Perfect French Fries Recipe
How to make French fries crispy. Easy French fry recipe from scratch using a deep fryer and the double fried method.
Published: July 24, 2021 · Modified: October 11, 2024 by Jennifer Ryan
I Love frying my own homemade French fries/chips, they taste so much better than any shop-bought chips I’ve tasted. The triple cooking process of boiling, first fry, and second fry makes for the perfect chip. They turn out perfectly golden, fluffy on the inside, and crisp on the outside every time. You’ll never have to buy frozen French fries again.
If I’m going to eat French fries/chips I want the real thing, it takes very little effort to make these, and I promise you that it’s well worth the little extra time you put in to make the perfect fries.
I’m so glad I treated myself to a new deep fryer, as when the lockdown hit Ireland the chip shop near me was closed a lot due to supply problems. I was happy that I could make homemade French fries for our family treat on the weekends without having to rely on the nearby fish and chips takeaways. Of course you can choose to be a little healthier with air fryer french fries, or baked fries, but nothing beats crispy french fries cooked in hot oil.
I grew up thinking that French fries were a type of crisp sold by Walkers. If you haven’t heard of them before, you should check them out, they are called Walkers French Fries Crisps. They are one of my favorite crisps, and I used to eat a pack every week in my packed lunch for school.
How long to soak French fries?
Most French fries recipes that use the soaking method leave their fries to soak in a large bowl of cold water for 2-3 hours. In this recipe, we run the fries under a cold tap for a few minutes to wash away all the excess starch as sometimes you just need those perfect fries here and now and 2-3 hours doesn’t cut it. This method of washing the chips instead of a long slow soaking is tried and tested and you won’t be disappointed.
Can you air fry French fries?
For this French fry/chips recipe I used a deep-fat fryer, but you can also make them in an air fryer too. Obviously, it’s a completely different method to make homemade French fries by air frying. I have the Tefal air fryer and I sometimes use it to make my fries. I boil the cut chips for the same amount of time as the recipe, then pop them into the air fryer for about 30-35 mins with a large spoon of sunflower oil. My sister has the Ninja air fryer and she makes her fries the same way I do. Air frying is brilliant if you are on a diet and watching what you eat, cooking them like this means you don’t have to worry as much about French fries’ calories.
Useful kitchenware for frying chips or fries
To make these French fries or chips as we call them in the UK, I used my trusty and feature-packed Oleoclean Pro Deep Fryer. I did a full review of this fryer on my YouTube channel. The Tefal Oleoclean Pro comes highly recommended and after months of daily use, I can't recommend it enough if you're in the market for a new deep fryer. It's often on sale and has great delivery times from Amazon prime. It actually seems to sell out again and again on Amazon, so if you find it in stock, don't wait. Since I filmed my French fries recipe, I have treated myself to a French fry cutter, as it makes light work of slicing my chips and I would highly recommend getting one too. To find out how to make homemade French fries, the full recipe is below.
It’s widely accepted that the best potatoes for frying chips are Maris Piper (one of the most popular spuds in the United Kingdom). Maris Pipers have pale gold skin and a cream-colored center. As Maris Pipers are not readily available in the US, the best alternative for deep frying chips is a Russet potato. The most popular chip potatoes for restaurants like McDonald’s are the Russet Burbank and Shepody potato varieties. But remember the potato is only part of the story, remember to use our perfect crispy fries recipe.
The best oils for deep frying chips depends on what is most important to you. Off-the-bat, vegetable oil is a great performer for deep frying; it doesn’t have any strong flavor and is generally very consistent, cheap, and readily available in most supermarkets. Sunflower Oil is also a very popular option as it is known to be the best oil to get crispy chips. Although, sunflower oil generally is a little more expensive and it has to be replaced sooner than vegetable oil would. Canola oil is also a popular choice for deep frying in the US, as it is very close in price to vegetable oil and produces excellent crispy fries. Vegetable, Sunflower, and Canola oils are the best for deep frying; these oils have subtle differences and there is no reason why you can’t try all 3 to decide for yourself what’s the best oil.
To make the perfect crispy chips every time 3 steps have to be done:
- Step 1: Presoak your chips in water.
- Step 2: Pre-boil your soaked chips before frying.
- Step 3: Use the “double fry” method when deep frying your chips.
For a detailed guide to making crispy chips, click on our Perfect Crispy Chips recipe!
Best French Fries Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 kg Maris piper potatoes
- 1 Sunflower oil for frying
Instructions
How to make the perfect fries
- Peel and chop the potatoes into lengths about 1cm thick.1 kg Maris piper potatoes
- Place the cut fries into a bowl of water, then place the bowl under a tap of running water for a few minutes. Soaking French fries helps to rinse off any starch.
Boiling your fries
- Next, add your chips into a saucepan of boiling water and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Once boiled drain and leave to cool for a few minutes while you heat up your oil ready for frying.
Deep frying your french fries
- The oil needs to be 170°C. Place your chips/French fries in the fryer basket and lower them into the oil. Fry for about 5 minutes or until the bubbles aren't so intense.1 Sunflower oil
- Raise the basket and leave the chips/French fries to drain. Before we double fry French fries wait for the oil to come back up to temperature (170°C) before dropping the basket back into the oil for the last fry.
- Fry for a further 5 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Drain the oil, season with salt, and serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
13 thoughts on “Perfect French Fries Recipe”
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Are French fries healthy?
Potatoes are a healthy and filling food as they are vegetables, but unfortunately, French fries and chips, as we call them in the UK, are not deemed healthy. As you can see from our French fries’ nutritional chart below, they are high in calories and fat when deep-fried. Also and any French fry lover will tell you they are very easy to binge on with your favorite sauce or salt and vinegar. One of the main culprits for giving French fries such a bad name is when they are deep-fried they contain saturated fats which, if you eat too much, can lead to higher levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol, which has been linked with heart disease and strokes. Eating too many French fries or chips has also been linked to weight gain, so again it is best to eat all things in moderation. Some might be wondering how many calories are in French fries. Here is a simple nutrition chart breaking down the API-generated nutritional info and calories of French fries.
Calorie and Nutrition Values for 1 serving of our French fries recipe
Calories | 542 |
---|---|
Protein | 7g |
Carbohydrate | 66g |
Fat | 26g |
Fibre | 6g |
Stay tuned as I will be adding my topped-baked French fries recipe soon. Follow Love Food Feed on social media where you’ll see all my new recipes as they come out each week. Don’t forget to indulge with one of our delicious dessert recipes after you have finished eating those crispy homemade fries. These Simpsons-themed baked donuts will definitely hit the spot.
Don’t forget if you love this recipe to share it with your friends, after all, sharing is caring.
Tried this fries recipe last night, I’m in love you can’t beat homemade fries.
I agree Jonah I can’t get enough of these fries!
I had these fries last night delicious, thanks. Do you know how many times I can use the oil to deep fry in my oleoclean before I have to change it?
Hi Judy, I’m glad you enjoyed the fries. The Tefal Oleoclean manual recommends changing the oil/fat after a maximum of 10 to 12 uses. And they recommend vegetable oil over sunflower oil. But if you do use sunflower oil, to ensure the oil is changed after every 5 uses.
Delicious crispy fries first time, great recipe thanks.
Your French fries were great, thanks for sharing the recipe.
Thanks Halle, my other half can’t get enough of these fries.
I took your advice and used vegetable oil to deep fry my chips and they came out great perfect and crispy thanks.
That’s great Carroll, I also use vegetable oil for deep frying chips, and haven’t had any complaints yet.
A bit of extra work but really perfect fries.
Thanks, Paige.
Great recipe, the fries I made were perfect, golden and crisp.🍟
Glad you enjoyed the fries, if you love to fry check out some of our homemade donut recipes.