How to make frozen fries taste good: with a couple ingredients and few minutes of work, you can transform bland frozen fries into a side dish even grown-ups will want to eat.
One of our favorite easy weeknight meals- heavy emphasis on the easy– is grilled sandwiches. Somehow, you can take an ordinary sandwich with ordinary bread and ordinary toppings, slather the outside with butter, toss it in a skillet to toast both sides, and suddenly everyone thinks you’ve made a creative meal.
One of the bigger challenges with that scenario, though- because we all know there’s nothing challenging about the sandwich-making process- is what to serve the sandwich with. Many of our preferred side dishes, even the easy ones, require more work than I’m usually willing to put in on a grilled sandwich kind of night. On those nights, I often turn to frozen fries.
We almost always have a bag of these guys in our freezer. We don’t eat them more than once every several weeks, but they’re just too easy to not have on hand. J doesn’t much care how they’re prepared, or what, if any, extra love goes into them, but I do. I just can’t quite get on board with the throw-on-a-baking-sheet-and-call-it-good version, even when the theme of the evening is easy.
My mom taught me this insanely clever trick for making frozen fries taste good. I don’t know that you could call this a recipe, but I’m putting it out there for those who prefer to have precise instructions to follow. My go-to seasoning for frozen fries is seasoned salt (because I love potatoes + Lawry’s), but I also enjoy any combination of garlic, Parmesan cheese, and Italian seasoning. You could really spice things up by trying chili powder, cumin, or paprika.
How to Make Frozen Fries Taste Good
Ingredients
frozen French fries
oil (olive or vegetable are my top recommendations)
seasonings of choice (favorites include seasoned salt; garlic, Parmesan, and Italian seasoning; salt, pepper, and garlic powder)
Instructions
Preheat oven according to package instructions. Pour your desired amount of fries into a large bowl. Add a few tablespoons of oil (amount will vary depending on how many fries you’re making) and your seasonings of choice. If you aren’t sure how much to add, start with a little and add more as necessary. Toss everything together until the fries are coated with the oil and the seasonings. Transfer fries to a foil-lined baking sheet and arrange in a single layer. Bake according to package instructions, turning fries halfway through.
These look fabulous and it’s not even 8:00am! Guess I have a new thing to try tonight!
Thank you, Shauna! Let me know what you think of the recipe!
fun! We had these growing up!
Yup, they definitely remind me of my childhood, too!
This is brilliant! I never thought to dress up frozen fries with spices. I bet parmesan garlic would be soooo good! I’ve got some frozen fries in the freezer right now, so I am going to try this soon.
Thanks, Jenna! Credit goes to my mom for the idea 🙂 Let me know what you think!
Great tip! I will remember now!
Thank you, Ilona! Have a great weekend!
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who coats frozen fries in oil before baking.
I normally use the seasoning I have on hand from one of three chain restaurants that sell their fry seasoning. I rotate among them depending on my mood.
Ooh, what a great idea! I think I need to get my hands on some Red Robin seasoning.
Sounds so good! Thanks for the tips.
You’re welcome, Lisa! Have a great week!
Nice little trick to make it “homemade”. I completely understand the need for those grilled sandwich nights!
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who needs those nights!