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.
You can never go wrong with potatoes as a side dish, whether it’s baked potato wedges, garlic mashed potatoes or these classic french fries.
There’s nothing better than homemade french fries – they’re light, crispy, and full of flavor. Many restaurants use frozen fries, and I think my version is so much better because there’s a freshness factor that the frozen fries just can’t touch!
If you are interested in more side dish options, take a look at my sweet potato fries, green bean fries and extra crispy homemade onion rings! Whatever you choose, make sure you have a great meal to go with it. For an amazing sandwich that will be the hit of any picnic or party try my slow cooker sloppy joes, slow cooker pulled pork or Cuban sandwiches!
Table of Contents
Homemade French Fry Ingredients
To make homemade french fries you will need Russet potatoes, oil for frying, salt and pepper.
How Do You Make Homemade French Fries?
To make french fries, cut potatoes into strips and soak them in water. The water helps to remove excess starch to make the fries crispy. Fully dry the potatoes and place them into a large pot of oil and deep fry them in batches. Then increase the temperature of the oil and fry the potatoes again. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper, then serve and enjoy.
Tips For The Perfect Homemade French Fries
- This recipe works best with Russet potatoes. Other types of potatoes will not give you that classic french fry taste and texture. 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.
- You must use a frying thermometer to make sure that your oil is at the proper temperature.
- Make sure to cut your fries into similar sized pieces so that they cook at the same rate.
- French fries are best served immediately as they can soften a bit as they cool. If you need to reheat your fries, you can crisp them up in a 400 degrees F oven.
Quick Tip
Be sure to thoroughly dry your potatoes after they come out of the water. Any water left on the potatoes can react with the hot oil and cause it to spatter.
Recipe FAQs
The absolute easiest way to cut french fries is to use a designated french fry cutter. These come in all different sizes and prices, but you can get a small fry cutting blade for not much money. You can also use a mandoline. The other option is to cut each potato horizontally into even slices with a knife, then cut horizontally down those slices to make potato matchsticks. You can cut your potatoes into thick or thin fries, whatever you like best. Just be aware that thicker fries may take longer to cook.
There are a variety of oil choices that can be used for french fries. You want to look for an oil with a neutral flavor and a high smoke point. Some great options include vegetable oil, canola oil, peanut oil or safflower oil. I typically use either vegetable oil or peanut oil.
Soaking potatoes before frying them is important to remove excess starch and make the fries crispier. Just remember to fully dry the potatoes before frying them.
The secret the crispy and delicious french 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.
Homemade french fries are not particularly healthy and should be enjoyed in moderation. However, cooking your own french fries allows you to control exactly what ingredients go into your fries.
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Flavor Variations
You can add all different types of seasonings to your fries to customize this recipe to your tastes.
- Garlic Butter: Melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 1/2 teaspoon fresh minced garlic, salt, pepper and 2 teaspoons chopped parsley.
- Mexican Fries: Sprinkle a little taco seasoning over the fries, If you don’t want to make your own seasoning, you can use a store bought taco seasoning.
- Cajun Fries: You can season the fries with a store bought Cajun spice blend, or make your own Cajun seasoning.
- Jerk Fries: For a Caribbean flavor, use a Jamaican jerk seasoning blend to sprinkle over the fries.
- Sauces: While ketchup is great with fries, you can make some amazing sauces that will take your fries to the next level. Try my restaurant style easy fry sauce, homemade bbq sauce, honey mustard sauce or homemade ranch dip!
baked French Fries
To bake the french fries, preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Line a sheet pan or baking sheet with foil and coat the sheet pan or baking sheet with cooking spray. Soak the fries in water then pat them dry. Drizzle 1/4 cup of vegetable oil over the fries and sprinkle with seasonings. Toss to coat the potatoes in the oil and seasonings. Bake for 25-30 minutes in a single layer, stirring occasionally, until fries are golden brown. To learn more, go to my full baked french fries recipe!
If you want to use your air fryer, I have an easy recipe for air fryer french fries.
Once you try these homemade french fries, you’ll find yourself making them regularly! They’re just that good, and are always a big hit.
More Fabulous Side Dishes
Bacon Mac and Cheese
40 mins
Oven Baked Potatoes
50 mins
Crock Pot Baked Beans
2 hrs 30 mins
Green Beans with Bacon
25 mins
Cheesy Pull Apart Bread
25 mins
Homemade French Fries Video
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Homemade French Fries
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds Russet potatoes
- oil for frying I use vegetable or peanut oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley optional
Instructions
- Cut the potatoes into matchsticks, either with a knife or with a french fry cutter. The potato pieces should all be similar in size.
- Place the potatoes in a bowl of cold water. Soak the potatoes for at least 30 minutes.
- Drain the water from the potatoes. Place the potatoes on a layer of paper towels and pat thoroughly with additional towels until dry.
- Pour 3 inches of oil into a large, deep pot. Heat the oil to 300 degrees F.
- Place about 1/3 of the potatoes in the pot, and cook until tender. This takes about 4-5 minutes. Repeat the process with the remaining potatoes.
- Increase the heat of the oil to 400 degrees F. Place 1/3 of the potatoes back in the pot and cook for an additional 1-3 minutes or until golden brown. Repeat the process with the remaining potatoes. Place the cooked potatoes on a sheet pan lined with paper towels.
- Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste over the fries. Add parsley if desired, then serve immediately.
Notes
- You can peel your potatoes, or leave them unpeeled. I tend to leave mine unpeeled for a little extra color and texture.
- You must use a frying thermometer to make sure that your oil is at the proper temperature.
- Make sure to cut your fries into similar sized pieces so that they cook at the same rate.
- Be sure to thoroughly dry your potatoes after they come out of the water. Any water left on the potatoes can react with the hot oil and cause it to spatter.
Can you freeze them?
That should work fine!
Can this be done in the air fryer ?
Here is my air fryer french fries recipe: https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/air-fryer-french-fries/
Best Ever!!!! I blanched them and then finished frying in LARD!!! Wow! Fabulous…10/10
Homemade fries are always the best! These look absolutely perfect. 🙂
I love good fries and these were absolutely delicious! We were fighting over them – need to make more next time haha.
Homemade French fries are always a winner, and these were no exception! Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and simply irresistible.
Thanks for sharing this Homemade French Fries recipe, good tips to know on how to make them and look really yummy. My family love French fries.
So crispy! This is waaay better than ordering.
Just made these DELICIOUS fries and wow, they were the best! Super easy, just follow the instructions. My picky family raved about them. I peeled the potatoes and sliced the up earlier in the day, soaked them as stated, then rinsed as I was ready to fry them up. Upon removing them from the frying process I laid them out on a paper towel lined cookie sheet and then added seasoned salt and garlic salt to them. Everyone was SO happy! Make this, you will not regret it. Totally worth it and you control what goes into your fries. Most frozen bags contain extra stuff we don’t need. This recipe is WELL worth the effort.