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
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
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.
These were yummy! This was my first time ever making homemade FRIED French fries. I seasoned with a blend of salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and paprika. I also make my own ketchup from smoked tomatoes and the homemade ketchup with the homemade fries were just incredible.
I’m about to make them but Just curious, why do u have to sail them in cold water?
Soaking them in cold water pulls the starch out of the potatoes, making for much crispier French fries. A very necessary step!
These are soooo good! Worth the effort 100%
I totally agree with Cheran! These fries tasted better then the fries I ate growing up. Ssh! Don’t tell mom though.
These were really good but for me, they took waaayy longer to cook then the recipe called for. Other than that they were excellent homemade fries and I will make again but just cook longer.
Same as the commenter above–my fries turned out great but I cooked them for so much longer than the recipe directed! First fry was 6 mins per batch and second fry was like 15 min per batch.
Can you freeze the cut potatoes after soaking and drying for future frying?
Yes that should be fine, you’d want to fry them from frozen.
I couldn’t find any safflower oil so I went with peanut oil and they were so crispy. I’ll never use another oil … Unless I find that safflower oil , 😉
First time making homemade fries and they came out amazing
I put the cajun spices on and we inhaled them!
These were my first attempt at making homemade fries and they turned out absolutely delicious! My brother ate practically a third of them as soon as they were done (I can’t blame him). I added some extra steps (I rinsed the potatoes off a couple of times after cutting them to remove extra starch+ added salt to the ice water when soaking them), but I guarantee they would have turned out delicious had I omitted those steps. Crunchy, golden, perfect. Thank you for this recipe! Whenever I have extra potatoes, I’m definitely gonna make these for my family again.
Soooo good!!! I’ve never had luck with home made fries but these were easy and so good I can’t wait to try the different flavor seasonings
I find now I’m making these 3 to 4x week with everyone home for lunch. Great easy recipe!
My husband loved these last night! He requested them again later in the week. I can’t wait to bake them up again.
Wow these french fries look awesome! Can’t wait to try this recipe
These are the best homemade French fries! Must make them!
Absolutely LOVE these French Fries! Never getting store-bought again
My crew is going to be so pumped! I want to try all of the variations!
I’m loving the different flavor variations!
Couldn’t believe how great these turned out! Thank you!
Great recipe – homemade French fries are my favorite!
These fries are just straight up yummy! It was easier than I thought to get perfect fries at home!
This homemade french fries is way better than takeout! It’s crispy and tasty just the way we like it!