Oil-free oven baked french fries with a crispy, flavorful outer coating. Being baked, not fried makes these french fries way healthier and the lack of oil even makes them wfpb. They are the perfect side dish to plant-based burgers or sandwiches without the guilt and grease of traditional or store bought french fries.
French fries are one of the best sides hands down, but most are incredibly unhealthy. They are drenched in oil with most store bought french fries containing a variety of preservatives, artificial flavors and colors. They are so far from being even remotely healthy.
This recipe, however, is guilt-free. The french fries are made with no oil and are baked not fried! They have a delicious coating of cornmeal and spices that bring the flavor and allow it to stick on the french fries. It also helps the fries to get nice and crispy. The perfect side to plant-based burgers, sandwiches, they are even delicious dipped in plant-based queso or as chili cheese fries.
This recipe also works great using sweet potatoes!
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How To Get French Fries Crispy Without Oil
The trick to getting oven baked french fries nice and crisp without using any oil is to make sure to wash them really, really well. This removes the starches, much like you would want to do when cooking brown rice in order to prevent it from getting too mushy.
• Start by taking whole potatoes and washing them to make sure they are clean. Use a dish or vegetable brush to really remove any dirt from the outside of the potato.
• Then, cut the potato into french fry slices and put them into a colander. Alternatively, you could use a vegetable chopper to quickly chop the potatoes into cubes. This method is much quicker and easier, you would just have cubed fries.
• Take the colander of fries and rinse well again. Put the fries onto a towel and pat dry. You do not want them to be very wet at all.
• Once dry, put the fries into a large mixing bowl. Add the tahini and toss to make sure all of the fries are coated.
• Add your cornmeal and seasonings. Toss again until everything is coated. The cornmeal provides a really nice crispy outside to the french fries while the tahini helps everything to stick.
• Spread them out on a parchment paper lined pan and cook until they are nice and golden.
If you try this oil-free baked french fries recipe, or any other Pure and Plant-Based recipes, make sure to to use #pureandplantbased and tag us @pureandplantbased on Instagram or Facebook!
Baked French Fries (Oil-Free)
Oil-free oven baked french fries with a crispy, flavorful outer coating. Being baked, not fried makes these french fries way healthier and the lack of oil even makes them wfpb. They are the perfect side dish to plant-based burgers or sandwiches without the guilt and grease of traditional or store bought french fries.
Ingredients
- 5 large potatoes (or about 5 lbs of potatoes)
- 2 tbs tahini
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
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Wash potatoes well.
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Cut into slices and put fries into a strainer.
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Rinse well, then pat dry.
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Add potatoes slices to a large bowl and add tahini. Toss until everything is coated.
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Then, add cornmeal, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, paprika, salt and pepper. Toss until everything is coated.
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Evenly spread out fries on pan and cook until fries are golden and tender. Stir occasionally.
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Once fries are golden and beginning to brown, remove from oven and serve.
Oil-Free Maple Roasted Veggies
Orange Cauliflower (Plant-Based Orange Chicken)
Potato and Chickpea Vegan Breakfast Hash
Plant-Based Cornbread
Great taste and texture, thanks so much for sharing
Hi Kerrie!
I am so glad you liked the recipe.
– Alexis
Not really oil free when you’re using tahini.
Hi! The tahini I use is nothing but roasted and ground sesame seeds. Therefore, this recipe is in fact free of any oils that would you would find in traditional french fry recipes. This recipe is not fat free, however, healthy fats are necessary in order to help you body better absorb important nutrients. It is the same thing with peanut butter. Some peanut butters contain additional oil and some are just ground peanuts. There are tons of great oil-free recipes that use peanut butter and are perfectly compliant to an oil-free diet if you use an oil-free pb. The tahini in this recipe helps the seasoning to stick and is a great way to get crisp, delicious and oil-free french fries!
– Alexis
Hi Alexis, thanks for the reply. My experience has been that whenever I buy tahini and let it sit for a couple of days the oil just accumulates at the top of the container. I’m trying to be a low-fat whole food plant-based vegan after I realized that oil or any kind of fat is unnecessary in order to absorb all of the nutrients that are required to live a healthy lifestyle.thanks again for the excellent recipe, I’m just going to try at sans the tahini.
Dino
You need fat for fat-soluble vitamin absorption.
Use aquafaba instead. Dr. McDougall discourages nut and seed consumption except as a rare occasional treat. The “good fat” thing was very bad for me. I follow Dr. McD’s guidelines and do much better.