Healthy and delicious, these scrumptious Oven Baked Zaatar Fries are sure to satisfy your cravings for something crispy and delicious. Beautifully baked potato wedges coated in zaatar spice make for a rewarding side dish to accompany your favorite Middle Eastern foods. A perfect Whole Food Plant Based flavorful dish. Vegan, oil free, gluten free, sugar free, no highly processed ingredients.
Hi! Ameera here!
The first time I had zaatar fries was when a family friend opened a small Middle Eastern lunch shop near Akron University. Michael (aka Micho) and I went to visit him to celebrate the opening of his new store. He served us zaatar fries. Michael went absolutely nuts over these zaatar fries. He wouldn’t stop talking about how much he loved zaatar fries and wanted me to make them for him.
Zaatar Fry Heaven
I love zaatar fries too, but my husband has taken his love of zaatar fries to a whole new level of love. He gets so excited whenever I make them for him. He loves to dip them in tabbouleh. Dipping fries into tabbouleh juice is kinda like a different version for those who like to add malt vinegar to fries because tabbouleh had a lemon juice acidic quality and adds a whole “nuther” level of flavor. I had never heard of doing this before, but Michael has been a fry-tabbouleh dipper from way back in the day.
Baked Zaatar Fries – WFPB Compliant
When Mom and I went Whole Food Plant Based I knew I had to try to make oven baked zaatar fries for our falafel bowls. The key is using the right potato, making sure the oven is really hot, putting them on a parchment paper lined large baking sheet so they can breath, and you are good to go.
I line the potato wedges up individually on the baking sheet so there is space between each wedge. This ensures that the potato “fries” in the oven and doesn’t steam. If you pile a bunch of potatoes on a baking sheet they tend to steam. By ensuring that they don’t touch each other, they develop this beautiful crispy coating on each fry. Then when you flip them around, the other side gets crispy too.
Michael Approved
My husband loved the oven baked zaatar fries. Score! Of course, I didn’t tell him that they were oven baked as they were super crispy on the outside and tender on the inside so he really didn’t notice the difference. Hee Hee
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Robin here!
I love Monkey’s oven baked zaatar fries. They are crazy delicious. I must share with you though if you have never had zaatar spice before, then you may wish to go light on the zaatar spice. I really think zaatar is an acquired taste.
I LOVE ZAATAR now, but that wasn’t always the case. I have grown to love zaatar over the past several years.
Monkey makes zaatar bread for Michael. One time we gave zaatar bread (flatbread covered in zaatar spice) to a neighbor, and 2 of the family members loved it and two of them hated it. It really is one of those spice blends that you are either going to initially love or grow to love like me.
Give them a try, they work perfectly in a falafel bowl. We ate them right up!
Products used:
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Oven Baked Zaatar Fries
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 Servings 1x
- Category: Side
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Description
Healthy and delicious, these scrumptious oven-baked zaatar fries are sure to satisfy your cravings for something crispy and delicious. Beautifully baked potato wedges coated in zaatar spice make for a rewarding side dish to accompany your favorite Middle Eastern foods. A perfect Whole Food Plant Based flavorful dish. Vegan, oil free, gluten free, sugar free, no highly processed ingredients.
Ingredients
- 8 to 10 Russet potatoes, quartered lengthwise, skins on
- 3 Tablespoons zaatar (divided)
- 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt (+/- to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked pepper (+/- to taste)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Rinse and scrub the skins of the potatoes, then cut them lengthwise in half, then in half again lengthwise. Place them in a large bowl with cold water to soak while you are cutting the rest of the potatoes.
- Measure out 2 Tablespoons of zaatar spice, 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper into a small bowl and mix well. Set aside.
- Drain the water off the potatoes, then dump the potatoes into a large bowl and sprinkle the zaatar mixture over them. Keep sprinkling the zaatar mixture and turned the potatoes over and over again in the bowl until the potatoes are covered in the zaatar mixture.
- Line a 14 x 20 baking sheet with parchment paper, then dump the zaatar covered potatoes onto the parchment paper. Make sure they have room to breathe. We line them up to ensure that every potato slice has room.
- Place them in the oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, take them out, flip them over, and bake for another 10 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.
- When they are done, let them sit on the baking sheet and sprinkle them with the remaining 1 Tablespoon of Zaatar spice.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Serving
- Calories: 222.5
- Sugar: 2.8 g
- Sodium: 374.6 mg
- Carbohydrates: 50.6 g
- Fiber: 5.3 g
- Protein: 6 g
Storage: Store in a container in the fridge. Eat within one week.
Don’t forget the delicious Vegan Garlic Aioli! Perfect for dipping these dreamy Zaatar Fries! YUM!
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Vegan Garlic Aioli
- Prep Time: 7 minutes
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 2/3 Cup 1x
- Category: Sauce
Description
Perfectly smooth and creamy with a kick of garlic, this Vegan Garlic Aioli is healthy and delicious. A fabulous Whole Food Plant Based recipe. Vegan, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free, no highly processed ingredients.
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted cashews (quick soak)
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon freeze dried shallots (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt (+/- to taste)
- 1 Tablespoon unsweetened plain plant milk (almond milk, oat milk, rice milk, etc.)
- 4 Tablespoons water
- 1/8 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 2 pinches cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Quick soak the cashews by heating 2 cups of water to boiling, then pour the boiling water over the cashews in a small bowl. Wait 20 minutes, then drain off the water.
- Place all the ingredients into a high-speed blender, blend until smooth and creamy.
- Refrigerate one to two hours before serving.
Notes
*Storage: Refrigerate. Use within one week.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 Tablespoons
- Calories: 72.4
- Sodium: 120.7 mg
- Fat: 5.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 4 g
- Protein: 2.4 g
This post contains affiliate links, and I may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.
These were so good! I also used eggplant to make baked eggplant fries. Thank you for the inspiration
Hi there Rebecca 🙂
Yaaaay!!! We are so glad to hear that you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing your delicious additions and wonderful feedback with us! We truly appreciate you taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂