These baked French fries are unbelievably crisp on the outside and properly airy on the inside and absolutely certain to satisfy your craving. Swear.

These baked French fries are surprisingly crisp yet tender potato-y awesomeness that’ll ease your craving, each and every time, yet are still healthful. A final toss with chopped parsley and garlic gives them a French bistro feel. Although that final flourish isn’t even necessary. Not at all.Renee Schettler Rossi

A pile of baked french fries, sprinkled with salt and fresh parsley on a paper towel.

Baked French Fries

4.93 / 13 votes
These baked French fries are unbelievably crisp on the outside and properly airy on the inside and absolutely certain to satisfy your craving. Swear.
CourseSides
CuisineAmerican
Servings4 servings
Calories220 kcal
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Total Time50 minutes

Ingredients 

  • Nonstick baking spray (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil or mild vegetable oil plus more for the baking sheet
  • 3 cloves (about 1 tablespoon) garlic minced
  • 3 large baking (Russet) potatoes scrubbed or peeled
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt plus more to taste
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 450°F (230 °C). Coat a rimmed baking sheet with baking spray or oil.
  • In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the oil and garlic for 2 minutes. Strain the garlic from the oil with a small strainer. Reserve both the garlic and the oil.
  • Slice the potatoes into matchsticks about 1/4 inch thick. In a large bowl, toss together the oil, potatoes, and salt.
  • Spread the potatoes in a single layer on the baking sheet. Roast until golden and crisp, flipping them once with a thin metal spatula if desired, until crisp at the edges and tender in the center, 25 to 35 minutes.

    ☞ TESTER TIP: Watch the fries carefully toward the end of baking as they can go from perfectly golden and crisp at the edges to really rather burnt in mere seconds.

  • Immediately transfer the potatoes to a large platter or serving bowl using that thin metal spatula.
  • Sprinkle the fries with the parsley, reserved garlic, and salt to taste. Serve immediately.

Notes

*What You Need To Know About Doubling This Baked French Fries Recipe

We’re over the moon for these skinny little frites. So much so that we’ve taken to always making a double batch, spreading them on a second baking sheet, seeing as they disappear so quickly.
The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger

Adapted From

The Food You Crave

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Nutrition

Serving: 1 portionCalories: 220 kcalCarbohydrates: 50 gProtein: 6 gFat: 1 gSaturated Fat: 1 gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1 gMonounsaturated Fat: 1 gSodium: 305 mgPotassium: 1163 mgFiber: 4 gSugar: 2 gVitamin A: 87 IUVitamin C: 17 mgCalcium: 39 mgIron: 2 mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe?Mention @leitesculinaria or tag #leitesculinaria!
Recipe © 2008 Ellie Krieger. Photo © 2008 Christopher Hirsheimer. All rights reserved.

Recipe Testers’ Reviews

Not only did this baked french fries recipe appear wonderful on paper, it exceeded our expectations. You infuse oil with garlic for roasting the “fries” and use the resulting crispy garlic to sprinkle on top. What a clever idea! As the potatoes were cut only 1/4 inch thick, they became brilliantly crisp.

I flipped the “fries” over once.The platter of crisp potatoes with crisp garlic and parsley sprinkled on top looked so gorgeous but tasted even better than it looked. I sprinkled them with fleur de sel for a perfect crunch.

One could certainly add further seasoning as desired, such as finely minced rosemary, but it isn’t necessary as the mellowed garlic flavor really shone. This was one of the best batch of “fries” I’ve ever had. They were that great. We are making them again this week, in fact. Munching on a plate of these should make you very, very happy.

Select a Tester

I was very skeptical when trying this recipe. Baked French fries that taste like real fries? Please. I think you have to experience the magnificence of these yourself to truly understand how magnificently they work.

I intentionally cut the potatoes a little unevenly so that some parts of each fry would be more slender so that they’d crisp better while leaving other parts fatter and denser and more potato-y. I personally loved that. They turned a gorgeous mottled brown in the oven and didn’t last long. In fact, they didn’t even make it from the counter to the table, we stood there and devoured them at the countertop. That’s how amazing they were.

I confess, on subsequent times that I’ve made these, I’ve omitted the garlic and loved them just as much. This recipe is a new mainstay in my house, even (especially?!) on weekend mornings alongside eggs. They make magnificent dippers into runny yolks.

Originally published September 04, 2019




About David Leite

David Leite has received three James Beard Awards for his writing as well as for Leite’s Culinaria. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, Saveur, Bon Appétit, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Yankee, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and more.


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Recipe Rating




31 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    These are crazy good! I followed directions, and then just drizzled a little malt vinegar on them. No need for this girl to fire up the deep fryer!

    1. Susan, so glad to hear you like these as much as we do! I am a fool for these fries, too. Just plain and simple for this girl, too.

    1. They are, Bec! I make them often. They’re terrific even without the garlic and parsley if your pantry is especially bare…