Home Fries Recipe - The Cookie Rookie® (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to homemade french fries? ›

Before all that, though, the secret is to briefly poach them in boiling water (or "blanch" them) before they go into the hot oil. This ensures that the fries are cooked all the way through before getting crisped up in the fryer.

For home fries, the potatoes are typically cut into small cubes, allowing for crispy edges but soft interiors. Hash browns, on the other hand, are created from shredded potatoes. Squeezing out the moisture creates a very crispy exterior.

By using heart-healthy olive oil and baking your hand-cut fries, you'll be getting all of the nutrients potatoes naturally have to offer, according to the USDA, without all of the unhealthy fats and preservatives so common in fast food fries, per McDonald's.

What are Home Fries? Home fries are a breakfast dish or side dish of potatoes that have been parboiled, and then seasoned and pan-fried to crispy potato perfection. They're often cooked with other veggies and served alongside eggs, bacon, or sausage.

The main reasons to cut the potatoes and pre-soak in water are: To allow the excess starches and sugars to be removed from the outer surface of the fry strips AND to keep the potatoes from browning prematurely from exposure to air. Covering in water helps the potato from turning a dark color.

This step is commonly missed in making homemade fries, but it might be one of the most important! Soaking your fries in cold water helps remove excess starch, which allows for crispy, golden fries! The cold water bath also helps the french fries retain their shape and contributes to a fluffy inside.

Substitute fresh potatoes for 30 ounces of frozen hashbrowns. Substitute diced green onions for 3 tablespoons dried chives.

To make their fried menu items healthier, McDonald's began cooking potato sides with vegetable oil in 1990. But the fast-food joint wasn't willing to sacrifice that signature flavor: McDonald's added natural beef flavoring to the oil to preserve the taste customers had come to love.

Are home fries Southern? Home fries are a breakfast staple in the South, often eaten alongside a plate of eggs and bacon. They can serve as the main dish or a side dish. Other regions have variations of home fries with names like fried potatoes or bistro potatoes.

No Need to Boil

We'll say it again because we know it's hard to believe but you seriously don't need to boil these spuds. Slicing them thin will allow them to cook through in the same amount of time that they need to get brown and crispy on the outside.

Why are homemade fries so much better? ›

The homemade version has fewer carbohydrates and calories, and less fat, saturated fat and sodium. The higher fat content of McDonald's fries is most likely due to deep fat frying or even some pre-frying done before the fries are shipped to the restaurant.

Meanwhile, the alkaline water helps the exteriors of the potatoes break down more, creating much more of the starchy slurry that leads to an extra-crisp exterior. About a half teaspoon of baking soda for two quarts of water was the right amount.

Home fries (US, Canada), gommer fries (Western Canada), house fries (US), American fries (US), fried potatoes (UK, Canada and regional US), Bratkartoffeln (German), bistro potatoes (southeastern US), or cartofi țărănești (Romania) are a type of basic potato dish made by pan- or skillet-frying chunked, sliced, wedged or ...

Make sure that you soak the potatoes for at least 2-3 hours. Soaking the sliced potatoes in cold water is one of the main steps to prepare perfect French Fries. The cold water removes the starch present outside the potatoes so that you get perfectly crispy fries.

The best potatoes for French fries are soaked in a sugar solution before frying. The sugar solution has something to do with the carbohydrates and prevents the potatoes from soaking up a lot of grease, so they get crunchy.

Blanching: The Reason Why French Fries Taste Better

Your potatoes need to take two separate dips in hot oil to reach restaurant quality. Oil-blanching is a two-part process that reduces the moisture and starch content in your fries, helping them crisp up.