How To Fry Frozen French Fries: 4 Easy Methods

French fries are one of the most favorite side dishes, snacks in movies, or just a perfect pairing with anything because it’s just SO GOOD! No wonder we all go loco with french fries especially when served fresh and hot.

These crispy french fries are readily available in most grocery markets and even farmer’s markets. You can have them as fresh potatoes and cut them into wedges or get the frozen ones from the grocery store and cook into perfection. But, how do you fry frozen french fries?

Frying Frozen French Fries

Here’s a quick step by step guide on Frying your French Fries.

1. Oven Method

For individuals who are staying away from oil and just prefer a healthy and clean-tasting french fries, the oven can do the job. Just follow along and you will have a crispy exterior and mealy interior of the french fries.

1. You will need to preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. While your oven is preheating, it’s best to keep the french fries in the fridge first. No need to thaw it at this point.
3. While waiting for the oven to heat up, prepare a non-stick baking sheet. If you don’t have a non-stick, just spray your baking pan with cooking spray or rub with a little bit of butter or olive oil.
4. Once the oven is well heated, take out your frozen french fries and spread evenly onto the baking sheet.
5. Bake all the french fries in the oven for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
6. Once the first side is golden brown, flip the french fries to bake the other side for another 10 minutes.
7. Take out from the oven and let it rest for just 2-3 minutes.
8. Serve with your favorite burger and ranch dip. Enjoy!

2. Deep Fry Method

No doubt the most perfect way to cook frozen french fries is when it’s deep-fried. There’s some chemical reaction between the frozen french fries and smoking hot cooking oil that makes it oh-so-crispy after you fry it. Try this method instead if you feel like treating yourself for a good old traditional deep-fried french fries.

1. Fill your deep fryer with oil and let it heat up until it reaches a temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Then, you’ll need to take the fryer basket and add your frozen french fries. Spread the french fries evenly and do not overpopulate the basket. Chances are if it’s overpopulated, it won’t cook really well and will result in sloppy fries. Just fill it with at least ¼ of the frying basket to ensure that it’s going to be crispy on the outside and cooked on the inside.
3. Slowly lower the frying basket onto the deep fryer with caution. Be careful to not burn yourself since the oil might splatter at times.
4. Fry for at least 4 minutes per batch until the french fries turn into a lovely golden brown color.
5. Once the fries are cooked, set it aside on a paper towel so it absorbs all the excess grease from the oil.
6. Repeat the same steps with the rest of the frozen french fries batches.
7. Serve it with your favorite ranch-dip or drizzle with stretchy cheese and chopped bacon. Enjoy!

3. Stove Method

Here’s another technique that you can follow to achieve that crispy fried french fries. This is quite the same approach as a deep fryer but will be using the stovetop instead.

1. Take a nice skillet and set it up on the stovetop.
2. Fill it up with cooking oil at least ¼ inch from the bottom of it.
3. Place your heat over medium-high heat until it reaches the temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. Or you can do this trick instead: you will know if the oil is ready when you slowly sprinkle droplets of water and it makes a fire-cracking sound.
5. Then, add the first batch of your frozen french fries and spread it evenly onto the skillet. Just make sure that you put just enough french fries where the oil coats it perfectly.
6. Cook the french fries until it’s golden brown and crispy according to your liking.
7. Take out the cooked french fries with a spatula drainer and set it aside on a paper towel to get rid of the excess oil.
8. Then, just repeat the same steps for the rest of the french fries batches.
9. Season the fries with a bit of salt and serve with your favorite dip. Enjoy!

4. Air Fryer

Here’s the most modern way of frying your frozen french fries without adding oil. Eating our favorite snack shouldn’t be less healthy and must be guilt-free to enjoy it’s crispy fried magic.

1. Take the air fryer basket and rub some olive oil or lard on it. If you have a cooking spray, this is way faster. Just spray it onto the surface to grease the fryer basket.
2. Then, layout your frozen french fries in the fryer basket evenly. Again, be careful not to overpopulate your fryer basket. Depending on how big your air fryer is, you can put more french fries as long as it’s still not overcrowding the basket.
3. Air fry the french fries for about 18 minutes over a temperature of 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. Randomly shake the fryer basket just to flip the fries a little bit and spread the heat evenly on them.
5. Take it out and check if it’s golden fried and crispy to perfection. Just return it back if you need it to cook some more.
6. Repeat the same steps for the next batch of fries.
7. Serve it with just ketchup or make your own homemade dip. Enjoy!

FAQs

Do I need to defrost french fries before frying them?

According to most experts and based on my personal experience, it’s best to not defrost your frozen french fries when frying them.

Defrosting french fries will result in them being drenched with water. Being soaked from the water affects the french fries’ crispness when cooked later on. You can do a quick experiment with it and see how it would turn out.

The results will be way different compared when you’re frying it while it’s still frozen. Like what I said earlier, there’s some chemical effect going on with the cold french fries Versus the hot cooking oil that makes it even crispier.

Also, the fry’s exterior remains intact and crispy when it’s cooked unlike when being thawed where it gets crumbly or flaky. Resulting in a less crispy exterior and mushy interior.

Can you cook frozen french fries in a frying pan?

Yes, you definitely can. When frying the frozen french fries on a frying pan, you can follow the same steps above when deep frying. Be sure that the cooking oil is well filled up and doesn’t run out when cooking since potatoes can absorb oil pretty fast.

When the oil runs out, the french fries won’t be cooked very well and will become mushier instead of being crispy to taste.

Also the same goes for a frying pan when frying in a deep fryer, never overcrowd the frying pan with a lot of french fries while cooking. When it’s overcrowded, the french fires will end up catching more steam from the frozen liquid that’s evaporating.

There’s not enough space for it to release and it would most likely be absorbed by the french fries. Always cook your french fries in batches so it won’t get mushy or less crispy.

How To Reheat French Fries?

It’s very simple to reheat, you’ll just need to pop it in the microwave for 3 minutes or so until it looks crispy again. Remember, you can only reheat the french fries once especially if it’s the frozen packaged one.

Always practice proper food safety to avoid food poisoning or upsetting your stomach. If it’s sitting in your fridge for more than 2 days, it’s best to throw it away.

There you have it! Hope you learned all these methods on frying your frozen french fries the next time. Happy cooking!