Learn the secret to making the best homemade French fries from russet potatoes right at home! These are easy to make ahead of time and fry or bake in the oven for a quick snack or side dish idea!
Serve these with my nacho cheese sauce OR my 10 minute Brown Gravy to make some Poutine!
Want to know the secret on how to make French fries super crispy? Starch and Moisture Removal.
- How do you remove starch from potatoes? – Soak them in cold water.
- How do you remove moisture from potatoes? –Cook them twice.
Read on for everything you need to know about making restaurant quality French fries at home, how to store and reheat them, and even how to make them ahead of time!
How to Make Homemade French Fries
1. Slice the potatoes 1/2 inch thick. (A French Fry Cutter makes this easier.)
2. Soak them cold in water for at least an hour or overnight. (Longer = crispier fries)
3. Rinse them twice with cold water and pat the completely dry.
4. Heat oil to 300° F. Fry them in about 6 batches for 5-6 minutes. Don’t overcrowd them by placing too many in at a time, they won’t be as crispy. Use a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel.
5. Increase heat to 400° F. Fry in batches until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
6. Place them on paper towels and sprinkle immediately with salt. Serve with ketchup!
Best Potatoes for French Fries
Russet potatoes are ideal. Since they’re dense, they don’t contain as much water inside, which allows them to get extra crispy.
Waxy potatoes are the worst. These include red potatoes, fingerling, and new potatoes. They’re high in moisture, and will actually become hollow when fried as the water evaporates out.
How Many Potatoes Do You Need?
It takes way more potatoes than you think to make French fries. Calculate about 2 large Russet potatoes/person.
Why Soak Potatoes for French Fries?
Soaking potatoes in cold water helps get rid of the starch. Starch makes things crumbly and soft, and we want our fries to be sturdy and crisp.
Soak them for at least one hour, or as long as overnight. The longer you can soak them, the better. Store them in the fridge while they soak.
Why Double Fry?
Frying potatoes twice is the best way to obtain the crispiest result.
Why, you ask? After you fry them once, moisture creeps its way back to the top of the French fries, causing them to get soggy. Frying them a second time removes this moisture.
Best Oil Temperature For Frying
- Fry the potatoes at 300° F for 5-6 minutes, this allows the middle of the potato to cook.
- Fry them a second time at 400° F degrees so that the outside becomes crispy and golden.
Baking Method
If you prefer to bake these fries:
- Soak the the fries in cold water for at least 1 hour or overnight and pat completely dry.
- Toss with up to 1/2 cup vegetable oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Place the fries in a single layer on a baking sheet at 400° F in the lower-third of the oven for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove, toss, place in a single layer, and bake for 10 more minutes or until brown and crispy.
OR you can try my Crispy Baked Potato Wedges!
Make Ahead Method
If you’re Frying Them:
- Soak the fries as instructed, dry them completely. Fry them in batches at 360° F for 5 minutes. Place on a paper towel. Let them cool and pat them dry.
- Transfer to a plate/tray and flash freeze them for 40 minutes.
- Transfer to them to a freezer bag and freeze them for up to 3 months.
- When ready to serve, remove them from the freezer and fry them in batches at 400° until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
- Transfer to paper towels and season them immediately with salt.
If You’re Baking Them:
- Soak the the fries in cold water for at least 1 hour or overnight and pat completely dry.
- Par Cook them in boiling water for 5 minutes. Remove and pat them dry.
- Transfer to a plate/tray and flash freeze them for 40 minutes.
- Transfer to them to a freezer bag and freeze them for up to 3 months.
- When ready to serve, remove them from the freezer and toss with up to 1/2 cup vegetable oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Place the fries in a single layer on a baking sheet at 400° F in the lower-third of the oven for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove, toss, place in a single layer, and bake for 10 more minutes or until brown and crispy.
- Transfer to paper towels and season them immediately with salt.
Tools for This Recipe
(Amazon Affiliate Links)
- French Fry Potato Cutter
- Deep Fryer
- Dutch oven + oil thermometer
- Slotted Spoon
- French Fry Serving Baskets (with Checkered Paper Inserts!)
How To Store and Reheat Leftovers
Refrigerating:
- Let any leftover fries cool completely and store them in a Freezer bag in the fridge, removing as much air from the bag as possible.
- To reheat, bake at 350° F for about 10 minutes. They reheat very well.
Freezing:
- Flash freeze them on a baking sheet or plate until solid, 1 hour or so.
- Store them in a freezer Ziploc bag in the freezer until ready to eat!
- Reheat in a preheated 350° F oven until warm and crisp, about 15 minutes or so.
PRO TIP: Make my 10 minute Brown Gravy Recipe and have homemade Poutine with leftover fries!
Try These Next!
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Homemade French Fries
Ingredients
- 10 large russet potatoes, peeled and rinsed
- 2 quarts vegetable oil, can sub canola oil
- Salt
Instructions
- Slice the potatoes into ½ inch thick sticks. Using a French fry cutter makes this much easier.
- Soak the potato slices in cold water for a minimum of one hour, and up to overnight. The longer, the better as this process removes the starch which makes for extra crispy fries.
- Rinse the fries twice with cold water.
- Lay the fries on paper towels or a clean dishcloth and pat them as dry as possible.
- Heat oil in a deep fryer or dutch oven to 300° F. You’ll need to fry in about six batches, begin with a quart of oil and add more as needed. Frying too many at once makes them less crispy.
- Use a slotted spoon to add the potatoes to the oil and fry for about 5-6 minutes. The oil should bubble lightly, we’re only heating the potatoes, we don’t want them to crisp yet.
- Place the cooked potatoes on a paper towel lined plate and fry the rest of the remaining batches.
- Increase the heat to 400° F and fry each batch a second time until they are crisp and golden-brown, about 5 minutes or so.
- Remove them and place them on dry paper towels. Sprinkle with salt as soon as they come out.
- Serve with ketchup or fry sauce and enjoy!
Notes
- Soak the fries in cold water for at least 1 hour or overnight and pat completely dry.
- Toss with up to 1/2 cup vegetable oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Place the fries in a single layer on a baking sheet at 400° F in the lower-third of the oven for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove, toss, place in a single layer, and bake for 10 more minutes or until brown and crispy.
Serve these with my nacho cheese sauce, French fry seasoning, OR my 10 minute Brown Gravy to make some Poutine!
Nutrition
These are so much better than the frozen fries.
Wooo!!! Aren’t they?! It’s not even a comparison right? So glad you like them Bobby!
These fries are the best I have ever made. So crispy and done all the way through. Loved them!!
Hi Tina!!! You just TOTALLY made my day, I just finished adding more info to this recipe recently, I wanted to make sure I included ALL of the info you’d need to have the crispiest, most perfect french fries ever- so thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and a rating! -Stephanie
Can you bake them first and then fry instead of frying twice?
Absolutely you can!
Is the frying temperature in Celsius or in Fahrenheit?
Hi Alex! That’s Fahrenheit, sorry about that, I’ll make that notation!
I think it should be obvious its not 300 celcius 😉
Any suggestions on the best way to keep French fries-warm and crisp while cooking the other batches. Thank you
Can I freeze these for later? Just curious… I have them soaking now & excited to try your recipe but my little family might not eat that many… thanks for sharing😊
Hey Ashley! You absolutely can! I recommend flash freezing the leftovers and then tossing them in a freezer Ziploc bag. The flash freezing will prevent them from sticking together when you freeze them in the bag! ENJOY!!! You’re going to LOVE them! (Bet you won’t have leftovers, lol) -Stephanie
Probably not but thought I’d ask just in case lol 😆 thanks Stephanie!
I do the baked version of these and they are the best!!! Even my potato hating son loves them, and they are so easy to make! Thank you for the great recipe!
Hi Tanya! That’s soooo great to hear! Thank you so much for sharing that, you made my day! 🙌🏻
Yeahhh I know… I noticed this yesterday and meant to fix it. Believe it or not it’s a huge pet peeve of mine when people mess this up! I must have been TIRED… lol. Thank you!
What are these “leftover fries” you speak of? 😉
HAHAHA!! I know – only in the movies would that really happen! 🤣🤣🤣
Wont putting them in water for that long make them brown??
Hi Michelle! Storing them in cold water for up to 24 hours actually helps to preserve peeled potatoes and prevents them from turning brown 🙂 The water has to stay cold though. Here is more info!