Are you a lover of French fries? Who isn’t! Fries are world-famous for accompanying your cheeseburgers but these days, they go with nearly everything, and did you know there are many different types of French fries!
Fries can even be served as a main course and are consumed by kids of all ages so it’s always a good idea to know how to whip them up at home, and there are actually 30 types of fries you can enjoy making it one very versatile food.
If you want to know more then get your fries skills to the next level and learn about all the different types and how to make the best out of your fries at home.
Types Of French Fries
Regular Fries
Regular fries are the ones you’ve eaten your whole life, commonly found in any fast food joint across the country. These are regularly cut to a medium diameter and fried in good old regular oil. Squishy and velvety in the middle and cooked with regular salt.
Steak Fries
Steak fries have a slab-like shape that’s great for dipping, these are crisped to perfection making them tender and airy inside, simply delightful.
Shoestring Fries
These receive their name because they are regularly less than 1/8 inch and quite long. They may get a bit twisted; an intertwined bunch is often served as a side dish. You can perfectly make these at home with the help of a mandolin.
Matchstick Fries
This type of fries resembles shoestring fries, that said matchsticks are not as long. Of all the types, these show one of the crispiest textures.
Crinkle-Cut Fries
Imagine regular fries but with its edges in a wavy form. You can often find these while dining outside or buy them frozen from the grocery store. These can be fried or baked and you can make them at home using a special cutting blade.
Waffle-Cut Fries
Waffle cut is just like the name sounds and these are really popular with the little ones because their shape resembles a waffle and is really fun to look at. These often come with the potato skin still on, but you could also peel it if you’d like.
Wedges Fries
These are the largest and heaviest of all the French fries varieties. Potatoes are cut into three-cornered shape pieces and flavored prior to being deep-fried or baked.
Tater Tots Fries
These are famously loved by just about anybody, Tater Tots (technically a trademark of Ore-Ida) are the perfect bite-sized potato fried. These can be shallow-fried or deep-friend and if you get the frozen type, you can bake them. You can make these at home but it is quite the hassle having to parboil the potatoes and reduce them to the signature tater tots shape and size.
Cottage Fries
This type is also called home fries or round-cut fries. These are typically cut in flattened discs from the whole potato. Leaving the skin or not is optional and you can make them as thin or thick as you want. Again you can, deep-fried them, shallow-fry or bake.
Sweet Potato Fries
Yams or sweet potatoes, provide a sweet taste for those sweet craving palates; and though these are not as crisp and the white potato fries, these offer more nutrition and a buttery and delicious texture.
Chips
Meet the narrowest, crunchiest fries of all. Chips are paper-thin and you’ve probably enjoyed them from a bag before. However, you can also whip these babies up at home with the help of a mandolin of course. For crispiness purposes, these are better when fried in blistering canola, vegetable, peanut, or corn oil.
Curly Fries
Curly fries are world-famous, these are potatoes cut into a twist-like shape and seasoned prior to deep-frying. The best part, you don’t have to go out to enjoy these with so many tools available to make them at home.
Chip Shop Chips
Chips are the way the British called their French fries; the chip shop chips are commonly served with fried battered fish or sausage. These are typically short in size, thick with a soft interior, and a bit of crunchiness texture in the exterior. Malt vinegar and salt are used for flavor.
Home Fries
Home fries are blocks of potato sliced irregularly and more likely with the rind still on. These can be deep-fried or shallow fried. Home fries can be enjoyed 24/7, but most prefer to have them during breakfast time paired with bacon and eggs.
Oven-baked Fries
If you are watching your weight, then baking your fries instead of deep-frying, is the way to go. That said, in order to achieve desirable crispiness, you’ll have to sprinkle some oil on top of your fries.
Bistro Fries
This type of fries is just a fancy way Belgian and French bistros have to offer their fries. There’s no exact term to define bistro fries; these are usually medium in both size and length and offer the right flavor and texture combination, crunchy on the exterior and fluffy on the interior.
Boardwalk Fries
Boardwalk fries are a simple take on French fries, only seasoned with salt and vinegar, these are cut in medium size and deep-fried twice at different temperatures. These are usually consumed as hot and crunchy as they come. They get their name from the boardwalk of Ocean City, Maryland -where they became famous.
Tornado Fries
These are quite attractive to look at and somewhat of a work of art. These are not recommendable to make at home since tornado fries are usually found at fairs. The potato is cut into a spiral, skewered, and deep-fried.
Pommes Souffles Fries
Pommes is another stylish way to present your fries; you begin with potato slices that are deep-fried a couple of times which makes them puff up and giving them a balloon-like shape.
Seasoned Fries
This type of French fry is characterized as being flavored prior to being served. Seasoning includes black pepper, Cajun spice, seasoned salt, or Old Bay.
Garlic Fries
Just in case you want to elevate your fries game to the next level, garlic fries are always a good idea to do so! Just make your fries as you’d regularly do and add minced garlic for a whole new flavor. Parmesan and parsley are also typically used in this recipe.
Truffle Fries
This type of fries is considered the most luxurious since they are found in high-end restaurants. Truffle fries are nothing more than fries that are topped with fresh truffle zest or sprinkled with truffle oil, these are often served with Parmesan and parsley as well.
Animal-style Fries
These are exclusive of the In ‘n’ Out menus; these are fries topped with shredded cheese, grilled onions, and house sauce. You can easily make your own version at home.
Cheese Fries
As the name indicates, plainly put these are fries topped with melted and gooey, delicious cheese. Suitable options to get your cheese situation to melt just right would be, Cheddar, Parmesan, Gruyere, and Jack.
Chili Cheese Fries
If you enjoy cheese fries then take them to the next level by adding flavorful chili to the mix. You could choose from vegetarian chili, beef, or turkey or even make your own. Common toppings include hot sauce and onions. Though it sounds messy, is certainly worth it.
Poutine Fries
This is a French fries dish originally from Quebec. It consists of normal French fries, fresh cheese curds, and gravy.
Patatas Bravas
This dish is typically served in Spain as tapas, it consists of big potato pieces that are par-boiled and deep-fried. These are served with spicy tomato sauce.
Potato Skins
Ever felt like your potato peels could still be used, that’s how potato skins came to be. Instead of throwing those away just deep-fry them until they’re crisp. These can be enjoyed with numerous toppings and make a fantastic appetizer.
Carne Asada Fries
This is a Mexican dish in which French fries are served, topped with thinly sliced steak and cheese. Other toppings may include guacamole, salsa, and sour cream. All the ingredients combined can also be made into a burrito.
Patatje Oorlog Fries
This is a typical item on a Belgium menu and which can be translated to ‘war fries.’ This is a unique blend of fries with mayonnaise, Indonesian-style satay sauce, and raw onions.
How To Keep any type of French Fries Fresh?
Cooked fries should be thrown away if left out for more than 2 hours at room temperature.
If you have leftover fries, you should keep these in the refrigerator. Once they are completely cooled down they should be stored immediately in the fridge. The same goes for purchased fries.
If you have cut up potato fries, you can store these in the fridge. Place them in a container and cover them completely with plain, unsalted water. They should be fine for at least 2 or 3 days.
How To Store French Fries So They Stay Fresh For Longer
To extend the freshness of cooked fries, refrigerate them in a shallow airtight container or wrap them tightly with aluminum foil. Plastic wrap works too; properly stored, cooked French fries will last for 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator.
To further extend the shelf life of cooked French fries, freeze them; freeze in covered airtight containers or heavy-duty freezer bags, or wrap tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil or freezer wrap. For quality purposes, these should be consumed within 10-12 months but will remain safe beyond that time.
Can You Freeze French Fries?
You absolutely can freeze raw French fries, that said it takes quite the effort to do it but many find it worthwhile since it’s cheaper than getting the frozen fries from the grocery and since you have total control over the ingredients. Frozen fries can be stored in the freezer for up to 6 months.
In order to freeze your fries follow the steps:
- Scrub your potatoes, peel, rinse well
- Dry your potatoes using a kitchen towel
- Cut your potatoes into French fry shape
- Blanch your fries
- Dunk the blanched fries into a bowl of iced water to prevent overcooking
- Spread the fried-out into an even layer on a baking sheet to freeze
- Once frozen, move frozen fries to a zip-top freezer bag for longer storage
What To Do With French Fries Before They Go Bad
If you notice any changes in appearance or smell in your cooked French fries even if you have them in the fridge, you should discard them.
But before that happens, there are tons of ways you can enjoy your yummy French fries. Check out below some of our favorite French fries recipe ideas.
Do you have any other Type of French Fries you love?
Our Favorite And Easiest French Fries Recipes
Loaded Greek Style Air Fryer Fries
This Air Fried Greek Feta fries recipe is absolutely delicious and comes together with very little time or preparation. It’s actually a perfect last-minute company dish because really Feta keeps forever, and as long as you have a chunk of that in your fridge, a few minutes and you could be snacking on something that tastes like it took a while to put together.
Homemade French Fries
This weekend I made one of the most basic things you can make in the air fryer…. Homemade FRENCH FRIES. There are a few steps that you will need to make sure you follow to create crispy fries, but outside of that, this is a very simple recipe.
