Sweet Potato Wedges with Avocado and Sour Cream Dip

A delicious gluten free and healthy alternative to your regular deep fried wedges served with an awesome refreshing avocado and sour cream dip. We got sweet potato wedges!

If you want a healthier appetiser or side with your burger, wrap, taco etc. other than deep-fried chips. Then this is definitely a recipe to try.

And I didn’t want this appetiser to look or seem like I just baked some potatoes and said: “here you go, sweet potato wedges!”. I wanted this recipe to be convincing. And although I believe healthier alternatives are important, I also believe in trying to take peoples minds off the fact that it’s a healthier option, and rather inspiring people to make that dish purely because it looks and tastes wonderful.

Now, potato wedges act a little differently to regular potatoes, so let’s go through how we make can make our sweet potato wedges as awesome as possible.

Why Pan fry them first?

Unfortunately, the only way to get sweet potato chips and wedges as crispy as regular chips is to deep fry them. However, we can take some steps to give our sweet potatoes the crispiest outer layer possible.

This is where the pan frying comes in. We don’t pan fry the wedges to cook them, we are just trying to kick-start that outer layer. This is something I like to do when making roasted potatoes for special occasions, so keep this technique in mind.

Now, just because sweet potatoes don’t go quite as crispy as regular potatoes, that doesn’t mean they don’t have their own perks. The great thing about a sweet potato is that it develops this really nice caramelisation around the sides and the corners. So if your sweet potato wedges aren’t cut super neat, don’t worry because that is a good thing. Those imperfections, sides and corners are going to make your sweet potato wedges taste even better.

As you can see in the photos of this post, I only focused on cutting my sweet potatoes wedges a similar size, but in terms of their shape, they are very random. A good handful of my wedges aren’t even shaped like wedges so you may want to call these fries instead. It doesn’t really matter in my opinion, what matters is getting a good end result.

Important points for cooking wedges

The fat –The fat you use should be an oil that is light and that doesn’t burn easily. So as you can see in this recipe, I used grapeseed oil but there are so many other oils you can use. Avocado oil, rice bran oil, vegetable oil and canola oil are other fantastic examples.

Try to avoid olive oil, and definitely don’t use extra virgin olive oil. Otherwise, your wedges will taste bitter.

Leave space between your wedges – If I just chucked a whole bunch of seasoned, lightly oiled potatoes in a tray and half of them are lying on top of one another, what do you think will happen when I try to bake or roast them in the oven? That’s right, a lot of them are just going to steam because not every potato is getting that airflow to help achieve that dried, crispy outer layer we are looking for. And we don’t want to end up with floppy, soggy wedges now do we?

So, before you put your wedges in the oven, make sure each potato wedge has it’s own space on the tray. Ideally, you don’t want any of the wedges touching each other.

Don’t peel the sweet potato – Aside from the fact that vegetable skins are a great source of fibre, the skin will crispen up nicely in the oven, so there is absolutely no need to peel your sweet potato.

And that’s it ladies and gents! I really hope you enjoy these wedges. If you want a weekly recipe sent to your E-mail, then feel free to subscribe to this blog. And if or when you make these wedges, I ask that you leave a star rating in the recipe box below. Also, feel free to leave a comment below letting me know your thoughts.

4 from 2 votes

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Sweet Potato Wedges with Avocado and Sour Cream Dip

The healthy but delicious alternative to deep fried wedges. Beautifully baked, caramelized sweet potatoes, what more could you want?

Course Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine Not Specific

Keyword avocado dip, Homemade wedges, sweet potato wedges

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Servings 4 people

Calories 600 kcal

Author Nicolas

Ingredients

Avocado and Sour Cream Dip:

• 2 avocados, peeled and de-stoned
• 1 lemon zested and 1/2 the lemon juiced
• 1½ teaspoons of ground coriander
• 100 g of sour cream
• 1 handful of mint leaves
• Salt and pepper

Sweet Potato Wedges:

• Grape seed oil
• 1 kg of sweet potatoes cut into wedges (don't make your wedges too thick and chunky)
• 2 teaspoons of ground cumin
• 3-4 sprigs of rosemary, leaves stripped off and finely chopped
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

2. Put your avocados, sour cream, mint leaves, ground coriander, lemon juice, lemon zest and a pinch of salt and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth. If your mixture is struggling to blend you can add a dash of grapeseed oil to help it bind. You may also want to scrape down the sides of the blender with a spatula. 

3. Once blended, transfer your dip to a ramekin or container, cover with cling film or a lid and then leave in the fridge until you're ready to serve. 

4. Get plenty of kitchen paper for draining. Pre-heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat, then add about 1-2 tablespoons of grapeseed oil. add your wedges and fry them for about 1-2 minutes on each side, just to achieve an outer skin on the sweet potatoes (you won't be able to fit all of your potatoes in the pan, so fry them in as many batches as you need). Transfer the sweet potato onto your kitchen paper to drain.

5. Put your semi cooked wedges into a large bowl then add your cumin, rosemary, a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper and just enough grapeseed oil to lightly coat the wedges (2 tablespoons max).

6. Use your hands to evenly coat all of the wedges (be gentle). Then transfer onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. 

7. Make sure all of the wedges are spaced out so that they all roast rather than steam in the oven.

8. Place in the oven and cook the wedges for about 35-40 minutes. And turn them halfway through.

9. Serve the wedges hot with your dip and enjoy.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

• Don't worry about cutting the sweet potato neatly. All of the corners and edges caramelise really nicely once in the oven. Which gives great flavour.   
• We aren't trying to cook the sweet potato when we pan fry them, all we are trying to achieve is that outer layer of skin which will crispen up in the oven. 
• Use a light oil that won't burn easily, so if you cant use grapeseed oil for whatever reason. Vegetable oil and Canola oil are 2 other great options. 
• Make sure each cut of sweet potato has it's own space on the tray before you put them in the oven. 
• Serve these wedges while they're hot. The more they cool the less crispy they become. 

Nutrition Facts

Sweet Potato Wedges with Avocado and Sour Cream Dip

Amount Per Serving

Calories 600 Calories from Fat 265

% Daily Value*

Fat 29.4g45%

Saturated Fat 8.1g51%

Cholesterol 11mg4%

Sodium 48mg2%

Potassium 2639mg75%

Carbohydrates 82.1g27%

Fiber 18.5g77%

Sugar 2g2%

Protein 7.1g14%

Calcium 100mg10%

Iron 4mg22%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

If you’re a fan of sweet potatoes, then you should also take a look at this Hasselback Sweet Potatorecipe too!!