3 Ways to Make Your Own French Fries Without a Deep Fryer

If you’ve ever spotted a giant deep fryer in a restaurant kitchen, you might think that only an expert with high-end equipment can make a delicious homemade french fries recipe. It’s great if you have a deep fryer, but having one isn’t essential. We’ll show you how to make french fries at home with minimal kitchen tools. In fact, all you need to make the best homemade french fries is a good chef’s knife, a cutting board, a heat-resistant colander, a heavy pan, and a thick thermometer.

How to Make French Fries by Frying?

Go ahead and gather the ingredients (potatoes, oil, and salt are all there is!) and follow these simple steps to make four servings of crispy french fries in minutes.

Prepare the potatoes

You don’t need much, just cut the fries as directly as possible so that they fry evenly.

• Start with 4 medium baked potatoes (or sweet potatoes) for a total of about 1.5 pounds. Peel the potatoes if desired. To prevent the peeled potatoes from turning black, dip them in a bowl of ice water.
• To get even fries, use a sharp chef’s knife to cut the potatoes into rectangles. Cut off the ends first, discard the ends.
• Next, cut off one side directly to create a flat surface. Repeat the above steps on the other three sides to finally get a rectangular potato. Cut the potatoes into 1/4 to 3/8-inch strips.
• While heating the oil, soak the strips in a bowl of ice water.

Heat the oil for frying

Yes, you need to preheat the oil for frying, just like you need to preheat the oven. That’s all you need to do.

• In a heavy, deep 3-quart pan, heat the peanut oil (canola oil is indeed the only oil substitute when frying) to 365°F (the pan should no longer be more than half full). If using a deep fryer, heat the oil according to the manufacturer’s instructions. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 300°F.

Tip: The oil you use is important. Choose vegetable oils with smoke points over 400°F. Peanut oil, corn oil, safflower oil, and sunflower oil are all effective.

Stir-fried potatoes

• Drain the potato strips. Pat the potatoes with a paper towel and let them dry thoroughly.
• Fry the potatoes, about a third at a time, until the center is soft and the edges begin to color and bubble, about 7 to 9 minutes.
• Using a slotted or long-handled spoon, carefully remove the fries from the hot oil and transfer to a clean paper towel to drain. Sprinkle with salt if desired. To keep the fries warm, transfer the drained fries to a baking dish and place them in the oven while frying the remaining potatoes.

How to Make French Fries in the Oven?

That’s true: the taste and texture of homemade french fries is unmatched. But an easier (and healthier) alternative is to make baked french fries, such as these no-french fries. Make them from scratch and you’ll find that they’re much fresher than anything you take out of the fridge!

Here’s how to make four servings of french fries from scratch in the oven.

• Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly coat a baking tray (like this Nordic ware jelly reel, which costs $23 at Walmart).
• Cut 2 large baked potatoes (about 1 pound total) into thin wedges.
• Place the potato wedges in a resealable plastic bag. Spray the potatoes with nonstick cooking spray.
• Place 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl. Add the seasoning to the potatoes in the bag; close the bag. Shake well so that the potatoes are dipped in the seasoning mixture.
• Place the potatoes in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, or poke with a fork until crisp and tender, flipping once. If desired, you can sprinkle salt on the potatoes.

You can also use these same instructions to make sweet potato fries in the oven.

How to Make French Fries in an Air Fryer

If you love homemade french fries but don’t always want to go the frying route, consider an air fryer to make french fries (or these addictive air fryer pickle fries). These small appliances cook by circulating super-hot air around the food, and think of them as mini convection ovens. Air fryers use only a fraction of the oil needed for a traditional fryer, but can still be relied on to make the kind of homemade french fries we love that are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

Ready to try this? Here’s how to make french fries with an air fryer. This recipe serves six people.

• Start with 4 medium baked potatoes (6 to 8 ounces each) and peel if desired. To prevent blackening, soak the peeled potatoes in a bowl of ice water until ready to cut.
• Preheat oven to 200°F.
• Cut the potatoes into strips 1/2 inch wide. Bring the strips back to the ice water.
• When ready to fry, drain the potatoes and place them on a paper towel;
• Place in a large bowl and stir in a tablespoon of vegetable oil.
• Place half of the potatoes in the basket of the fryer. Set to 400°F. Fry for 12 to 15 minutes or until tender and browning is desired, shaking the basket once.
• Place the wind-fried potatoes in a shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with salt. Keep warm in the oven at 200°F while frying the remaining potatoes.

Tips for the Best Homemade French Fries

The ideal homemade french fries recipe has a crispy, golden exterior and a light, fluffy interior. How do you achieve this perfection? Before you begin, review how to make the best french fries.

• Choose the right potatoes: Russet or Idaho potatoes (aka high-starch potatoes) will make the best homemade french fries. However, Finnish yellow, Yukon gold, or other all-purpose potatoes can be used. Low-starch potatoes, such as round red potatoes, white potatoes, or new potatoes, are the least popular.
• Choose the right oil: When making your own french fries, it’s important to use an oil that’s suitable for frying. Some oils, such as olive oil and flaxseed oil, are not suitable for use because they have a lower smoke point (325°F and below), which means you will be exposed to airborne smoke and discolored fries. Oils with higher smoke points (396°F to 414°F) suitable for frying include canola oil and peanut oil.
• Maintain a uniform temperature: After heating the oil, it is important to maintain a constant high temperature. It’s best to use a heavy-duty pan and a frying thermometer to monitor the oil temperature. Other types of thermometers may work if they clip to the side of the pan and read exactly the oil temperature needed for frying.
• Season properly: Sprinkle generously with salt to make homemade french fries even more irresistible. Don’t stop there, try herb and spice blends and grated cheeses such as aged ashago, parmesan or dry jack.

Whichever method you take, freshly hot homemade french fries will always be a cut above the drive-in options. They are a fun side dish to a family-favorite meat and potato meal, or even a simple snack recipe. Now that you know how to make crispy french fries at home, make your own with some tomato sauce to soak in!