REVIEW: Burger King Seasoned Sweet Potato Curly Fries

Burger King Seasoned Sweet Potato Curly Fries

You know what geometric phenomenon doesn’t get enough love these days? The curly object, that’s what. Think about it. Have you ever known something curly that wasn’t also straight up awesome? From Taylor Swift’s curly hair to the always dependable curl route, curly stuff has always been dependable even when it’s not in style.

You know what’s not dependable, though? Burger King’s new Seasoned Sweet Potato Curly Fries. Launched as a limited time only menu item as part of the chain’s 55th birthday bash for the iconic Whopper, the new fries give the corkscrew treatment to the sweet potato fry Burger King originally brought out this summer. They also give the soggy, burnt, and cold treatment to the sweet potato, and mark another “just ok” development in a long history of “just ok” Burger King sides.

So why did I find myself chucking them in my mouth with all the intensity of Garfield letting loose on a hot lasagna? Because sweet potato fries are like pizza, that’s why. At best, they’re the kind of ethereal, salty-sweet-crispy addiction that makes downing hundreds of calories in the time it takes to read this sentence completely acceptable. And at worst, they’re still chock-full of sweet and salty sweet potato flavor that makes downing hundreds of calories in the time it takes to read this sentence moderately acceptable.

As any serious fry eater will tell you, making the perfect fry out of sweet potatoes is hard enough without trying to throw them through a corkscrew. Often soggy or burnt, with interiors that are more creamy that the ideal fluffy, sweet potato fries may taste great, but the texture is always off. It’s the same dilemma with Arby’s Curly Fries. I love the seasoning on Arby’s Curly Fries as much as the next guy, but unlike that always dependable curl route from your tight end to get your team a much needed first down, Arby’s drops the ball half the time when it comes to perfecting the texture of their signature side.

Burger King Seasoned Sweet Potato Curly Fries Closeup 2

It’s the same story at Burger King. I only found one true, slinky-esque Curly Fry in my small order, and met a mixed bag carton of fries that ranged from overcooked and crunchy pieces of fry “burnt ends” to the aforementioned slinky, which while fun to look at, was limp and soggy. I can take limp and soggy, but the cold part was really what bothered me. If I wanted cold sweet potato taste, I could have at least bought a bag of chips, which would have at least been crunchy.

Burger King Seasoned Sweet Potato Curly Fries Closeup 1

Still, like Sbarro pizza, there’s something just intrinsically tasty about it. Perhaps it’s the mere fact that it’s a French Fry made out of sweet potatoes. Obviously they’re naturally sweet and a bit earthy, but it’s the addition of a kind of raw sugar seasoning that allows for snacking on the fries plain to be particularly addicting. This is a good thing, because it took me all of three seconds to reaffirm my belief that ketchup and sweet potatoes just don’t mix.

Burger King Seasoned Sweet Potato Curly Fries Front

If anything, I’d say the fries were a bit undersalted. Also, I’m scratching my head trying to figure out if their was some kind of cinnamon addition to the seasoning. I could have sworn I tasted the classic sweet potato sidekick on some of the fries, but a scan of the ingredient list via the BK website shows no signs. Not cool, Burger King. Sweet potatoes and cinnamon need each other.

Burger King could have done a lot worse with their Seasoned Sweet Potato Curly Fries. Like, they could have made regular curly fries, which probably just would have sucked because of a lack of Arby’s signature seasoning. Still, with more and more fast food and fast casual restaurants going orange on us, you can do a lot better if you’re really looking for that salty-sweet mix.

(Nutrition Facts – Small size – 170 calories, 90 calories from fat, 10 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 380 milligrams of sodium, 19 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 8 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.)

Item: Burger King Seasoned Sweet Potato Curly Fries
Purchased Price: $1.89
Size: Small
Purchased at: Burger King
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Addictive sweet potato taste. Not greasy. Has a salty-sweet vibe working. Probably the healthiest fry in fast food (just 170 calories for a small order)
Cons: Horribly inconsistent texture. Served cold. Seasoning is sporadic and hit or miss. Could use a little more salt. One of the few things on earth that does not go with ketchup. Pricey for a small side.

11 thoughts to “REVIEW: Burger King Seasoned Sweet Potato Curly Fries”

  1. I thought about trying these and the Wisconsin Cheddar Whopper, so I went into the local BK. There were only 6 people in line but 31 people waiting off to the side. I asked a man how long he had been waiting: “25 minutes for an order of fries!”

    I left.

  2. Hm. Just picked some up (the sign caught my attention, as I am a sucker for sweet potato fries), & was surprised that I had to wait a few minutes just for an order of fries. I guess I got off lucky, based on the comments before mine. Anyway, I seem to have lucked out in another respect, as well, as the temperature & texture of my fries were perfect. What was a disappointment to me was the over-sweetness of them. I had imagined that “seasoned” included some spice (to complement the natural sweetness of the potatoes), or at least a bit more salt. Instead it is SWEET ON SWEET (w/ only a hint of salt). Edibile, but a bit too sweet for me.

  3. I just tried these the other day. (On Election Day, in fact!) Maybe the quality of these fries depends on location, and/or whether the fry cooks of the day have gotten the hang of making them. Because, really, they were delicious — fresh, crispy, not overly sweet — and we (my Mom and I were at Burger King) did not have to wait too long for them. They came at the same time as our fish sandwiches, in fact, which we did have to wait for, because it was not quite noon and they had to make them fresh. Is that a weird combo? It seems weird. But it worked.

    Yeah. Tasty fries. Would buy them again. At that location.

    1. Of course “overly sweet” is subjective, and I don’t seem to fit the mold re: taste preferences of the majority of Americans. 😕

      1. That’s entirely possible, Lisa. I do have something of a sweet tooth. And I’m more likely to avoid too much salt. That said, the sweetness level was similar to that of my mother’s homemade sweet potato fry attempt (Those were baked, and a bit soggy, but tasted good.), although Burger King probably use more salt in their recipe. They were not like, say, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows. Which is incredibly sweet.

  4. I think the new “sweet fries” are disgusting. I totally dislike sugar on sweet potatoes. At Thanksgving I get a whole sweet potato not the disgusting sugared stuff that everyone else eats.
    I will no longer be buying anything from Burger King. I did love the previous fries they made but what is the use of buying sweetened *****.

  5. Ketchup doesn’t work with sweet potato fries, but try a sweet BBQ sauce sometime. Really.

Comments are closed.