Easy Oven Fries Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why are my oven fries not crispy? ›

Don't thaw your fries before baking.

We get it: you're trying to shorten cook time. But thawed fries turn into soggy fries. For best results, keep your frozen fries frozen until you're ready to cook them.

A properly made fry must hit the oil twice--once at a lower temperature, and then again at 350 degrees Fahrenheit--to get the perfect creamy interior and crunchy exterior. Before all that, though, the secret is to briefly poach them in boiling water (or "blanch" them) before they go into the hot oil.

Fries / Tots / Brussels: Heat oven to 350F. Spray or lightly coat a baking sheet with olive oil. Remove your side from its container and spread evenly across a baking sheet. Bake for 7 minutes and remove.

Oven-warming for long-lasting crunch: To keep crispy dishes warm in the oven without compromising texture, place them on a wire rack and bake at 170 to 200 degrees. This method preserves the crunch for about 15 to 20 minutes, ensuring no crispness is lost when served.

As oil heats up it breaks down—cooking oils with a high smoke point will break down more slowly—and that creates crispier fries. The general rule of thumb is that you can reuse frying oil three or four times, or for a total of six hours cooking time.

Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.

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.

Bake at 450 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes. Use a spatula to flip the fries, and move them into a single layer. Bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until the exterior is golden brown and as crispy as you like.

If they are still not crispy you might have skipped a step or you might not have let them cool down sufficiently. Make sure to cool them in a single even layer and also make sure that the oil has the right temperature. Or maybe you've used the wrong potatoes to make them.

Don't overfill your baking tray and rack

Frozen fries are full of water so you definitely don't want too much steam in the oven which makes your fries soggy and limpy. Too many trays on the oven racks decrease airflow essential for crispiness, too!

Why does baking soda make fries crispy? ›

But to give you the Cliff's Notes version, the baking soda alkalizes the water. It breaks down the pectin in the potato and brings the natural starches up to the surface. This, when combined with the pot shaking, contributes to deep browning and ultra crunchines that we're looking for.

Using foil sometimes causes the fries to stick to the foil and then all that amazing crispiness gets stuck to the foil! Don't overcrowd the pan. If too many fries are on a baking sheet then they'll just steam, not bake. I can normally fit the fries from 3 potatoes on a 13×18-inch jelly roll pan.

Check the heating element

An oven that isn't heating properly may have a damaged heating element that needs to be repaired or replaced. If your oven has any exposed bake or broil elements, check for visible breaks or blisters. You can also visually check to make sure all oven elements are turning on.

Baking or Roasting: By using dry heat in an oven, you can achieve a crispy texture on foods. This works well with ingredients like vegetables, chicken, fish, or even certain types of bread. The dry heat evaporates moisture, creating a crisp exterior while keeping the interior tender.