These Perfect Baked French Fries are sure to be a hit with your entire family! They’re great as a side dish or a snack! Instead of being deep-fried, they’re baked to perfection in the oven with just a little bit of oil.
I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t like French fries! A few years ago I started making my own and I rarely go back to buying the frozen ones. These Perfect Baked French Fries are a favorite around here and I make them at least once a week. They’re also great because you can go as crazy or as minimal with the seasonings as you want.
These days there are lots of different kinds of frozen French fries you can choose from at the grocery store. But, while some might look healthier than others, they’re all most likely deep friend in oil before frozen. I love making my own baked French fries because I can control the amount of oil I put in and they are most definitely not deep fried!
Baked French Fry Recipe Ingredients
- Potatoes – This is obviously the most important ingredient 🙂 . I’m happy to say that you can use any potato you like for your homemade French fries. You can even use sweet potatoes! My favorite kind of potatoes to use are either russet or Yukon gold potatoes. The Yukon gold make your baked French fries crispy on the outside and so nice and fluffy on the inside and russet potatoes are classic French fry potatoes!
- Oil – You can use any kind of oil you like. A few of my favorites are olive oil, avocado oil and coconut oil. If you use coconut oil you will want to use the refined coconut oil so that it doesn’t give your French fries a coconut taste. I haven’t tried making them without oil before, but you could probably cut down the oil if you wish. I do sometimes just give a few sprays of avocado oil from the spray bottle and that works great too and helps cut back on the amount of oil.
- Seasonings – Seasonings are totally optional but I would recommend at least using salt. In this recipe I just used salt because I wanted to make a classic French fry but sometimes I like to mix it up and use salt, paprika, garlic powder and pepper. It makes for a nice seasoned French fry.
How To Make The Best Homemade Baked French Fries
- You can either peel your potatoes or leave the skin on, totally up to you. I usually peel mine if I’m using russet potatoes and making the fries for the kids, but leave the peels on other times. If you’re not peeling your potatoes, just make sure to wash them really well because potatoes can have a lot of grit on their skin.
- You then want to cut the potatoes into French fry shapes. I have a photo at the top of the post that shows exactly how to do that. It’s important to make sure that the fries are all relatively the same shape. You want them all to cook up in the same amount of time which won’t happen if some are really small and some are much larger. I also, just in general, try not to make them too thick because they will take much longer to bake and they won’t be as crispy.
- Some homemade French fry recipes call for soaking the potatoes in cold water before cooking them, but I never bother with that. What it does is remove extra starch from the outside of the cut potatoes which will make them crispier, but I feel like mine crisp up great without that extra step.
- Once potatoes are cut you will place them on your baking sheet. I used to always either use parchment paper or a non-stick mat when making baked French fries because I was scared they would stick otherwise. Now, I’ve found that if I just wait until they are completely crispy on the bottoms, they will flip really easily just straight on the baking sheet. You can definitely use parchment paper or a mat though!
- Add the oil and salt on top of the potatoes and toss well to make sure all the potatoes are coated with oil and seasoning. If you’re using more than just salt, now is the time to add that in too.
- Place fries in the oven and bake for 25-30 minuets, flip them with a spatula. They should be fairly easy to flip if the fries have browned enough. Bake for another 10 minutes or so until each side is perfectly crispy and then remove from the oven. Let cool a few minutes and then serve with your favorite dipping sauce.
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Crispy Oven Baked French Fries
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These Baked French Fries are perfectly crispy and much healthier than the deep fried frozen ones!
Ingredients
- 4 medium russet or Yukon gold potatoes
- 2 –3 teaspoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with a non-stick mat or parchment paper, if desired.
- Wash your potatoes (you can also peel them if you prefer) and cut them into French fry shapes that are about 1/4 inch thick. You want them all to be similar size. Place potatoes on the baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt. Toss to make sure all potatoes are coated with oil and salt.
- Bake french fries until starting to crisp up, about 25 minutes, flip once and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and enjoy with your favorite dipping sauce. You can also bake them a little longer if you want them to be more crisp.
- Let cool for a few minutes and enjoy with your favorite dipping sauce.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Category: Side, Gluten Free, Vegan
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
I followed this but without the parchment paper but somehow my fries got burned. Why?????
Hi Dan, I can’t say for sure why they got burned, but I always use parchment paper so maybe that was it? Maybe you cooked them for a little too long? I’m sorry that happened!
Thank you so much for posting this recipe and video. I love fries but I had no idea how to bake fries. I’m on a budget with not too much money to spend and yesterday I bought a bag of potatoes for $1.98. I just cooked my first batch of fries strictly following your recipe and the fries are delicious. I did not know how to cut my potatoes either so I learned that from your video too. The fries turned crispy and taste great.
Hi Sharon, I’m so glad you found the video helpful! And happy to hear you enjoyed the baked fries!
I tried these and they came out great! Only thing I would modify is the cook time. I have a newer oven, about 2 years old, and I only kept mine in for about 30/35 minutes total and even then they were a little past done. I would suggest flipping them to check them about 25 minutes in and then proceed accordingly depending on your own oven. In the end, a little dry, but still delicious. I will definitely make these again!
Hi Ruth! I’m so glad to hear you liked them! That is good to know that the cook time may vary on ovens. I make these quite often and can’t get enough 🙂
I haven’t tried these yet. I’ve done Guy Fieri’s twice fried french fries and while they are fantastic when first done, the first batch get limp while I make the rest. Do these fries keep their crispness. I love to cook, just don’t have much time as I work past dinnertime most days. My wife loves when I make Chicken Cordon Bleu. I’ll definitely be making these fries.
Hi Jeff, Since these ones are baked instead of fried they don’t get as limp and you probably only need to make one batch using a large sheetpan so you won’t have to wait for the second batch to cook! I hope you enjoy them 🙂
I make these fries my grandma makes these fries my great grandma made them when i was a lil girl like 4 years old now im. 24
Bakes fries are the best! So glad you like them too!
Like everyone, I love that these are baked and not fried! Mmmmm- I could go for a big bowl right now!!
Yum – Izzy – these look fantastic. I’ve never had a lot of luck with oven baked fries – they comes out brown but kind of limp. Definitely going to try your parchment trick!
I looooooooooooooooooooooove these!!! Oven baked fries are my favorite 🙂 We probably have them once a week around here 🙂 I’ve never added paprika to them before and will have to next time!!
Pinning!!
I am totally going to have to try that parchment paper trick! It’s kind of embarrassing that I just bought my first roll not that long ago. Lol. It is awesome stuff!
Hmm. I’m gonna have to try this! I make oven baked fries all the time, but yours are so much prettier than mine– after reading your recipe, the only difference is parchment paper. Can’t wait to try!
My husband has forgotten how to cook too. And the worst problem is that he literally will not eat if I don’t make him something. Not even cereal or a sandwich or something. And then he gets all grumpy/hangry because his blood sugar is low….. sigh. I’ve learned our lives work out much better if I just keep cooking 3 meals a day. The last time I called him on it, he sheepishly said, “I don’t know what to eat. You’re the one that takes care of that stuff…..” Lawdy. I have no idea how the boy survived 28 years before we met.
I always had such problems with the fries sticking to the sheet pan when I didn’t use parchment paper, it has saved my life! Haha, what is it about men?! I caught Eric trying to make pasta for himself the other day and he only had like 1/4 cup of water boiling! Sometimes I wonder, haha! Sometimes I think it is my fault for cooking so much and not letting him do much so I guess I can’t stop anytime soon 🙂
These fries look amazing! And perfect for the weekend, it’s a good thing you shared them!!
Thanks Katie! They are perfect for the weekend! And every other day in between, haha 🙂
haha I think my husband forgot how to cook too! He actually used to cook more than me … but once I started taking over he just stopped lol. And now he doesn’t even know how to heat things up sometimes!
Love these fries! Baked oven fries are the best!
Same with mine! On one of our first dates I made us pasta and it was practically inedible and he had to fix it, haha! Now I’m not sure he can even boil water!
Loooove that these are baked, not fried! And still deliciously crispy, too 🙂 Pinning!
Thanks Medha!
Oh my gosh, they’re SO crispy and golden and PERFECT! Izzy, these fries are baked perfection! They kinda put the deep-fried kind to shame. 😉 Gorgeous photos too, girl!
Thanks girl!! I will never say no to fries but after eating these baked one so much it can be hard to go out and eat the deep fried ones sometimes! But I don’t really discriminate when eating french fries 🙂
Homemade french fries are the best! I definitely need to make them more often. I love how delicious these look, Izzy! These would not last long in my house at all!
They really are! My husband and I pretty much devour the entire tray in one evening, haha!
Hehe… Rob doesn’t cook either… although he used to. I think he’s forgotten too. 😀 And he’s not much into recipe reading either.. although a few months ago I was pleasantly surprised to see that he, all of a sudden, remembered how to read a recipe and he made me waffles! I hope this change of events happens again in our near future! I loooove oven fries, and have tried the soaking method many times, and the non soaking method. I don’t recall how different the results were! Looks like I need to make these and put an end to the household debate! Thank you for this, Izzy! Have a beautiful weekend!
It must be a trend, haha! Recipe reading can be hard, so I can understand that! That is awesome that he made you waffles!! I would love to wake up to homemade waffles every morning! I don’t recall it made much of a different either, so I’d rather save some time and not soak! I hope you are having a lovely weekend too Traci! 🙂