Crispy French Fries
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Satisfy your fast food cravings with restaurant-quality Crispy French Fries at home. Say “buh-bye” to limp fries!
I’m sharing with you an easy fail-proof way to make crispy French fries at home. The twice fry method is what makes the difference between awesome crunchy fries and meh limp fries. The steps are easy to follow and worth the effort.
What you will need to make crisp homemade French fries
Potatoes– Russet potatoes are best for making into fries because of their starchiness. They stay fluffy on the inside when fried properly, pretty much like when you bake them. Other potatoes can be a little waxy and less fluffy.
Kitchen knife
Large bowl with lid or plastic– To soak the fries to remove some of the starch.
Paper and/or cloth towels– The towels will help to drain excess water from the potatoes after soaking and oil after the first fry.
Cooking oil– You can use lard, peanut oil, or vegetable oil. I typically use canola because I host often and try to be mindful of others’ allergies. However, peanut oil is the best for frying.
Thermometer– A candy thermometer with a pot clip is ideal but a regular food thermometer will work.
Deep frying pan or pot– Dutch ovens make great deep fryers. A deep cast iron skillet is also good.
Tongs or slotted spoon
Baking sheets– At least 2 will be needed for draining and cooling.
Wire rack– This will allow the excess oil to drip from the fully cooked fries onto one of the baking sheets. If you don’t have a wire rack, paper towels may be used. Fair warning though, the steam from the fries laying flat on the paper towels will cause the fries to lose crispness quickly.
How to make crispy French fries
Step 1- Peel & Cut
Peeling is optional but make sure that you scrub them well and remove any sprout buds and blemishes. How thick you want your fries will affect the crispiness of the fry. Too thick and you’ll have western fries which are still yummy but not crispy. You want something between 1/4″ – 1/2″. Anything smaller than 1/4″ will be like shoestring fries; very crunchy but not much fluffy potato on the inside.
Step 2- Soaking
Soak the potatoes in a bowl of cold water placed in the fridge for 3 hours to overnight. Soaking the potatoes removes starch which causes them to clump together when they fry. If you’ve ever had a big pile of fries that you had to break apart while fry, it’s probably because they were cut too thin and had too much starch. While starchiness of the potato makes for a fluffy inside when fried we don’t want too much of it as it will congeal when fried.
Step 3- Dry & Prep
Carefully drain and rinse fries under cold running water. Drain and dry the potatoes between several paper towels or clothes. Place the wire rack on one of the trays and set it aside. Prepare the pot and oil. Set the flame to low/medium to preheat.
Step 4- First Fry
Preheat the oil to 350 degrees for the first fry. After the temperature is achieved, add a third of the fries to the hot oil. Allow the fries to cook for 6-8 minutes and remove the fries to drain on paper towels for 10-15 minutes to cool. Repeat until all of the fries have cooked and cooled.
Tip: Try to keep the batches separated so that they can cook and cool in order.
Step 5- Second Fry
Once all of the fries are cooked and cooled bring oil temperature up to 375. Fry them again in batches for 4-5 minutes or until the fries are nicely golden brown and floating to the surface. The result: Perfectly Crispy French Fries!!
Note: Fries May begin to stick together because of the starch. Carefully separate them before submerging to the oil.
Recipes that go perfectly with crispy French fries
Barbecue Turkey Burger Sliders
Roast Beef & Smoked Gouda Grilled Cheese
Mexican Chicken Burger
Blueberry Bacon Burger
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***This recipe was updated for content and correction on 5/22/2020. It was first published 11/28/2018.***
Crispy French Fries
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 lb russet potatoes
- 4 c canola oil
- fine salt and pepper to taste
- condiments of choice
Instructions
- Scrub, peel, and cut fries to the size you want.
- Soak the fries in cold water overnight. If not, 3 hours minimum to remove starch.
- Heat oil in a deep pot until temp reached 350 degrees.
- Drain the fries and fry them in 2-3 batched for 8-10 minutes each. Remove each batch to drain on paper towels for 10-15 minutes.
- Crank the heat to 375 degrees and fry the batches again for 4-5 minutes. Drain on a wire rack or paper towels and immediately season the hot fries with fine salt and pepper.
- Serve hot with desired condiments.
This recipe works perfectly. I followed step for step and I found them to be perfect. I made 20 lbs and froze the rest. They freeze perfectly too. You can take out just what you need. Thank you Ty
J.V / alaska
Awesome news; so glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for the freezing tip!
So I’m a pretty good cook & have done all of the above except refrying. Yet everywhere it’s the same thing. Everyone says they need to be fried twice. is this the only way to get really crispy french fries? TIA