Quick and Easy Garlic Fries

These quick and easy Garlic Fries will have you and your guests coming back for more. They make the perfect side dish or appetizer for any occasion. Plus they are the ideal snack for your next binge watching session!

Nothing beats homemade french fries. Give this recipe a try and I promise it will become a family favourite!

So...

yah...

everyone else is posting red velvet this, pink cutie-patootie that and all things heart-shaped...

and I'm over here going "look what I made, GARLIC FRIES".

I want to feel bad. Like I'm not living up to my food blogger potential. But the truth of the matter is I freaking love french fries. So, I made french fries.

Tomorrow I'm posting a burger.

Take that Valentine's Day!

Okay, okay I'm not a total rebel. I'll make sure I fit in 1 or 2 cutesy recipes for all you red velvet, pink cutie-patootie, heart shape loving readers. I love those things too, but I sort of dig french fries more. My bad. Or is it?

Seriously man, look at these things. Screw Valentine's Day. Just eat french fries.

I learned to make fries from my Gramma Doughty. She was an expert french fry maker. She lived in Quebec where you could get fries from the french fry truck.

My gramma perfected her fries over the years and I was lucky enough to learn how to make them from her and my mom. Those gals knew their french fries.

They loved something called a French Fry Sandwich. I could never bring myself to eat one but my sis loves them. I'm not sure how she can eat them and stay so tiny. I swear it's like black magic or something.

Okay I must scoot so I can get some tedious, hard work done. Or watch reality TV. It's a toss-up.

Ingredient Notes:

For the Garlic Oil:

• Oil - You can use any kind of oil you like since this is being poured over the fries after you make them. I used canola oil but grapeseed or olive oil would work too.
• Garlic - Use fresh garlic for this recipe. You can pop the garlic cloves in whole if you are just infusing the garlic flavour into the oil, or you can mince the garlic and leave it in the oil for drizzling over the cooked fries.

For the Fries:

• Potatoes - For this particular recipe, I used russet potatoes. They hold up well to frying. You can substitute Yukon Gold too. They are a really versatile potato.
• Salt - Use the kind of salt you prefer. We love table salt on fries because of the finer texture but on occasion we'll use a coarser salt. It's all about personal preference when it comes to salt.
• Herbs - Personally, I like dried parsley over top of my garlic fries but you can omit it or add any other seasoning or herb you love that compliments garlic.
• Optional - You can add garlic powder or parmesan cheese to this recipe if you like.

How to Make Garlic Fries:

Full instructions and notes are in the recipe card. Please refer to that when making this recipe!

For the Garlic Oil:

1. Add oil and garlic cloves to a small saucepan or skillet. Cook over medium heat until the garlic becomes fragrant. If using whole garlic cloves this will take about 2 to 3 minutes. If you mince the garlic cloves it should only take a minute for the garlic to become fragrant.
2. Remove from heat and strain the garlic out if you like. If using cloves you can always chop them up finely to put over top of the fries or to use in another recipe.
3. Keep the oil in a bowl or measuring cup with a spout to make it easier to drizzle the oil over the fries later. Set the oil aside.

For the Fries:

• Preheat the oil you are using in a deep fryer or large stockpot to 365 degrees F. *Notes below on what types of oil to use for making french fries.
• Cut the fries into matchstick size pieces. You can dunk them in water if you like as you prep but it's not necessary to soak them for this particular recipe. We're going for quick and easy which is why slicing them thinly is recommended.
• If you are soaking them briefly, please be sure to DRY them off REALLY WELL before transferring the fries to the hot oil. You want the potatoes to be as dry as possible.
• Carefully place the potatoes in the hot oil using a spider strainer so you don't burn yourself. If making a lot of fries I suggest cooking them in batches. You do not want to overcrowd fries while they cook. Each batch should only take a few minutes to cook.
• Once each batch is cooked you can place them on a paper towel lined plate or baking sheet to soak up any excess oil.
• Continue cooking all the potatoes.
• Once the fries and are cooked you can transfer them to a large bowl. Drizzle the fries with garlic oil and toss well. Then sprinkle with salt. Add fresh herbs, if desired.
• Serve!

What kind of oil to use for making french fries:

• Vegetable - This is a great all purpose oil for making fries. It has a high smoke point and works really great for making french fries. It works wonderfully for onion rings too.
• Canola - For this recipe, I love canola oil. It tends to be my go to for a lot of simple fried recipes. The smoke point is high enough for frying and the flavour is great.
• Peanut - Honestly, peanut oil is perfect for frying, particularly for deep fryers. It also has a high smoke point and is a great choice for this recipe. We use peanut oil often when frying foods.
• Corn - This was fairly common to use when I grew up. Corn oil is a type of vegetable oil that has a high smoke point. That's why it works so well for recipes like french fries.
• Shortening - Using shortening strikes me as a bit of an old school oil for frying but it's one I love. It works great in a recipe like this one. *personal note below

Growing up my Mom and Gramma used to make homemade french fries a lot. They were both from Quebec, which is known to have some of the best fry trucks around. Gramma and Mom used to use shortening or oil, or a combination of both. If you've never tried making french fries with shortening it's worth a try, especially if you love experimenting with different oils. I know most people overlook shortening these days but it does have a purpose in some recipes.

FAQ:

Can you make fries in an air fryer?

Yes, you can. Just adjust the cooking tine for your particular AF model.

Can you make fries in the oven?

Yes, you can. Place potatoes on a baking pan lined with aluminum foil in a single layer. Bake in the oven at 425 degrees F for about 15 to 20 minutes, flipping them halfway through. You can use my Spicy Oven Fries recipe if you like.

More Side Dish Recipes:

• Onion Strings
• Shallot Rings
• Fried Smashed Potatoes with Onions and Meyer Lemon Dressing
• Aerosmith Potatoes
• Smoked Bacon Macaroni and Cheese
• Lemon Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
• Mini Potato Skins with Sour Cream, Bacon and Chives
• Grilled Potatoes with Garlic and Chipotle Spice from Kiss my Smoke

Other French Fry Recipes from Around the Web:

• Perfect French Fries from Leite's Culinaria
• Perfect French Fries from The Pioneer Woman
• Buttermilk Ranch French Fries by Savory Simple
• Baked Sweet Potato Fries by Sally's Baking Addiction

Places to stalk Cravings of a Lunatic

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Instagram ~ YouTube ~ Kiss My Smoke

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5 from 7 votes

Quick and Easy Garlic Fries

These super easy to make Garlic Fries will have you and your guests coming back for more. They make the perfect side dish or appetizer for any occasion. Plus they are the ideal snack for your next binge watching session!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword french fries, garlic fries

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Calories 338kcal

Author Kim Beaulieu

Equipment

• 1-Quart Saucepan
• Glass Mixing Bowl
• Deep Fryer
• Spider Strainer

Ingredients

For the Garlic Oil:

• ¼ cup canola oil
• 4 cloves garlic cloves

For the Fries:

• 5 large russet potatoes cut into matchsticks
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch fresh or dried parsley

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the Garlic Oil:

• In a small saucepan combine the oil and garlic, cook for about 2 to 3 minutes over medium heat. You want to heat the garlic enough to be fragrant but not to burn it. Garlic burns quickly. Take off the heat and transfer to a bowl or glass dish. Remove the cloves, you can toss them or use them depending how garlicky you want your fries. Chop the cloves finely if using them. Set oil aside.

For the Fries:

• Heat your oil to 365 degrees F.
• Cut your potatoes into matchstick size pieces. Drop in water as you cut them and soak them up until you are almost ready to drop them in. For fries that aren't quick and easy you can soak for 1 to 4 hours, but when you're hungry for fries NOW this will get 'er done.
• Once the oil reaches the right temperature take your potatoes out of the water, rinse them and then dry them with paper towels. You can skip the soaking if you've gone past hungry and hit the point of hangry. This is a judgement free zone.
• Once you are sure your potatoes are patted completely dry (trust me, throwing wet fries into a fryer is a good way to get the oil to bubble over and burn the dang house down, dry your potatoes well my friends) you want to carefully drop them in small batches into the hot oil. Let them cook for a few minutes, 3 to 5 should get 'er done. I like mine crispy.
• Use a spider to lift them out, and not I don't mean one of those 8 legged things, it's a wire tool for lifting things like fries out of fryers. Handy dandy, you need one, or three in your life. Trust me.
• You want to toss each batch into a metal bowl and quickly pour some garlic oil over top and toss some parsley in too. Now toss those suckers in the bowl a few times. Keep tossing till the oil and parsley coats the fries well.
• Continue with each batch until all are cooked.
• For added garlic zing you can take the garlic cloves from your oil and slice them up super fine, then toss them in when you do the fry, oil, and parsley flips in the metal bowl. Adds a whole other level of garlic awesomeness.
• Serve with a big old garlic loving smile.

Notes

Okay here's some french fry facts for fun:

Yes, you can double and triple fry your french fries. I do it often. But for the purposes of THIS recipe one fry was good. I was hungry NOW and didn't want to wait. If you cut the fries into super thin matchstick sized fries I find it matters less if you soak as long or fry a bazillion times. Thicker fries it will matter way more.

Soaking is nice but for these fries if you are in a hurry you can skip it. Soaking gets the extra starchiness out so it's always nice to do when you have time. Again if I was cooking a super thick fry it would have seemed way more important to me.

Any salt will do. Coarse is nice, I actually like old school table salt for fries. I know right, whackadoodle salt choice. But it's what we like for ours.

If you have access to one of those good quality garlic oils on the market feel free to use it. Just warm it up a bit and skip making your own. It's all good here, no judgement on my blog.

Oil temperatures for fries vary from about 325 to 400 degrees F. It's all about personal taste. For these particular thin cut fries I like it at about 365 degrees F. But mine can range from 350 degrees to 400 degrees depending on my mood and how I cut my fries.

Baking potatoes work best for fries. I like Russet but use what you have on hand. Just make sure it's a good baking potato.

The quest for perfect fries is a timeless one. I do about a dozen different variations of fries. We love them all. I think it's a personal thing. Some folks like thin, some like thick, some like skin on, some like skin off, some like them light in colour, some like them dark in colour. To me there's no right or wrong as long as they are not soggy. I like mine crispy with lots of salt and ketchup. I'm old school. Luckily we only eat them about once a month so when we do we indulge without any shred of guilt.

Nutritional information is a rough estimate. Results can vary depending on ingredients and products. 

If you made this recipe considering giving it a star rating or leave a comment!

Nutrition

Calories: 338kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 23mg | Potassium: 1122mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 20IU | Vitamin C: 16.4mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 2.3mg

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