-to for sweet potatoes is a sweet, smoky combo of brown sugar or maple syrup and chipotle chile pepper. The pairing is magnificent, and years and years after adding it to sweet potato dishes, I have yet to tire of it.
I wrote this recipe for four sweet potatoes, enough to serve four to six average sweet potato fry lovers. You can easily adjust the quantities up or down depending upon the size of your party, its relative sweet potato fry obsession, and, of course, how willing you are to share.
More Delicious Sweet Potato Recipes
Recommended Tools to Make This Recipe
- Grill tongs
- All-purpose baking sheet (I use this to carry the veggies to the grill, then serve them from it directly)
Grilled Sweet Potato Fries
email me the recipe!
From time to time, we’ll send you the best of Well Plated. Already registered? Log in here.
Ingredients
- 4 large sweet potatoes scrubbed with skin on
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt plus 1 teaspoon, divided
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar light or dark
- 1 teaspoon ground chipotle chile pepper NOT cayenne pepper. If using cayenne, reduce to 1/4 teaspoon
- Chopped fresh cilantro optional for serving
Instructions
- Place the whole potatoes in a large pot of cold water. Add 2 tablespoons salt, then bring to a gentle boil. Let boil until the potatoes are tender, but still quite firm, about 10 to 15 minutes. You should be able to pierce them with a fork somewhat easily, but the potatoes should still be too firm too eat. Drain and let cool slightly. Heat the grill to medium (about 400 degrees F).
- Slice each potato in half lengthwise, then slice each half into 4 to 6 wedges, depending on the size. Each wedge should be about 1/3 inch thick. As you slice the potatoes, peel off their skins (they should come off easily). Place the wedges in a bowl, then drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with brown sugar, chipotle chile pepper, and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Toss to coat.
- Grill the sweet potato fries on each side until they’re lightly golden brown, have some grill marks (depending upon your preference) and are tender, about 6 minutes total. Remove to a serving platter. Enjoy hot, sprinkled with cilantro as desired.
Nutrition
Join today and start saving your favorite recipes
Create an account to easily save your favorite recipes and access FREE meal plans.
Sign Me Up
I will NEVER share sweet potato fries either. ;) These look absolutely wonderful Erin! I can’t wait to try them out! :)
Thanks so much, Marina!
I love sweet potato fries, but am not sure about grilling them (I can hear my husband, the family griller, complaining already…) You’re just going to force me to learn to grill, aren’t you???? :-)
Chipotle is not as hot as cayenne, but it still has notable heat. Something most people are probably not aware of is that if you heat and reheat chiles in whatever form (or heat continuously), they get hotter the longer they are heated.
I hope you do have a chance to give them a try, Susan! They’re worth it. :)
Love Sweet Potato Fries. Thanks!
Made these right away and they were amazing! Mine got a little more charred than yours but they tasted great, definetly making these again! Thanks for sharing!
Elisabeth, I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks so much for taking the time to give them a try and leave this awesome review!
I was so excited when I saw the recipe yesterday and had to try it right away. Stopped at the grocery store on my way home from work to pick up the sweet potatoes. Practically ran to the kitchen to get started (didn’t even put my stuff away…lol). The technique for this recipe is PERFECT!!! They turned out PERFECT!!! Even the pieces that got a little more “grilled” than the others were delicious. Ok, they were black on one side…my bad for placement on the grill, but seriously, the brown sugar caramelized which added to the flavor and texture of the fries. Well done Erin and thank you!!!
YAY Michelle! Thank you so much for giving them a try and sharing how it went. :) I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
hey girl-these fries look so yummy! This is what my husband orders at restaurants sometimes as his side!
Thanks, Shawnna! Sweet potato fries are definitely hard to pass up on a menu!
These were awesome. We have baked sweet potato fries pretty regularly here and I’m not sure we can go back!
I was in a hurry and mistakenly cut my fries before boiling (I thought I remembered what I was supposed to do). It shortened the boil time by a bit and we ate the skins, but I think they still turned out great. Thanks for enlightening us!
Angela, I’m so glad you had a chance to try these fries and enjoyed them! Thanks for taking the time to share how it went. :)
Hi! I want to make this for a class party but not everyone can take spicy. Is it possible if I substitute the chile pepper with just pepper? Will it work out the same?
Hi! The two actually have pretty different flavors, so I would recommend using regular chili powder, which is much less spicy. I hope you enjoy it!
Hi Erin,
I’ve never made a bad meal from your website – love your recipes and am looking forward to trying this one on the weekend!! Do you think I could boil/chop the potatoes in advance (few hours or a day) before seasoning and grilling?
Thanks!
M.
Melizabeth, that is just the kindest comment, THANK YOU! I’m not sure about boiling in advance, but I think you could try it! I’d chop/boil no more than 1 day ahead. Let the potatoes come to room temp prior to seasoning and grilling. If you do decide to play around, I’d love to hear how it goes (and again, this is just my hunch that it works! I really REALLY hope it does, but wanted to be up front about that).
Hi I want to make this sweet potato grilled but need to know if I peel them before boiling whole or no?thanks
Hi Patty, no need to peel them. Hope you enjoy the fries!
hi so I’m cooking both the pork tenderloin and the grilled sweet potato but I don’t have a grill at the moment so can I use my oven and if so can you please give me directions ?thank you so much can’t wait to try it yum
Hi Patty! Here is a recipe for oven baked sweet potato fries: https://www.wellplated.com/sweet-potato-fries/ For the pork tenderloin, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. (this will depend on the size and bake for 12-20 minutes) when it reads 135 to 140 degrees on an instant read thermometer at the thickest part of the meat, remove from oven. Transfer to a cutting board, cover, and let rest for 10 minutes (the carry-over cooking will bring the meat up to 145 degrees F).
Can you leave the skin on? Hoping to make them this weekend!
Thx
Hi Carol, I haven’t tried it myself but you probably could. If you decide to experiment, I’d love to know how it goes!