This no-fuss method of making homemade french fries is so easy. A delicious way to cook your next potato. Crispy and delicious.
Potatoes are cut into sticks and deep fried until golden brown. Sprinkle with salt or other seasonings. Homemade fries are so delicious. These are exactly how I made them for years cooking in restaurants. They are fun and easy to make.
Delicious and Easy Potato Recipe
Just like you can find in a restaurant, but at home. Make this recipe in under 30 minutes.
Homemade French Fries
We live in the country and running to a fast food restaurant is not convenient as it is a twenty minute drive one way. Therefore, we make a lot of our food ourselves.
These homemade French fries will satisfy your craving for fast food take out any day. If you have the time, a second fry results in crispy french fries. To be honest, at our house, no one can wait long enough for the second fry.
Restaurants around the world use all sorts of methods these days in pursuit of the ultimate crispy French fries. Some go to extreme lengths like triple or quadruple frying, overnight resting, or frying in pure beef drippings.
When we made these, we make a bunch. Everyone eats too many.
Make Delicious French Fries at Home.
For best results, the french fries will be crispier if you fry them twice, or boil them for 5 minutes first and cool them down before cooking. However, my family feels that the difference is hardly noticeable.
As you can see, these fries are golden and crispy. This is truly a no-fuss French fry recipe. The picture is how I like to eat my fries. So yummy. It is a meal all on its own.
We make our sweet potato fries the same way. You can make Air Fryer Fries with delicious results using less oil.
According to Recipe Tin Eats, she recommends after cutting the fries, to rinse off the excess starch in cool water. No soaking. Then gently simmer for 10 minutes in vinegar water. In her recipe she only does a shallow fry and not deep fry. But she does recommend frying them in the oil twice.
Simple Ingredients for this Recipe
Potato – The type is important. Starchy, floury potatoes are the potatoes you need for crispy fries. We use large Russet potatoes also known as Idaho Potatoes.
- Although, if you want a creamier french fry, you can use larger Yukon Gold potatoes.
- You can peel your potatoes or leave them unpeeled. I tend to leave mine unpeeled for a little extra color and texture.
Salt – You can add it afterward. But for even more flavor, add a little to the water. For seasoning all the way through.
Oil – For frying the best oil to use as a high smoke point and is a neutrally-flavored oil. I use vegetable or canola oil. I re-use it 3 to 4 times, or more. You can strain it if you want. If just making fries, I generally don’t strain the oil. Just cool, pour into jars and keep in the pantry.
French Fries from Potatoes
These are not your frozen fries and bagged potatoes. These homemade french fries are potatoes that are cut into sticks and deep fried until golden brown. Then sprinkled with seasonings. Homemade fries are WAY better than anything you’d get at a restaurant, and are fun and easy to make.
They are budget-friendly too. Potatoes are inexpensive and this easy recipe is a perfect side dish for so many things. Perfect to make and snack on too.
How to slice: Cut a whole potato into 1/4″ thick slices. Then stack 2 or 3 slices then cut into 1/4″ thick sticks. If they are too thick, they will be less crispy. Too thin and there won’t be enough fluffy inside.
Rinse, Dry, and Fry the Potatoes
I like rinse the potatoes under cold water. then place in a single layer on a clean kitchen towel. Cover and gently pat them dry. Alternatively, you could use paper towels.
For safer frying, use a spider or large slotted spoon to add the potato sticks to the hot oil and remove the cooked potatoes. Gently lower your potatoes into the oil when frying to avoid further splattering.
If you have the time. The secret the crispier fries is to fry them twice, once at a lower temperature to cook the insides and a second time at a higher temperature to crisp the outsides.
Fry the potatoes at a lower temperature of 350°F until they are tender. Let them drain on a paper towel or kitchen towel for at least 30 minutes. Then fry the potatoes a second time at a higher temperature of 375°F to create a crispy, golden-brown crust. Let the excess oil drain on paper towels, season with salt, and serve immediately.
However, with that said, we make a lot of fries when we make then, which is often. Since we make so many, we don’t always have the time for double frying. Therefore, just fry small batches in a large pan with oil at the medium heat 350°F. It’s more of a shallow frying in the hot oil. We fry until golden and crispy.
Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. We will add our seasonings right away and serve. Just delicious and crunchy too. No soggy fries using this method either.
Adding Seasoning
The french fries shown in the photos do not have any special seasoning on them. I actually do not add any salt at all.
However, some folks do like seasoning on their fries. If that is the case. Just before eating, seasoning can be added.
Place the fries in a large bowl, add the seasoning, use your hands to mix the french fries with the seasoning. Be careful that you do not break the fries. Serve.
French Fry Seasoning Ideas
Here are a few ideas for those that like to explore and find just that right flavor for their taste buds.
Adjust the amounts of the seasoning based on the quantity of fries. I would start with 1/2 teaspoon for 4 potatoes.
- Salt
- Salt and Pepper
- Seasoned Salt
- Cayenne Pepper
- Chili Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Smoked Paprika
- Sugar and Vinegar
- Parmesan Cheese
Homemade French Fries Recipe
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Kitchen Essentials
Ingredients
- 6 large Potatoes Russet, or large Red, or Yukon Gold work very nicely with this recipe
- 4 Cups Vegetable Oil Used for frying the potatoes
text ingredients
Instructions
- If the potatoes are new (or recently harvested) they can be washed in cold water and scrubbed a bit. You can leave the skins on. However, if you do not like the skins on or the potatoes are not new, peel the potatoes removing the outer skin6 large Potatoes
- Wash the potato by running under water a few seconds. Add the oil to a kettle or large pan…use what you have. Start heating the oil so it is hot by the time that the potatoes are ready. I have a gas stove and I use the right front burner as it is the hottest burner on the stove and I use medium-high for the heat range.4 Cups Vegetable Oil
- I use a chef knife and my cutting board to cut lengthwise slices about 1/4 inch thick. Then I lay each slice flat and make another lengthwise slice about 1/4 inch thick. This will give you a nice size french fry.
- I like to take a clean kitchen towel and put the sliced potatoes on the towel. This keeps them from turning brown before cooking and it also dries them off so there is less oil splashing when the potatoes are added to the hot oil.
- Once the potatoes are sliced, the oil is generally hot enough. Gently slide in one sliced potato. If it sizzles, the oil is ready. (I know…normally it is recommended to use a thermometer to make sure that the oil is 350 degrees. You can do that or check the oil with the potato…both methods work wonderfully). If the potato sizzles and the oil is ready, go ahead and add a couple of handfuls of sliced potatoes.
- Keep cooking until the potatoes are golden brown. I like to move the potato slices around a few times in the pan during cooking. This ensures that the potatoes don’t stick together. When the french fries are done, remove them with a slotted spoon. This will help the excess oil drain off of the french fries prior to eating.
- Place the cooked, crispy french fries on paper towel on a plate. This will soak up any remaining oil left over from cooking. If you will be making a lot of batches of french fries, I put the plate of cooked french fries in the oven with the oven on warm. This keeps them just perfect while you are cooking the rest of the fries.
Your Own Private Notes
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Notes
The french fries in the photo are made with Yukon Gold potatoes and the potatoes were just washed and dried. The skins were left on and the potatoes were sliced, then fried to a golden crisp. Hope you have a chance to make your own homemade fries and enjoy the delicious flavor.Nutrition
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How to Reheat Leftover Fries
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 5 days. There are a few different ways to reheat, depending on your preference.
- Fry: For the best fries, if you saved your leftover frying oil, reheat the oil to 375°F. Re-fry the leftover fries to warm them.
- Bake: If you have a lot of fries to reheat, baking might be your best option. Place them on a wire rack fitted over a rimmed large baking sheet. Preheat your oven toa lower heat 450°F and reheat the fries for 5-10 minutes until warmed.
- Air fry: A smaller amount of fries can be reheated in the air fryer. Just set your air fryer to 350°F and reheat the fries inside the air fryer basket for 3 to 5 minutes.
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I hope that you liked this homemade french fries recipe. If you are looking for more ideas on what to make, here are a few other recipes that you may enjoy.
You can find Victoria crocheting, quilting, and creating recipes. She has cooked in restaurants for over 20 years, including many larger parties. She learned to crochet when she was just 11 years old and has been crocheting ever since; over 50 years now. Over 40 years ago, she loved her first class in sewing and continues to hone her skills in quilting. Many have enjoyed the handmade gifts over the years. In her professional career, she has worked in management in a wide variety of businesses including higher education as a dean of a division. All the while attending college part-time to achieve her doctorate in higher education with an emphasis in e-learning.