How To Cook Alexia Sweet Potato Fries In Air Fryer

Sweet potato fries are best served hot, crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside. They are denser than traditional fries, so they’re rarely fluffy, but the crisp exterior should still contrast with a soft, almost chewy, and sweet interior. 

The problem is, the most common way to get the right balance of crunch and chew is to deep fry your food.

Air fryers can cook the perfect crispy and yet soft sweet potato fry with no added oil or calories and, even better, they cook faster than baked fries.

So how do you cook Alexia sweet potato fries in the air fryer? Alexia sweet potato fries are commonly cooked in the oven at 425°F for 10-25 minutes. However, in the air fryer, they cook at 400°F for 8-10 minutes for quick and perfectly crispy sweet potato fries.

In this article, we’ll explain the simple steps to cooking Alexia sweet potato fries in your air fryer and add a few general air fryer tips for good measure.

What are Alexia Sweet Potato Fries?

Alexia sweet potato fries can be found in the freezer section of most major grocery stores. They’re a sweet and savory alternative to traditional fries that make a delicious side dish for nearly any meal, from breakfast to dinner.

Usually, they’re cooked in the oven, but we contend that they’re much better prepared using the air fryer.

Standard Alexia Sweet Potato Fries Cooking Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 425°F.
2. Spread your frozen sweet potato fries evenly across a baking sheet.
   • Half Bag: bake for 10–12 minutes
   • Full Bag: bake for 20–25 minutes
3. Stir half-way through.

As with most frozen foods, there is room for some personal preference. If you prefer your sweet potato fries to be crispy, let them cook for a few minutes longer.

If you prefer them soft, bake only the minimal length of time, ensuring that each fry at least reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.

You may find placing a layer of parchment paper on your baking sheet helps to improve the crispiness.

Alexia Sweet Potato Fries Ingredients 

Alexia sweet potato fries are a crowdpleaser because they use very few ingredients, all of which are non-GMO verified. 

The sweet potato sticks are coated in cooking oil, which could be either canola or sunflower oil or both.

The manufacturer uses rice flour, tapioca starch, corn starch, dextrin, and xanthan gum to preserve the shape of the fries and help the outer edges of the sweet potato get crispy during baking while still protecting the fluffy, soft texture of the inner layers of potato.

To enhance the flavor of the sweet potato, Alexia fries have the following seasonings and flavors: cane sugar, sea salt, spice, and salad mustard powder, which is a combination of distilled vinegar, mustard seed, salt, turmeric, and paprika. Gluconic acid is used to reduce the bitterness of the fries.

Why Use an Air Fryer?

While the instructions from Alexia recommend baking the sweet potato fries in the oven, baked fries don’t crisp up quite the same as deep-fried fries would.

Deep frying your fries adds a considerable amount of oil, calories, and fat to your daily intake and that deters a lot of people who are trying to improve their health through nutrition.

Air frying creates a happy medium. You can get the delightfully crispy crunch you love from deep-fried foods but without the added oil or fats.

The circulating air inside the air fryer creates a crispy, crunchy exterior while keeping the interior of your sweet potato fries soft. 

How to Cook Alexia Sweet Potato Fries in the Air Fryer 

Air fryers are one of the easiest kitchen appliances to use. They don’t come with a lot of bells and whistles and it’s nearly impossible to burn food using them.

Of course, you can overcook food if you forget the machine is on, but when the heavenly scent of sweet potato fries is wafting through the air, there’s little chance of forgetting about them.

Ingredients

Of course, you’ll need the Alexia sweet potato fries.

If your basket has high-quality non-stick coating as most do, you do not need to add any oil. 

However, if your air fryer doesn’t have a non-stick coating or it is worn off, you may want to add a small dollop of oil with a high smoke point, spreading it across the bottom and sides using a silicone basting brush. 

Of course, you can also use condiments after your fries are cooked. Our favorite sauces to serve with sweet potato fries are chipotle mayo, tartar sauce, and, of course, ketchup.

The Process

Here is how to cook Alexia sweet potato fries in the air fryer:

1. Preheat your air fryer to 400°F.
2. Add your frozen sweet potato fries.
3. Cook for 8–10 minutes or until the desired crispiness is achieved, shaking the basket midway through cooking.

If you make too much, you can even freeze your sweet potato fries and reheat them in the air fryer later.

Air fryers work by circulating air, so there needs to be enough space for the air to revolve around all the surfaces of your fries.

Shaking midway through the cooking process is important to be sure all the outside edges of your fries are exposed to the circulating air.

You also have to be careful not to overfill your fryer. Only fill your fryer halfway at the very most. It’s better to cook multiple batches of sweet potato fries that are consistently crispy, rather than a single batch that has fries of variable texture.

Tip: If you use your air fryer a lot, you may want to invest in a heat-resistant mat for your air fryer to protect your countertops from melting or cracking.

Reheating Sweet Potato Fries in an Air Fryer 

If you cooked more sweet potato fries than you were able to eat in a single sitting, an air fryer is a fantastic way to reheat the fries regardless of how they were initially cooked.

Since they are not being cooked from frozen, you don’t need to heat them as long or at an extreme temperature.

For best results, preheat your air fryer to 350°F. Add your leftover fries and allow them to warm for 5 minutes. You do not need to add oil to the basket. 

Check them to see if they have re-crisped and are warmed throughout. If you’re happy with the temperature, you can serve them right away.

If you’d like them to be slightly more crispy or warm, give them another 2–3 minutes in the air fryer but keep a close eye on them.

Reheated fries will dry out more quickly than frozen fries the first time you cook them. Sweet potato fries are only supposed to be crisp on the outside, not the entire way through.

If you’re running short on time, you can actually try reheating your fries in the microwave as well, although they won’t end up as crispy.

Bonus Air Fryer Tips

Cooking Alexia sweet potato fries in your air fryer may seem easy, and it is. But we’ve got a few pointers to keep in mind whether you’re cooking fries, egg rolls, or chicken wings.

Here are some tips for using an air fryer:

1. Always preheat your air fryer before adding your food.
2. Never use aerosolized cooking sprays in air fryers, as they can ruin the finish.
3. Avoid crowding your food, filling the basket halfway at most.
4. If you’re cooking food with a lot of fat or grease, add a tablespoon of water to the bottom of the fryer before you start cooking to prevent the grease from overheating and smoking.
5. You can line the bottom of your fryer with parchment paper to make serving and clean up easier.
6. Give your air fryer space to pull in enough air while it’s in use.
7. Wipe down your air fryer after every use.

If you follow all of these important rules, your food is sure to be the talk of the table come dinnertime!

Related Questions

Are Alexia Sweet Potato Fries Gluten-Free?

According to Alexia’s website, all their potato products are gluten-free except for their potato bites. 

If you’re very sensitive or allergic to gluten, it’s always important to look for gluten-free certification on the package to ensure the products are prepared in a gluten-free facility from start to finish.

Though Alexia states their products are gluten-free unless the ingredients list includes gluten, their packaging does not have third-party certification.

Are Sweet Potato Fries Healthier?

Healthy is a subjective term, dependant on individual health goals and concerns. 

Sweet potato fries generally have slightly higher calories and carbohydrates than conventional French fries, and may also have slightly higher fat, though that can vary with the brand. They also have more fiber.

Traditional fries and sweet potato fries both have a variety of vitamins and minerals.

French fries typically have higher concentrations of potassium, vitamin C, and niacin, whereas sweet potato fries have significantly higher vitamin A and E. A balanced diet can easily include both varieties of fries.

Is an Air Fryer the Same as a Convection Oven?

An air fryer is very much like a small convection oven. Convection ovens work by circulating hot air around all surfaces of your food.

Forcefully moving air penetrates your food more efficiently, allowing the food to cook more quickly and producing a crispier outer crust.

Air fryers work in much the same way, simply on a small scale inside an appliance that fits easily on your countertop. 

There are countertop convection ovens as well, however, they’re usually designed similar to a toaster oven with a rack and heating element, with the addition of a fan to circulate the air.

Air fryers, in contrast, are generally smaller and more portable. The fan is situated overhead and the smaller space allows the food to cook even more quickly than a countertop convection oven.

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