Homemade French Fries (2024)

Homemade French Fries are a delectable treat when cooked in lard in a cast iron skillet. The perfect French Fry is both golden brown and crispy. Serve them for a dinner side or appetizer.

HOMEMADE FRENCH FRIES

Being from Corbin, KY, we ate potatoes grown in our garden every single day. Occasionally, served in three different forms in one day. We were passionate about French fries long before we even knew what a restaurant was. It’s crazy to see how very young kids are instantly attracted to fries. They really are unique, it’s their shape, smell, and taste!

We have all had good fries and bad ones, but we rarely find those AMAZING fries. We honestly were cooking fries for a couple of weeks, frying batch after batch from the endless recipes claiming to be the “Best French Fries In The Word”. It went from, “these are the worse fries ever”, to “alright”, then we hit a couple “not bad, BUT” fries. Finally, we cherry-picked the best parts from several selections and found our blueprint.

The taste is excellent, but as a reader, you’re thinking, “how do they really know that they are excellent?” Well, of course, we loved them, but even more importantly than that was all the kids in the house devoured them and requested more. Now the true clincher was when the pickiest eater from both our families said, “these are GREAT!” He proceeded to take an entire basket of fries, that was meant for everyone to share and disappeared with them, only to return shortly looking for more!

The closest example to ours that we can offer is Penn Station's freshness, quality, and color, but in a Steak and Shake or Freddy’s size slim fry. Being truthful here, they were quite a bit of work to prepare, but our kids sure thought they were well worth it. Our takeaway from this experience is, now we see why some places charge $5 for a large fry! You won’t see us complaining any long about French fry prices when they are great.

Crispy French Fries are great to serve with a burger or even pulled pork. Consider serving them with Salisbury Steak too!

INGREDIENTS FOR OUR FRENCH FRIES RECIPE

• Potatoes
• Lard
• Salt

HOW TO MAKE OUR CRISPY FRENCH FRIES

Preheat the lard in a dutch oven to 375 degrees.

Slice potatoes into thin french fry sized strips approximately ⅛ inch cube lengths,

Soak in medium warm water for 15 minutes to wash off some of the starch

Pour out the water and rinse once more and drain

Dry the fries on a paper towel to remove any water from getting into the hot lard, causing popping.

Stage fries on a baking sheet in preparation for frying.

Carefully drop fries into the heated lard.

Flash fry for about 10 minutes, they will appear closer to the color of McDonald’s fries. Remember these are only “half fried” in preparation for the later final fry.

Remove fries from the hot lard, place on parchment paper, and arrange in one layer.

Move the fries on the parchment paper into the freezer for 30 minutes.

Remove fries from the freezer and drop fries into hot lard for 5 minutes, until golden brown.

Allow the oil temperature to recover back to 375 degrees between batches.

Once you’ve enjoyed our Homemade French Fries, please consider taking a look at some of our other delicious dishes. Take a few moments and review our classic recipes, whether it’s for dinners, sides, or desserts.

Thank you so much for choosing to spend a little time with us!

Have a wonderful safe and happy day!