For the second recipe in this week of pumpkin awesomeness (you did see yesterday’s NO-CHURN Pumpkin Ice Cream right?), I’m going to the total other end of the flavor spectrum. We’re going savory, y’all!
You might be thinking, um, savory pumpkin? no thanks, I’ll reserve my pumpkin for pies and lattes, but don’t knock it ’til you try it. The sweetness of pumpkin is such a bomb combination with the saltiness of Parmesan cheese. Especially when that sweet and salty combo comes in the form of crispy, oven-baked fries. PUMPKIN FRIES. THIS IS REAL LIFE.
Now, if you’ve ever tried to make crispy sweet potato fries in the oven before, and failed miserably, you’re probably thinking it’d be just as impossible to get pumpkin fries to crisp up without frying. But you can! There are four keys to get both pumpkin and sweet potato fries crispy:
Cut ’em thin. I like a big, fat potato wedge as much as the next gal, but when you’re working with a veggie than tends to go soggy, thin is in. The thicker the piece, the longer it takes for the middle to cook, and the more moisture is released while in the oven. Moisture ≠ crispy fries. You want those fries to be in and out of the oven in a relative flash. The less time they are in there, the less time they have to steam.
I like to keep my sweet potato and pumpkin fries under a half-inch, and probably closer to a quarter-inch in width. It takes a little bit of time to cut them (my mandolin doesn’t handle hard food like sweet potatoes and pumpkin well), but it’s worth it. Plus, they are adorable! Look at these cute little pumpkin sticks!
Soak ’em. You’ve heard me say it before, but if you’re going to make fries of any kind, you should soak your veggie beforehand. The starchiness in the typical fry veggies is what makes them go all limp on you in the oven. Soaking takes away some of the starch. You can soak ’em in beer, or, you can go the old-fashioned route and soak them in water. Chances are, if you took a peek into the kitchen of your favorite restaurant that makes the best fries in the world, they are soaking their potatoes. Soak ’em!
Soaking them overnight is wonderful, but if you can only fit in 20-30 minutes of soaking before cooking, it’ll still do wonders for your fries. Just make sure to dry them really, really well before cooking. As we’ve already established, moisture is the enemy here.
Coat ’em in cornstarch. Weird, right? But just a whisper thin coating of cornstarch on sweet potatoes and pumpkin both helps absorb some of the moisture and starch. You don’t want a lot—it’ll taste chalky—just enough to barely look like they are dusted. Arrowroot powder would also work if that’s what you have kicking around your kitchen.
The best method for getting the cornstarch well-distributed is to put just a few handfuls of the fries in a large zip-top bag, sprinkle about a teaspoon of cornstarch on top, then close the bag until there is just a little bit open. Then blow in the bag to fill it up with air, and seal. Then toss the bag in your hands to really get the fries coated well. Repeat with the remaining fries.
Give ’em room. For the love of all things holy, don’t crowd your fries on the baking sheet. If you crowd them, air can’t circulate around each fry, and instead of crisping up, the fries just steam in their own moisture. Steaming=limp, soggy fries.
Spread the fries onto two or more baking sheets if you have to. Just give them some room—the more the better. I’d recommend only putting one fry per baking sheet if it was at all reasonable (you totally have three dozen cookie sheets and ovens in your kitchen, right?).
If you follow those four “rules” (I hate that word when it comes to cooking—there are no rules in the kitchen—except to have fun!), chances are, you’ll end up with a beautiful pan of crispy, insanely delicious (and healthy!) pumpkin fries. Like so.
Pumpkin fries are amazing on their own with just a little bit of salt. They are also really good tossed with a touch of cayenne pepper and some cinnamon (uh, yum). But my favorite is with some paprika and garlic powder, and then topped with some grated Parm, flaky sea salt, and fresh chopped parsley as soon as they come out of the oven.
One of my favorite restaurants in the whole wide world serves “real” fries with a Parm topping that is out of this world, and it works incredibly well for sweet pumpkin, too. They serve their fries with a roasted red pepper aioli, which is amazing, but a bit of flavor overkill for the pumpkin. We keep it a little more simple here and serve these fries up sans dipping sauce.
I hope you guys are enjoying Pumpkin Week so far! We have lots of fun stuff to get to still. I’ve got a dessert recipe coming your way tomorrow, then I’m taking a bit of a departure from the pumpkin recipes, and we’re talking about pumpkin seeds. I’ll walk you through how to roast ’em, tell you why they are super healthy (superfood, what!), and give you six (yes, six!) different flavor combos that you can make using stuff you already have in your kitchen. You’ll definitely want to sock that one away for when you carve your pumpkin this year.
Anywho, in the mean time, you can get your pumpkin fix by making some pumpkin fries! You won’t be sorry. Enjoy!

Baked Parmesan Pumpkin Fries
Savory pumpkin? You bet! These Baked Parmesan Pumpkin Fries are sweet, salty, and totally healthy.
Ingredients
- 1 small pie pumpkin
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Using a sharp knife, slice the pumpkin in half. Scoop out the seeds and pulp (reserve the seeds for roasting).
- Slice the two ends off of each half of pumpkin. Then slice each half in half again. Using a sharp vegetable peeler, peel the pumpkin pieces. Then slice the peeled pieces into 1/4" fries.
- Place the pumpkin fries in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Let the fries soak for at least 30 minutes, but preferably overnight.
- When fries are finished soaking, preheat the oven to 425°. Line two or more baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Drain the fries, and then pat dry with paper towels.
- Fill a large zip-top bag with the dried fries, and then top with cornstarch. Close the bag and shake to cover the fries.
- Place the fries in a large bowl, drizzle with the olive oil and then toss to coat with your hands. Sprinkle on the paprika and garlic powder and toss again until well-coated. Spread fries in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, flipping once halfway through, until the fries are crisp and golden brown.
- While the fries are baking, toss together the cheese, parsley, and sea salt. As soon as the fries come out of the oven, sprinkle on the Parmesan mixture.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 servingAmount Per Serving: Calories: 129Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 12mgSodium: 423mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 1gSugar: 6gProtein: 3g
At Wholefully, we believe that good nutrition is about much more than just the numbers on the nutrition facts panel. Please use the above information as only a small part of what helps you decide what foods are nourishing for you.
Pumpkin chips seemed like a good idea but didn’t work out for me. Kept the chips in water overnight and made sure they were dry before baking but still ended up with soggy pumpkin 🙁
Oh no! So sorry to hear that your pumpkin chips were soggy! You soaked them and dried them well, which is great. Did you also cut them into thin sticks and dust them with cornstarch? Thicker chips will release more moisture when they cook and the dusting of cornstarch is there to help absorb more moisture and keep them crispy. Also, if the baking sheets were over crowded that could cause them to steam and be mushy instead of crisping up. The last thing I can think to ask is what kind of pumpkin did you use? Small pie pumpkins tend to have less watery flesh and cook up less soggy. So if your pumpkin was a different variety, the moisture content might have been too high. Hopefully these tips will help when you give it another go! Let us know how you get on!
Can you store them? For a next day?
They really are best fresh, but if you want to try it, I’d refresh them the next day by putting them back in the oven for a few minutes.
Hors d’oeuvre excellent
Quick question- can you use frozen raw pumpkin for this? And if so, what order would you do things? I fear that if I defrost the pumpkin it will just be mush.
Yeah, I’d stick with fresh/raw pumpkin for this one!
Hi
What temperature do you usually bake these at?
Cute idea. If only it worked. Now I know why I look for recipes with previous reviews. Can you say soggy…and nothing but? After soaking for 8 hours and following this recipe to the T, I have steaming pumpkin fries in the oven – they are failing – and dinner is ‘supposed’ to be ready in 15 minutes. Great!
So sorry they didn’t work out for you!
Hi Cassie!
i’d love to include your baked parmesan pumpkin fries recipe in a savory pumpkin roundup i’m preparing for parade magazine.
if you’re fine with it, could i use one of your beautiful photos with a link back to your original post (https://wholefully.com/2015/09/07/baked-parmesan-pumpkin-fries/)?
let me know, thanks!
felicia
Sure can, Felicia. Thanks for thinking of me!
Do I really need to cover them with cornstarch?
Can it be replaced with something else?
The cornstarch helps absorb the moisture, which is what helps them crisp up. You can leave it out, but you’ll get soft, roasted pumpkin instead of crispier fries. Arrowroot powder will also work, if you have that around.
These look great and the tips and guidance are really useful, thank you 🙂
These look amazing! I’m going to apply your principles for fries to sweet potatoes, too!
I’m not quite ready to dive into all things pumpkin just yet, but when I do, these amazing fries will be first up!!
who knew that soaking fries is a “thing” ?? I had no idea… thanks!!!
These look amazing! I have to give them a try – lucky I’ve got some pumpkin handy!
I would have never thought to do that, but it sounds pretty tasty!
These look ON POINT! Cannot wait to make them!
Oh my! I’ve never thought of doing pumpkin fires. I really must try this!
I never would have thought to make pumpkin into fries. This recipe sounds delicious though!
What a lovely idea, I will try this chips no doubt