Have a load of sweet potato fries that you didn’t manage to finish?
Well, the good news is that you can save them for later and reheat them to (nearly) their original texture.
I have experimented with several different sweet potato fry reheating methods, to find out what delivers the crunchiest outside and the softest, fluffiest inside.
In a rush? Use these links to skip to the section you need:
- Reheating sweet potato fries in the oven
- Reheating sweet potato fries in the air fryer
- Reheating sweet potato fries in the microwave
- Reheating sweet potato fries in a skillet
- Tips for storing and freezing sweet potato fries
Ready? Let’s jump right in.
What’s the best way to reheat sweet potato fries? The best way to reheat sweet potato fries is in the oven. Preheat your oven to 400°F/200°C. Next, spritz your fries with oil and spread them out on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Avoid any overlapping fries. Reheat the fries in the oven for 5-6 minutes or until piping hot.
A note on my experiment
I cooked up a delicious batch of sweet potato fries and kept them in the refrigerator overnight. (Okay, maybe I ate a few in the process…).
The next day, I tested four different ways of reheating them. I tested:
- The oven (best for baked fries)
- The air fryer (a good option)
- Frying in a skillet (best for fried fries)
- The microwave (avoid)
The skillet, air fryer, and oven all worked well but avoid the microwave if you can.
I used baked sweet potato fries for my experiment, but all these methods will work for fried fries too.
Top tip: thicker-cut fries tend to reheat better than thinner fries because there’s less risk of them drying out.
Reheating sweet potato fries in the oven
To reheat sweet potato fries in the oven, preheat it to 400°F (200°C). Spritz your fries with oil and spread them out on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Avoid any overlapping fries. Heat the fries in the oven for 5-6 minutes or until piping hot.
The oven is my top pick (unless you have an air fryer) because it’s easy, and the dry heat means you don’t end up with soggy fries.
It’s also healthy because you only need to use a minimal amount of oil (or none at all!).
How to reheat sweet potato fries in the oven:
- Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Lightly spritz your fries with oil and shake them about so all the fries are covered. You can also add extra seasoning at this point if you want to. (How To Make Seasoning Stick To Fries).
- Spread your sweet potato fries out on a parchment paper lined baking tray, avoiding any overlapping.
- Heat the fries in the oven for 2-3 minutes. Then take the tray out and shake it to flip the fries over.
- Heat the fries for another 2-3 minutes or until they’re piping hot.
If your fries are frozen, you can follow the same method, but you’ll have to increase the reheating time to around 10-15 minutes. The thickness of your fries will also affect the reheating time. Thicker fries will need longer.
The oil’s primary purpose is to aid in the crisping up of the skin of the sweet potato fry.
If you want to skip the oil, that’s totally fine. Just be prepared for the fries to be slightly less crispy, especially if they were fried originally.
You can use a conventional oven or a toaster oven for this. Toaster ovens generally work best because they’re smaller and the heat can circulate more efficiently, which is essential for crisping the fries up.
Verdict
The sweet potato fries out of the oven were good. The skin had a slight crunch to it, and the potato inside was still moist.
You can reheat a large number of fries at once, which is a big bonus for the oven.
Reheating sweet potato fries in the air fryer
To reheat sweet potato fries in the air fryer, preheat it to 350°F (180°C). Spread the fries out in the air fryer basket, avoiding any overlap. Spritz the fries with a small amount of oil and heat them for 2-3 minutes. Reheating sweet potato fries in the air fryer gives the crispiest results.
The air fryer is my personal favorite way to reheat sweet potato fries because it’s quicker than the oven, and the fries come out crispier.
But, not everyone has an air fryer (seriously, you NEED one!). Also, it’s only suitable for small batches, whereas you can do big batches in the oven.
How to reheat sweet potato fries in the air fryer:
- Preheat your air fryer to 350°F (180°C).
- Put your sweet potato fries in the air fryer basket, minimizing overlap.
- Spritz the fries with oil (optional).
- Heat them for 2-3 minutes, taking them out for a shake after a minute.
You can reheat your fries straight from frozen in the air fryer. Just heat them for 8-10 minutes instead of 2-3 minutes.
Be careful not to leave your fries in the air fryer too long, especially if you have thin fries. It’s easy to overcook stuff in the air fryer because it’s such a strong heating method.
There’s no need to use oil in the air fryer, but it does help if your main objective is to get the crispiest fries possible.
Too many fries in the air fryer will inhibit the crisping up process, and the fries nearer the bottom will come out soggy. Try to keep it to a single layer in the basket. If you have lots of sweet potato fries, do them in batches (or use the oven).
Verdict
The fries out of the air fryer were very similar to the oven ones. They had a slightly crunchy exterior and soft potato on the inside.
I used baked sweet potato fries for my experiment, but the air fryer would work even better if you have fried ones.
Reheating sweet potato fries in the microwave
To reheat sweet potato fries in the microwave, line a microwave-safe plate with a dry paper towel and spread the sweet potato fries out in a single layer. Make sure none of the fries are touching, and then microwave them for 30 seconds at a time until they’re piping hot.
The microwave isn’t the best choice for reheating sweet potato fries because they’ll come out soggy. If you had any crispy coating on your fries, it will be non-existent once they come out of the microwave.
But I appreciate that you don’t always have a choice.
How to reheat sweet potato fries in the microwave:
- Line a microwave-safe plate with a paper towel.
- Spread the sweet potato fries out in a single layer on the plate, minimizing touching.
- Microwave the fries for 30 seconds.
The microwave can’t crisp things up, so the sweet potato fries will come out limp and lack any crisp. But they’ll still taste like sweet potato fries. It’s just the texture that’s affected.
The paper towel helps to soak up any moisture that comes out. Without it, you risk the fries turning to total mush.
Verdict
Any sign of crunch was gone from the sweet potato fries after the microwave, but the potato was still soft so they weren’t totally inedible.
I had pretty thick fries, so I haven’t tested how thinner fries would fare.
But from what I know about microwaves and reheating food, I have a sneaky feeling that the lower the ratio of crispy coating to soft potato, the worse the results will be since it’s crispiness that the microwave destroys.
Reheating sweet potato fries in a skillet
To reheat sweet potato fries in a skillet, cover the bottom of the pan in frying oil and heat it until it starts to shimmer. Add the fries and spread them out so they’re in a single layer. Heat them in the pan for 5-6 minutes on all sides, and then rest the fries on a paper towel before serving.
The stove is a great way to reheat sweet potato fries if you want a crisp outside. It would be my method of choice for previously fried fries.
You need to use a fair amount of oil, so this isn’t the healthiest method, but it does produce crispy fries.
How to reheat sweet potato fries on the stove:
- Cover the bottom of your pan with an oil that has a high smoke point (vegetable oil, canola oil, peanut oil, avocado oil).
- Heat the oil until it starts to shimmer.
- Throw your fries into the pan and spread them out so they’re in a single layer.
- Heat the fries for 2-3 minutes before flipping them over with a spatula.
- Heat on all remaining sides for a further minute.
- When the fries are piping hot and crispy, take them out and rest them on a paper towel for a minute to absorb excess grease.
Make sure the oil is hot enough before you add any fries into the pan. Otherwise, they’ll soak up all the oil and taste greasy. You can always throw a test fry in and see if the oil sizzles before adding the rest of them.
You can’t reheat frozen fries this way, so I’d recommend using the oven or the air fryer instead. Too much water would leak out, causing spitting and leaving you with soggy fries.
Avoid olive oil here because it doesn’t have a high enough smoke point.
Verdict
This method definitely produces the crispiest sweet potato fries. I could even hear the crunch when I bit into the fry.
But it’s not healthy and produces the most washing up, which is why it’s not my top method.
How to store sweet potato fries
To store leftover sweet potato fries, wait for them to cool to room temperature, then put them in an airtight container lined with a paper towel. Keep the fries in the fridge. The paper towel will soak up excess moisture and stop the fries from getting too soggy. The fries will keep for 3-5 days.
To keep the sweet potato fries as crispy as possible, arrange them so they’re not touching. You can extra separate layers with paper towels.
Related: How To Store Cut Sweet Potatoes
However, I get this isn’t always practical if you have a lot to store so you can just throw them all in.
Make sure the fries are completely cool before you store them. Any heat will lead to condensation forming in the airtight container, and the water will drip down onto the fries rendering them soggy.
How to freeze leftover sweet potato fries
To freeze leftover sweet potato fries, lay them out on a baking tray so they’re not touching and put them in the freezer for an hour. After an hour, they should be hard enough to transfer into a large freezer bag and not stick together. The fries will stay at best quality for up to three months.
If you have a lot of fries, you can save time during the flash freezing stage by layering them. Separate the layers with parchment paper.
Squeeze as much air as possible out of the bag when you transfer the fries. The more air there is in the bag, the more chance there is of the fries developing freezer burn.
Note that if you have a choice, it’s always better to freeze your sweet potato fries in a prepped but not cooked state.
Cooked fries can get pretty mushy in the freezer. You can salvage them by using a good reheating method, but you’ll never be able to recreate that just cooked texture.
The only way to do that is to freeze the fries before you cook them.
How to freeze uncooked sweet potato fries
If you’re preparing the sweet potato fries in advance, you can freeze them before cooking them. Prepare the potatoes and cut them into your desired shape. Blanch them before arranging on a baking tray to flash freeze. Once frozen, transfer into a bigger freezer bag. The fries will last for up to 3 months.
How do I blanch the sweet potatoes?
To blanch sweet potatoes, bring a pot of water to a boil before cooking the potatoes for 3-5 minutes (depending on thickness). While the sweet potatoes are cooking, prepare a bowl of ice water. Plunge the sweet potatoes into the ice water as soon as you take them out of the boiling water to halt the cooking process.
How to reheat frozen sweet potato fries
Reheat your frozen sweet potato fries in the oven at 400°F (200°C) for 10-15 minutes. Or heat them in the air fryer at 350°F (180°C) for 10-12 minutes.
There’s no need to thaw your sweet potato fries before you reheat them. In fact, it’s better not to. Thawing the fries before reheating them will leave you with mushy fries because of all the water that will leak out.
How to keep sweet potato fries from getting soggy
The most important thing to prevent soggy sweet potato fries is to avoid any touching during cooking or reheating. If the fries are touching, they’ll steam instead of bake or fry. Other tips include not using too much oil and coating the fries in cornstarch before you cook them.
Read Next: Can You Reheat Potato Wedges?
The BEST Way To Reheat Sweet Potato Fries
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 portion sweet potato fries baked or fried
- 1 spritz oil
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Lightly spritz your fries with oil and shake them about so all the fries are covered. You can also add extra seasoning at this point if you want to.
- Spread your sweet potato fries out on a parchment-paper lined baking tray, avoiding any overlapping.
- Heat the fries in the oven for 2-3 minutes. Then take the tray out and shake it to flip the fries over.
- Heat the fries for another 2-3 minutes or until they’re piping hot.
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