If you’ve never cooked with yuca before, you may want to first read our helpful beginner’s guide to cooking yuca root. It’s important that you take the time to carefully peel yuca and remove the fibrous core for the best results. You can then approach cooking yuca similarly to how you would potatoes. For example, we’ve outlined above how long to boil yuca before frying, and it’s the same as preparing potatoes for making chips, requiring 20 minutes in a saucepan to boil first.
If you’re wondering what yuca fries are, the answer is very straightforward. It’s quite simply yuca root, fried as you would to make potato fries or sweet potato fries. In South America, yuca is a popular root vegetable, and you’ll find it appearing in lots of classic potato dishes from fries to mashed potatoes. It’s also used to make tapioca starch in its dry form, which is commonly found in North American cuisine as a thickening agent, so it may be that you’ve tasted yuca without even knowing it.
Once the preparation steps are complete, this yuca fries recipe is easy to follow. You’ll need to ensure that you cut your yuca root evenly so the wedges fry at similar times. Take care to check the temperature of the oil before cooking, ideally with a thermometer, to confirm that it’s fully up to heat before frying. If you want to make yuca French fries, then you could slice the yuca root more thinly than in the recipe above, but you may find the center of the yuca French fries are a little denser than you’d like for the final texture of this dish.
Sauces to Pair with Yuca Fries
In terms of sauces, the pairing possibilities are endless. Yuca fries are slightly sweeter than potato fries and pair well with sauces such as sriracha mayo or cilantro dipping sauce. You can also plate yuca fries alongside a bowl of garlic aioli or mojo sauce for a Latin-inspired dip.
In this recipe, we’ve suggested a simple serving with a pinch of salt, but you can also sprinkle spices on top, from paprika to chili powder, for a kick.
Storage and Reheating
You can store any leftover yuca fries in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. They can be reheated in the oven or air fryer at 350°F when you want to enjoy them again. It is possible to freeze yuca fries, but it’s advisable to flash freeze the fries first on a tray with the wedges separated for 30 minutes, before transferring to a bag in the freezer. This will help to prevent the fries from sticking together. If frozen and stored correctly they should keep for up to six months.
