Thin Crispy French Fries
These homemade Thin Crispy French Fries will rival your favorite fast-food version. Pure perfection from your own kitchen.
Learn the tricks on How to Make Crispy French Fries in your own kitchen!!
Why You Must Make
- There is nothing better than hot, freshly made French fries!
- You don’t have to leave your house for crispy fries.
- There are just 4 ingredients and 4 steps to making: boiling, frying, freezing, and frying again!
- These are so much better than frozen, then baked French fries.
Ingredient Notes:
- Russet potatoes – Starchy potatoes like russets work best. Keep the cut potatoes in a bowl of water to prevent oxidation or turning brown.
- White vinegar – PRO-Tip: Vinegar adds a slight crust to the fries, helping them retain their shape
- Kosher salt – I prefer coarse salt for fries. Make sure to sprinkle while the fries are hot, as this will ensure the salt will stick. If you’d like more flavor on your fries, this Fry Seasoning is outstanding!!!
- Peanut oil – Has a higher smoke point than other oils and is best for frying.
How to Make
These homemade fries were the result of a quest for the very best French fries. The recipe comes from Serious Eats and was thoroughly researched by one of their chef contributors, who happens to be an MIT grad.
- Break out the deep fryer. Or in my case, the Dutch oven and digital thermometer. For the first stage of this recipe, the raw fries were boiled in salted, acidulated water till tender.
- There’s obviously some food science involved, but nothing I learned in nursing school (note MIT degree trumps my BSN). After air-drying for a few minutes, the spuds were briefly fried in hot oil before a stint in the freezer.
- Freezing overnight is recommended, but I only had a few hours.
- Right before serving, the oil was reheated and the fries were fried again to a perfect golden brown.
Frequently Asked Questions
American soldiers during WWI were exposed to French fries in Southern Belgium. Since the language spoken in the area was French, the soldiers referred to them as French fries.
Though ketchup is most popular in the US, my Canadian friends enjoyed their fries with vinegar, and others prefer mayonnaise.
First, peel them. Then slice a small piece to make a flat side. With the flat side down, slice planks in your desired thickness lengthwise, from top to bottom. Then slice those planks into fries.
Soaking helps remove some of the starch from the potatoes, making them firmer and more likely to hold their shape. The salt in the solution infuses flavor, and the vinegar also plays a role (see ingredient note below).
The most common reason is that they were not dry enough when fried. After soaking, the fries need to be drained on paper towels, then patted dry. Make sure all sides are dry before frying.
These were a home run hit with my family! I can usually restrain myself, but I ate my fair share. Their first salty bath infused them with the needed flavor, so just a light dusting of kosher salt while hot finished them off.
If you have a hankering for homemade fried potatoes, you must try these thin, crispy French fries! If you’d like to try your hand at sweet potato fries, they are another fabulous side for your burgers (and a bit healthier)!
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- French Potato Gratin
- Homemade Potato Bread
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Thin Crispy French Fries
The best French Fry recipe adapted from Serious Eats
Ingredients
- 2 pounds russet potatoes (3-4 large), cut into ¼-inch x ¼-inch strips (keep in a bowl of cool water so they don't oxidize).
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- Kosher salt
- 2 quarts peanut oil
Instructions
- Add 2 quarts of water to a large saucepan. Add vinegar and 2 tablespoons of kosher salt. Add potatoes and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 10 minutes or till potatoes are tender but not falling apart.
- Drain and spread on a paper towel-lined rimmed baking sheet. Allow to dry for five minutes.
- Heat oil to 400°in a large Dutch oven. Add about ⅓ of the fries to the oil (the oil temperature will drop, but try to keep it at 360°F or above). Cook for about a minute, using a spider strainer to gently stir the oil.
- Remove to a paper-towel-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the next third of potatoes after the oil reheats to 400º, then again with the final third.
- Let potatoes cool to room temperature then freeze potatoes overnight (you can fry again before then, but they'll be best when well frozen).
- Return the oil to 400° over high heat. Fry half of the potatoes until crisp and golden brown, about 3-4 minutes, trying to keep the oil around 360°.
- Let them drain on a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Salt while hot if desired. Serve immediately.
Notes
Note that French Fries need to be frozen (overnight suggested) before final frying.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 460Total Fat: 27gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 21gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 177mgCarbohydrates: 49gFiber: 5gSugar: 2gProtein: 6g
47 Comments on “Thin Crispy French Fries”
I’ve never heard of this technique, but with the way those fries look, Id’ say it’s totally worth the effort. 🙂
French fries are a bit of a weakness of mine so I try and stay away from them but these are certainly very tempting looking. There is something so comforting about salty crispy fries. I wish I had some right now the thought of them is making me hungry!
Crispy fries are the best, these look irresistible!
Hi Liz! I’m so excited to see that you made these fries. They are definitely a bit labor intensive but oh so worth it! We often think that we’ll make extras and freeze them for later after the preboil step but then we end up making the whole batch 🙂
All right Lizzie. You have some explaining to do! I’ve been wanting to make this copy cat French Fry recipe that is supposed to be from some Irish chain and you beat me to it. Well, you can handle the calories and I can’t. I’ve had had that bookmarked for a long time! Damn. They look really good. Pass the ketchup, please!
My husband will only eat crispy French fries. In fact on most Friday evenings we do a carry-out from The Cheesecake Factory. To go with his sliders he requests extra crispy French fries. Whoever picks up the order has to be sure to check those fries to make sure they aren’t soggy or we send them back. Crazy I know but he likes his fries the way he likes them and no other way.
I just saved this recipe and will be sure to try them next time I make burgers. The things we do for love.
Have you ever tried BlackFinns French fries? I think they’re the best I’ve ever had. I feel like they were cooked in carbonated water (seltzer). They’re incredible. Too bad they closed here, although that was really the only thing I liked there. I’m guessing others felt the same way.
I love your homemade fries! I watched a tutorial on making the best chips and yes, it had all those steps but it said you could put the chips in the fridge rather than the freezer. It said resting them in the fridge/freezer creates a crispier chip. What a great thing to make on a snow day xx
They look so very crisp! I wonder if I could bake them after the boiling…probably won’t be as crisp as the fried one.
Geez, those look amazing. I’ve never heard of freezing the potatoes before frying them the second time, but I can see why it would work. It’s actually a genius idea.
I have actually been eyeballing that recipe for a LONG time. I don’t think I should wait any longer to make it, because these basically look like the perfect french fries. I know I wouldn’t be able to restrain myself!
Simple and to the point…. one of the best potato recipes ever! 🙂 These french fries look gorgeous and no one could just eat one or a few. I would say the entire batch would be eaten right out of the fryer. 🙂
They are awesome Liz, so perfect. I couldn’t resist these no matter the hour 🙂
French Fries are my weakness!
Dear Lizzy, Love homemade French fries. They are so much better and healthier. xoxo Catherine
French Fries are a real popular dish around our house — and some seriously delicious comfort food! 😉
I’ve never made French fries at home but your post has me wanting to change this, Liz. If this recipe gets your and Azmina’s approval, I know it’s a winner. 🙂
Ok, now I want some french fries! These look awesome!!
Isn’t Azmina amazing?? And these fries… positively addicting! I don’t own a deep fryer, and I have to admit I’ve never actually really “fried” anything, but you have me thinking I just might need to change that! Amazing recipe and your photos are so tempting.
Well now isn’t this interesting. Perfect fries at home are hard to come by. Great choice!
I’ve never made fries from scratch at home, but these look awesome! I’m going to have to try these!