Preheat a deep fryer or dutch oven with 4 inches of oil up the side of the pan to 325°F.
Place the cut potatoes into cold water while you are waiting for the oil to come up to temp.
When the oil is ready, take the fries out of the water a handful at a time and dry them off completely using paper towels or a clean kitchen towel.
Add the fries to the oil and cook until they are just cooked through and soft, 6-8 minutes. Stir them around every few minutes. The fries will not have much color on them at this step.
Place the blanched fries onto a wire rack that is placed over a sheet tray to catch any drips. Repeat with the remaining fries.
While you are blanching the fries, make the cheese sauce. Place the cheez whiz, American cheese, jalapeno juice, and milk into a medium-sized saucepan.
Place the pan over medium-low heat, stirring every so often to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom. Keep cooking until everything is smooth and melted together, up to 10 minutes. Take off the heat, add a lid to the pan, and set aside until serving.
When all the fries are blanched and the cheese sauce is ready, increase the temperature of the oil to 375°F.
In a small bowl, stir together the sweet paprika, smoked paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper, set aside.
Once the oil is up to temp. Add handfuls of the blanched fries to the oil. Cook until crispy and golden brown, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Again, drain the fries on a wire rack over a sheet tray to catch any drips.
Repeat with the remaining fries. Once they are all cooked, add them to a large bowl. Add half of the fry seasoning and toss to coat the fries. Taste, add more seasoning to your liking.
Immediately serve the fries with nacho sauce.
Notes
Use Velveeta cheese in place of Cheez Whiz, but you may need more milk.
The fries can be frozen, see above on how to do that. I do not suggest freezing the sauce.
You can add other additions to this recipe, see some of my ideas above.
This can easily be doubled or tripled.
Use your favorite cut of frozen fries in place of homemade in a pinch.
You can make this recipe ahead through step 5.
Use peanut oil for frying if possible, as it is a cleaner oil and doesn’t stink up the house as much.