Baked French Fries
These baked French fries are easy, delicious, and might give your favorite restaurant brand a run for its money! Soft and fluffy on the inside, yet extra crispy on the outside, these homemade baked French fries are a side dish you can feel good about eating.
Looking for more easy potato side dish recipes? Try my Warm German Potato Salad, Leftover Mashed Potato Gnocchi or my Scalloped Potatoes!
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Crispy Baked French Fries
Fries are one of my all-time favorite comfort foods, and it turns out, it’s actually a lot easier (and healthier) to make them at home! I already tackled making crispy sweet potato fries at home, and so I decided to apply similar techniques to this russet potato recipe. The result? Perfectly crispy, yet soft on the inside, baked French fries right in my own home.
Baked in the oven on high heat in a single layer to ensure crispiness, these fries are pre-seasoned before they go in the oven. Everything gets tossed along with a mix of dried oregano, paprika, garlic and onion powder, and olive oil. There is no soaking or special tricks here. Just high heat and thin slices of potatoes.
The best part? These only take about 25-30 minutes in the oven. You will be eating your tasty snack in less than 40 minutes, start to finish. And if you’re looking for more than a snack, make it a meal by serving these homemade fries with sandwiches or burgers.
Ingredients
- Potatoes: I prefer to use medium-sized russet potatoes for this recipe. It’s important to cut into the potatoes in matchstick shapes to ensure the perfect, crispy fry, as well — you don’t want them to be too thin or too large.
- Herbs and spices: I kept things simple with paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and dried oregano for these crispy fries. You can always add in a little chili powder for an extra spicy kick!
- Olive Oil: I prefer to use extra virgin olive oil when making oven baked French fries. However, you can also use any other neutral oil that you prefer, like peanut oil, canola oil, or vegetable oil.
How to Make Crispy Baked French Fries
- Soak potatoes: In cold water for 30 minutes. Remove from the water then pat dry thoroughly.
- Prep: First, preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. It is very important that you liberally spray the foil with cooking spray — otherwise the fries will stick to the foil.
- Combine ingredients: Next, in a large bowl, toss together all of the ingredients, including the sliced potatoes.
- Bake: After that, add the fries to the prepared pan, and then them bake for 25-30 minutes, or until they are crispy and golden brown. Make sure to rotate the fries at least once during cooking.
- Serve and enjoy: Finally, serve your baked French fries immediately with a side of ketchup (or your favorite condiment) and enjoy! These make the perfect midday snack or side to your favorite hamburger recipe.
Tips for Making the Perfect Crispy Baked French Fries
- Soak your fries: In COLD water for 30 minutes before baking. I know this is an additional step but does make a huge difference. Soaking the potatoes gets rid of excess starch allowing the potatoes to get extra crispy.
- Dry your fries: Are you determined to get the most perfectly crispy homemade baked French fries possible? Take the extra step of drying the fries or potato slices really well after washing them but BEFORE seasoning them. You don’t want to wipe away the flavors! This will help draw out extra moisture inside the potatoes before allowing them to bake.
- Enjoy the leftovers: If you end up with too many fries (is that even a thing?), you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. When you want to reheat them, you can heat them on the stovetop in oil or in the oven or air fryer. I would caution away from microwaving fries, just because they lose the crispiness and become mushy.
- Check the doneness: Undercooked French fries are the worst! Double check how done your fries are before serving by using a classic baking trick. Simply take a toothpick and poke a fry; if it goes through easily, then your fries are ready.
- Load up the dips: One of the best parts of eating French fries is all the delicious dip possibilities! Are you a BBQ sauce fan? Do you prefer honey mustard or Ranch? How about the classic ketchup? Whatever it is, don’t forget to dress up your fries with all your favorite flavors.
Here are more easy side dish recipes to try!
- Creamy Mashed Potatoes
- Bacon Cheddar Biscuits
- Mediterranean Salsa
- Enchilada Rice
- Roasted Garlic Brussels Sprouts
Crispy Baked French Fries
Soft and fluffy on the inside, yet extra crispy on the outside, these homemade baked French fries are a side you can feel good about eating.
Ingredients
- 4 medium russet potatoes sliced into 1/4 inch sticks
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
- ¼ tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp dried oregano
Instructions
- Soak the potato sticks in cold water for 30 minutes. Remove from the water then pat dry thoroughly.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminium foil and spray with cooking spray.In a large bowl toss together all of the ingredients.
- Add the fries to the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until crispy and golden brown. If they are still not crispy after 40 minutes give them 5 more minutes in the oven.
- Serve immediately with a side of ketchup (or your favorite condiment) and enjoy!
