Homemade French Fries, your favorite restaurant staple at home! These are so easy to make with just 2 main ingredients that you won’t be turning back.
Crispy french fries are one of my favorite side dishes to order at a casual restaurant or BBQ joint. BUT, they have to be hand-cut homemade french fries, or I’m not into it.
With a crispy exterior and soft, almost creamy inside… they are just so irresistible to me! That is the perfect fry texture right there.
Slap me a bottle of homemade ranch on the table, and I am in Heaven! I’m a person who loves a good dip, whether it be ranch, ketchup, aioli, etc.
You just cannot get this perfection from any cooking process— deep frying results in restaurant-quality fries.
Making your own fries at home might seem intimidating, but as long as you have this technique down, there really isn’t anything to it!
We use a double fry traditional method, first to blanch and cook the fries at a lower temperature oil, then we turn it up to a higher temperature to fry them again and crisp them up.
This method results in crispy fries that are truly irresistible.
Ready to take your cooking aresenal to the next level?! Scroll down to find out the best way to make Homemade French Fries!
Some of my other favorite potato side dishes on our site include: Fried Red Potato Wedges, Light and Crispy Homemade Potato Chips and Classic Potato Salad.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- With minimal and basic ingredients, you can’t go wrong.
- You can make as many or as few as you like.
- Use your favorite dipping sauce for these, or even seasoning.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST FOR THE FULL RECIPE CARD):
- Russet potatoes
- Peanut oil, for frying
- Seasoned Salt
- Kosher Salt
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE FRENCH FRIES:
- Preheat a deep fryer, dutch oven, or large pot with 3 inches of oil to 325°F.
- Cut potatoes lengthwise into about 1/2 inch sticks.
- Place cut fries into a large bowl of cold water until ready to fry.
- Take the fries out of the water in batches and dry off the excess moisture with a clean kitchen towel.
- CAREFULLY place them into the hot oil and cook for 10-12 minutes. Stir them around in the oil a few times. There should not be a lot of color on the fries at this point. You will need to fry in batches.
- Shake off excess oil and dump fries out onto a wire rack that is sitting on a large baking sheet to catch any drips.
- Turn up the heat to 375°F. Again, carefully place the fries back into the fryer in batches. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the exterior is golden brown and crispy.
- Shake off excess oil and dump them back onto the wire rack. Immediately season with season salt and kosher salt to your taste.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS RECIPE:
WHAT POTATOES SHOULD I USE?
All you need are a few russet potatoes. You can peel them or, for a rough look, leave the skins on but scrub the heck out of them until they are nice and clean.
You can use other potatoes like Yukon Gold, but we find russet potatoes the best for making french fries, they come out perfect every time.
HOW DO I MAKE THESE CRISP?
Frying the potatoes twice at two different temperatures make the fries crispy!
They get fried the first time at 325 degrees f in oil. The first fry cooks them without burning, and this is where they get their creamy texture.
The second fry is at 375°F and is considered a flash fry, they don’t stay in as long. This makes the outside nice and crispy.
No soggy fries here!
CAN I MAKE THESE IN THE OVEN?
Yes you can, below are the directions on how to do that!
- Preheat oven to 400°F degrees, cut 2-4 medium russet potatoes into wedges (depending on how many servings you want, one potato a serving) and add seasoning. I suggest seasoning them with kosher salt, seasoning salt, pepper, and paprika. Toss in 1 tablespoon of oil to coat
- Lay them on a baking sheet and bake for 40-45 minutes until tender. I suggest turning them a few times, about every 10 minutes, to ensure even cooking.
CAN I SEASON THEM WITH ANYTHING ELSE?
Yes, I normally keep it super simple with just seasoned salt and kosher salt, but you can add different seasonings for more flavor.
Here are some additional options:
- Garlic powder
- Sea salt
- Chili powder
- Black pepper
- Cayenne pepper
- Garlic salt
- Cajun seasoning
- Onion powder
- BBQ seasoning
Be careful if using a seasoning blend, they tend to have salt added, so cut back on the additional salt.
WHAT IS THE BEST OIL FOR FRYING?
I always use peanut oil for frying as it has a high smoke point and to me it cooks cleaner, resulting in a less smelly house afterward.
You must use a high smoke point oil, other options are:
- Vegetable oil
- Canola oil
- Avocado oil
An oil with a low smoke point oil would be olive oil, flaxseed, pumpkin seed, or walnut.
HOW TO STORE:
You can store leftover fries in an airtight container in the refrigerator and will last up to 3-4 days.
To reheat them, heat your oven on the lowest setting and place them there until warmed. After the fries have sat, they make become soggy.
DANA’S TIPS AND TRICKS:
- Russet potatoes are the best for this recipe.
- You’ll want to make surer your potatoes are patted dry before placing in oil, this will prevent splatter.
- The two fries are necessary to get the crispy outer coating.
- You can season with whatever fry seasoning that you like.
- Easily double this recipe to serve more people.
Want that perfect fry recipe, then you need not look any further! These Homemade French Fries are the only ones you’ll ever need.
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If you’ve tried these HOMEMADE FRENCH FRIES, let me know how it turned out in the comments! You can follow me over on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK to find some more of our mouthwatering recipes!
Ingredients
- 4 russet potatoes peeled or scrubbed clean
- peanut oil for frying recommended but use the oil you prefer to fry
- Season Salt
- Kosher Salt
Instructions
- Preheat a deep fryer, dutch oven, or large pot with 3 inches of oil to 325°F.
- Cut potatoes lengthwise into about 1/2 inch sticks.
- Place cut fries into a large bowl of cold water until ready to fry.
- Take the fries out of the water in batches and dry off the excess moisture with a clean kitchen towel.
- CAREFULLY place them into the hot oil and cook for 10-12 minutes. Stir them around in the oil a few times. There should not be a lot of color on the fries at this point. You will need to fry in batches.
- Shake off excess oil and dump fries out onto a wire rack that is sitting on a large baking sheet to catch any drips.
- Turn up the heat to 375°F. Again, carefully place the fries back into the fryer in batches. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the exterior is golden brown and crispy.
- Shake off excess oil and dump them back onto the wire rack. Immediately season with season salt and kosher salt to your taste.
Video
Notes
- Russet potatoes are the best for this recipe.
- You’ll want to make surer your potatoes are patted dry before placing in oil, this will prevent splatter.
- The two fries are necessary to get the crispy outer coating.
- You can season with whatever fry seasoning that you like.
- Easily double this recipe to serve more people.
Equipment
Nutrition
Originally posted 05/2018
Updated 04/2023
Comments & Reviews
Jillian says
This recipe looks amazing! I can’t wait to give it a try!
trisha haas says
You have totally just inspired me to dig out and dust off my old fryer!
Laura says
I use red potatoes because they come out sweeter and barely need any salt. But I do have a question, I’ve never double fried before and I want to do thick, soft steak fries but my fryer doesn’t allow me to regulate the temperature… any suggestions?
Dana DeVolk says
Hi Laura, I have a post on red potato wedges here: https://thissillygirlskitchen.com/fried-red-potato-wedges/
You really need to know what the temperature of the oil is. If you cannot regulate the temperature, I suggest you get a candy thermometer and keep that in the fryer.
Chanel Pugh says
How do you make these fries in bulk? How do you store bulk french fries?
James Gover says
I’ve seen other recipes , by far this is the best I’ve found . Thanks for sharing your awesome recipe .
Dan says
Amazing…but I have a time saver method. Use the same good old russet potatoes, but soak them in lukewarm water with a couple tablespoons of sugar for 1 hour. It will remove even more starch and make then taste better and crispier. Then pat them dry and just fry them once at 350 in peanut oil for roughly 12 minutes. No double frying…try it, I find them actually better 🙂
J. Colby says
This does make good fries, but it’s an immense pain to heat up the oi, then let it cool down, and do this multiple times for small batches. By the time I did the second batch, the first batch was stone cold. How does everyone else do this.