Baked Seasoned Fries — These oven fries are thick-cut and baked rather than fried. They’re flavored with smoked paprika and cumin, and their smoky flavor pairs well with just about anything!
Homemade Seasoned Fries Recipe
Warm homemade oven fries smothered in ketchup make my heart go pitter-patter. I used both sweet potatoes and russet, and they’re doused in plenty of smoky seasoning. They’re like the thick-cut fries you get in a restaurant, but they’re baked rather than fried, so you can eat more.
After slicing the potatoes, put them in a gallon-sized Ziplock and add a little cornstarch. This is a trick to help them crisp up better in the oven.
Oven-baked fries never get as crispy as oil-fried fries, but the cornstarch really helps. These are so much healthier than fried fries, making it an easy trade.
The contrast of the sweetness of the sweet potatoes with the smoky spices makes them so addictively good. And while you can’t taste it per se, coconut oil accentuates the natural sweetness in the sweet potatoes and the flavors complement each other so well.
I’m a major ketchup fan and like a little bit of food with my ketchup. The fries were begging to be slathered. They were so good that the baking tray was demolished in less than 5 minutes between 3 people.
What’s in Seasoned Fries?
For these seasoned oven fries, you’ll need the following pantry staples:
- Potatoes
- Cornstarch
- Coconut oil
- Smoked paprika
- Cumin
- Salt and pepper
- Your favorite condiments
Note that the coconut oil should be liquid when you toss the potato slices in it. Coconut oil becomes liquid when warm, so you may need to heat yours in the microwave for a few seconds.
If you try to toss the potatoes in coconut oil while it’s still solid, the oil won’t distribute evenly and your fries won’t crisp up.
What Are the Best Potatoes for Homemade Fries?
I recommend using Russet potatoes to make the homemade seasoned fries. I also used sweet potatoes simply because I love them in any form, but if you want classic fries opt for Russet.
How to Make Seasoned Fries
Preheat your oven to 425ºF (it needs to be really hot to make the outside of the potatoes crispy). Then, cut the potatoes into wedges and place them in a bag with the cornstarch. Give it a good toss to distribute the cornstarch evenly, then add in the seasonings and toss again.
Place the seasoned fries on a baking tray in a single layer, then bake until done (you’ll have to flip them over halfway through the baking process). Note that baking times will vary based on your oven, the potatoes and how thick they’re cut, how full the tray is, and how well done you like your fries.
Because it’s a very hot oven, keep a close eye on the seasoned fries in the final moments of baking so they don’t burn. Remove from oven and serve as soon as they’re cool enough to eat!
Fry Dipping Sauces
Enjoy these baked seasoned fries with ketchup, or switch things up by using one of the following fry dipping sauces:
- Smoky Mustard Dipping Sauce (<— this post has 4 other dipping sauces, too!)
- Classic Fry Sauce
- Honey Mustard Sauce
- Guacamole
- BBQ Sauce
You can also make a quick fry sauce with a mixture of ketchup and mayo. It might sound odd, but that’s the base of many famous fry and burger sauces!
Can I Use a Cornstarch Substitute?
To my knowledge, no. Cornstarch is a key ingredient in this recipe, and I’m not sure how you’d get the homemade oven fries to crisp up without it. If you find a cornstarch substitute that works with this recipe, please leave me a comment and let me know so I can try it out myself!
Do I Have to Use Coconut Oil?
No, but I highly recommend using it! I used just 2 tablespoons of coconut oil for the whole batch.
The seasoned fries do not taste like coconut and there’s so much seasoning that any coconut flavor is masked. My family could not tell that I used coconut oil even when I asked them about it, but use olive or another oil if preferred.
Coconut oil has a fairly high smoke point, which means the oil is less likely to start smoking in this hot of an oven. If you use another oil, choose one with a high smoke point that’s fairly neutral in flavor.
Tips for Making Baked Seasoned Fries
Lately I’ve been obsessed with smoked paprika. I love red peppers, and since paprika is made from peppers, it’s no surprise it’s always been a favorite seasoning, but smoked paprika is even better.
I also added cumin, which complements the smoked paprika. You can try seasoning salt, thyme and rosemary, garlic and dill, or another favorite spice blend that you like. I went fairly heavy-handed but if you’re more sensitive to spices, dial back the amount.
I used two jumbo unpeeled potatoes, one sweet potato and one russet. Use three potatoes if yours are smaller, or enough to fill one baking tray completely full. The russet potatoes stay firmer and get crispier on the exterior than the sweet potatoes and retain a buttery soft, tender interior. Use your favorite combo of potatoes, or even parsnips.
Lastly, it’s so important that you line your baking tray with parchment paper or Silpat before placing the fries on it! If you skip this step, your seasoned fries will definitely get stuck to the tray and it’ll be a nightmare to get them off.
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Baked Seasoned Fries
These seasoned fries are baked, not fried. They're flavored with smoked paprika and cumin, and their smoky flavor pairs well with just about anything!
Ingredients
- 2 extra-large or 3 medium/large potatoes (russet or sweet potatoes), washed and trimmed into 1/4 to 1/2-inch slices (I didn’t peel)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil in liquid state*
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika, or to taste**
- 2 teaspoons cumin, or to taste
- salt and pepper, to taste
- your favorite condiments, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- Slice potatoes and put into a gallon-sized Ziplock.
- Sprinkle cornstarch into bag, seal bag, and toss potatoes to coat.
- Open bag and add oil, seal bag, and toss potatoes to coat.
- Open bag and add smoked paprika, cumin, salt and pepper, seal bag, and toss potatoes to coat. Really manipulate the potatoes all around inside the bag, pushing the ones on the top to the bottom and vice versa, to equally distribute the oil and spices.
- Transfer potatoes to baking tray, arranged in a single flat layer, not quite touching, if possible. They don’t have to be in rows, but I find this easiest when it’s time to flip.
- Bake for about 25 minutes. Remove from oven, and with a tongs, flip potatoes over.
- Return tray to oven and bake for about 15 to 20 more minutes, or until done.***
- Remove from oven and serve as soon as they’re cool enough to eat; fries are best warm and fresh. Optionally, serve with ketchup or your favorite condiments.
Notes
*You may use another oil, like olive, vegetable, or canola.
**You can substitute your favorite seasonings or seasoning blend, if desired.
***Baking times will vary based on your oven, the potatoes and how thick they’re cut, how full the tray is, and how well done you like your fries. Because it’s a very hot oven, keep a close eye on them in the final moments of baking so they don’t burn.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 206Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 122mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 3gSugar: 2gProtein: 4g
More Easy Potato Side Dishes:
Pamesan and Herb Roasted Potatoes — These herb roasted potatoes are sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and are made with seasonings you already have on hand. So easy to prep, and crazy delicious!
Crispy Parmesan Ranch Potatoes — The BEST roasted potatoes you’ll ever eat!! Tender potatoes seasoned with ranch mix and topped with a CRISPY Parmesan breadcrumb topping! So DELICIOUS you don’t even need a main course!!
Pink and Purple Potato Salad — I’d much rather have this pretty pink and purple potato salad with crisp purple radishes and crunchy red onions than your average run-of-the-mill potato salad. Lots of flavors and textures in every bite!
Potato Salad with Bacon — This no mayo potato salad with bacon is ready in just 30 minutes! It’s a vinegar potato salad the whole family will love.
Three Cheese Scalloped Potatoes – These scalloped potatoes are EXTRA cheesy thanks to three cheeses used as well as super rich and CREAMY!!
Loaded Twice Baked Potato Casserole — Tender potatoes mixed with butter, cheese, sour cream, bacon, and green onions for the ultimate in LOADED baked potatoes!
The BEST Mashed Potatoes — Buttery, creamy, PERFECT mashed potatoes that rival your favorite restaurant’s version but EASY and ready in 45 minutes!!
Delicious! Cut the spices in half and they were gone within minutes! I swear my husband wouldn’t stop eating them! Thank you!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad that these disappeared within minutes!
We loved the seasoning on your oven fries – the best yet, and we’ve tried quite a few variations. We always soak our fresh-cut fries in ice water for at least 30 minutes, drain and towel off the excess water, then proceed with the recipe. Sometimes we place the fries on a wire rack so there’s no need to turn them, though I think they get a tiny bit crisper when on the Silpat and turned. Thanks, Averie, for sharing the smoked paprika and cumin combo – I doubt we would’ve thought of it!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!
These are amazing! I cut the cumin & smoked paprika in half but WOW do they crisp up just like regular fries without the deep-frying! Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!
How creative!. It is so delicious. Thank for sharing. I love oven fries. I’m going to try it now
Yum! Can I just say, you are my favorite food blogger. Out of the many recipes I pin, yours are usually the first I try, and always so good! Usually simple, yet gourmet. Keep it coming! :)
Thanks for saying I’m your favorite and that you tend to try my recipes first out of all your pins! Simple, yet gourmet. That’s perfect :) And thank you so much for all the compliments!!
Hi Averie!
On another one of your baked sweet potato recipes, you covered them for the first 30 minutes with foil but did not do that in this one. Does that make a huge difference?
If you’re trying to get things to crisp up you want them uncovered; if you’re trying for just a soft overall texture, sometimes it’s helpful to tent the pan (cover). It really depends on the recipe, the ingredients, the goal, etc.
Made those last weekend and they came out PERFECT! pitty i didn’t have any ketchup, but that wasn’t a problem for me.
I’m actually gonna post this recipe today on my blog. It’s on portuguese, but check it out :) (i give you credit don’t worry!)
Cheers from Brazil!
:)
Glad you enjoyed them so much!
Fry me up!
Who doesn’t find crispy, thick wedges of seasoned fries irresistible? I know I am a self-proclaimed fry fiend and wish I could eat them daily without gaining a trillion pounds. Love the idea of using coconut oil to coat them prior to baking. And I MUST grab some smoked paprika!
You HAVE to get some smoked paprika..love the stuff!
Thanks for the secret of crispy baked fries! I can never seem to get them right!
Thanks for the recipe! I made them for dinner tonight and they were delicious! The cornstarch trick. . . pretty amazing!
Thanks for trying these & glad you thought they were delish and that the CS trick worked for you!
I looove paprika on french fries and these look so perfectly seasoned and I love the cut–just the right amount of thickness! and hooray for baked not fried!!! I might be able to fit into a wedding dress then! :P
JOJOS! So much better homemade!
Made these fries tonight for dinner, oh my, the best fries ever! I am so impressed with your recipes! Thank you so much. :)
Thanks for trying these & for saying you’re so impressed with my recipes :)
YUM, YUM, YUM!! Just polished off a batch of these for dinner. That seasoning is so good. I’d like to try it on parsnips and maybe kabocha wedges.
Thanks for trying these Paula & glad you polished them right off :)
I love baked and roasted veggies! These fries look wonderful. I haven’t thought to do russet and sweet together! That’s a great tip!
Amazingly delicious!
Mmm. You caught my attention with the fries and had me at the word paprika! It has to be one of my favorite spices. I love topping my lasagna with paprika.
These fries look incredible! I love that they are oven-baked and the spice combination of paprika + cumin sounds delicious. Must try these soon!
Pinning!
Thanks for pinning, Abbie!
I could eat these all day long! I have been utterly obsessed with smoked paprika lately. The flavor is amazing. Love these! Pinned.
So glad you’re a fan of smoked paprika too & thanks for pinning!
I avoid most fried foods because I’d rather spend the calories on an extra cookie or cupcake, but when it comes to french fries… I can never say no. Ever. Especially with the thick wedge-cut ones. (And beer-battered — my absolute favorite!) I love how you made a healthier version, and all of that seasoning looks incredible! Great tip about the cornstarch too. With how many fast food fries my guy eats, I’m sure these would be popular in our house!
beer-battered fries…oh that’s the stuff 4am is made of :)
SO true! My parents go out to dinner every Friday night to a little brewery downtown, and they serve the best ones I’ve ever eaten. I always beg to go when I visit them!
Yum! I love making baked potato fries and these make me want to go make some right now! I’ve never added cornstarch to them, but that is an excellent idea! I’m so going to try that now…I’m always wanting them to be a little crunchier.
I am seriously fry-obsessed and will turn anything into fries. Thick cut is the best kind. Love that these are baked and seasoned, you almost don’t even need ketchup (but let’s be real. Obviously ketchup.)
I am a ketchup addict. I mean, what is the POINT if I cannot have a huge bowl of it :)
Alright, coming to your site while on a diet is probably thee worst decision I’ve ever made. I think if I’m allowed to just dunk one of those fries into a glob of ketchup I’ll be satisfied.
LOL. I love ketchup, so much, too.
I remember the cornstarch tip from your parsnip fries and I love cumin! I ran out of reg. paprika last month and replaced it with smoked–I’m glad I did because its good stuff. It looks like I’m in business to try these this weekend–they look amazing and I know we’ll love them!
Thanks, Paula! I know you’d like these and glad you’re a fan of the smoked paprika too!
These look absolutely amazing, Averie! Pinned!
Thanks for pinning, Kelly! :)
Gahhh! I can’t wait to make these!!
Totally loving these baked fries and how seasoned they are! Gotta add these to our dinner menu to try.. and then our snack menu!
Or just the dinner-snack-that’s-all-we’re-having-menu LOL. I mean I maybe did that :)
I love oven baked fries – especially covered in spices. Smoked paprika is so good on sweet potatoes (baked as fries or simply baked) – love the two paired together. I’ll have to use coconut oil next time I make a batch! Doubling the batch – good call. :)
Coconut oil is the BEST when roasting sweet potatoes. Sally. OMG so good. It just brings out the natural sweetness of the potatoes more so than olive or any other oil. Love it!
The spices you used sound great together! And I never knew that about cornstarch helping them get crispy!
It’s not perfect but it does help!
Okay, now I’m really hungry. I’ve never thought to use smoked paprika. So buying that next time I’m at the store!
It’s the BEST! A little kick, smoldery, smoky, love it.
whoa mama! Hubba hubba these look good. Well done, friend! And such beautiful photographs!
Well that’s high praise coming from you, thank you, Dana! Orange food. NOT EASY to photograph and not have it just look…so horrible. I’m sure you know what I mean!
Combining both kinds of potatoes sounds amazing! I know what I’m making for lunch tomorrow. Nothing has sounded good lately (thank you, dear sickness lol) but as soon as I saw these, my mouth started watering. Cannot wait to try! Pinned!
Thanks for pinning :)
Those look absolutely amazing!! And I love that you added cumin and paprika.
Ohhh myy!! These look amazing and I love the addition of the cumin! I need to get my hands on some smoked paprika asap!! I am going to use your cornstarch trip when making these ! So pinned!!
Thanks for pinning and your enthusiasm :)
I have totally been craving fries and this seriously look so crunchy and amazing! Love the paprika addition. Then you caught my eye with the parsnip fries too! Girl… I see fries in my future. Pinned!
Thanks for pinning!
I could seriously eat just those as an entire meal or more (says the potato-aholic) ;)
potato-aholic <--- LOL :)
French fries have always been one of my favorite foods since I was a little kid, haha. So these are making me extremely hungry right now! I love all the spices you mentioned too. We make baked fries at home a lot, but I didn’t know the constartch trick! I will definitely try that next time. :)
It helps a little with the crispy factor!
Cornstarch for fries??????? I would never have guessed it. Definitely trying this next time I make oven fries. I have found myself frustrated at how quickly the fries lose their crispness as soon as they get to the point where it doesn’t burn your mouth to eat them. Thank you for the tip!
the fries lose their crispness as soon as they get to the point where it doesn’t burn your mouth to eat them. = I can totally relate!!
And yes the CS helps. It’s not perfect but it helps!
Yes, please! Love all the seasoning! Pinned!
thanks for pinning as always!
These fries look incredible, love the seasonings!
your photos get better and better! Great post
Thank you :)
These fries look incredible Averie! I have recently been having a love affair with smoked paprika and have been adding it to everything. I never thought about adding it to fries, genius! I too love a little food with my ketchup ;-)
Glad you’re a fan of it too!
These are gorgeous! Love that they are baked so (of course) we can eat more! Pinned!
thanks for pinning!
Fries are my weakness… I can eat WAY too many of them! These baked ones definitely would help out with the guilt! ;)
These look amazing! I love baked fries!
Im thinking these, with your fry sauce, and we’d be in business!
Oven fries throw me over the moon too!! LOVE this recipe – there’s so much yummy spice!
Yes, yes, yes to the smoked paprika—I use it in nearly everything it’s so good. I LOVE oven-baked fries and I can plainly see how golden and crispy yours are. I could easily see myself demolishing an entire plate of these fries in only a few minutes! pinned.
thanks for pinning and yes to an entire plate in a few minutes :)
Anything for thick baked fries They look so crunchy and addictive. I must be careful around your place; I might eat everything!
LOL! :)
Oven baked fries and I get along VERY well, haha. I love your tip with the cornstarch to help them get crispy! I think I could easily eat these by themselves for dinner some night :)
Oh yes, totally a dinner unto themselves :)
Oven fries are the best! Love the spice mix you put on these! I’ve been really into spices lately, especially cumin.
Even though cumin is a sloppy joes, chili, etc kind of spice and I don’t eat meat and most people use it on those types of things, I love it so much too!
I wouldn’t even need a burger alongside these! They are so thick and would fill me up alone. Yum~!
I definitely wouldn’t need one either :)
I’ll take this with a side of burger please! They look absolutely perfect!