Our Favorite Dupe for Chick-Fil-A Waffle Fries

A long, long time ago, before my brain knew about all the terrible things it knows about now, Chick-fil-A was probably my favorite place to eat when I went to the mall on weekends. Okay, it was my second favorite place to eat at the mall after Piccadilly Cafeteria (Piccadilly Posse, rise up), but that’s beside the point. The point is that I’m all grown up now, I no longer eat at Chick-Fil-A, but, dammit, sometimes I just want to sink my teeth into some fried chicken morsels and really good waffle fries, ideally dipped in Polynesian sauce.

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My favorite Chick-Fil-A fries dupe

We figured out the nuggets pretty easily. Just Bare’s Lightly Breaded chicken nuggets, which you can get at a bunch of major grocery chains, taste A LOT like Chick-Fil-A nugs. The breading is light and peppery, the chicken breast is moist, and if you close your eyes, you can certainly pretend you’re eating fast food (a big styrofoam cup of lemonade helps, too).

And you can buy Chick-Fil-A Polynesian sauce at the grocery store if you really insist, although there are generics that approximate that addictive sweet, tangy flavor. In fact, Aldi sells dupes for Chick-Fil-A Polynesian sauce AND Chick-Fil-A sauce.

But when you’re seeking out fast food dupes, fries are always the toughest nut to crack. Why? Because even though frozen french fries are deep fried at the factory, it’s really hard to approximate that freshly fried flavor at home with only an air fryer or an oven. You need really good fries that retain that oily flavor and that, ideally, have some added crispness. That’s why we reach for Grown in Idaho Super Crispy Waffle Fries when we want that Chick-Fil-A feeling.

A couple years ago, I taste tested a bunch of grocery store waffle fries and Grown in Idaho was the team’s clear favorite. Much like Chick-Fil-A fries, these aren’t seasoned but they’re still plenty flavorful. The crispy outsides-to-fluffy insides ratio is perfect, and we love that these are coated in potato starch so they actually get crisp when you cook them, even if you cook them in the oven.

The real key: Grown in Idaho leaves some skin on the potatoes. Besides giving them a freshly cut look, it contributes that earthy flavor you find in Chick-Fil-A waffle fries. Even if you do still eat at Chick-Fil-A, believe me, this info will come in handy if a craving strikes on a Sunday.

About the Author

Howdy! I’m Gwynedd, Sporked’s managing editor. I live in Los Angeles and have access to the best tacos the U.S. has to offer—but I’m a sucker for a crunchy Old El Paso taco night every now and then. I’ve been at Sporked since 2022 and I’m still searching frozen mozzarella sticks that can hold a candle to restaurant sticks. Why you should trust me: I’ve been a journalist for 20 years (yikes), a consumer of food for 40-plus years, and I’m truly hard pressed to think of foods I don’t like (or that I can’t tolerate at the very least). Oh and one time I cooked my way through Guy Fieri’s cookbook and wrote about the journey through Flavortown. What I buy every week: Trader Joe’s Original Savory Thins. Fat free plain yogurt (usually Fage or Nancy’s). Honeycrisp apples. Sweet cream coffee creamer for my at-home Americanos. A frozen cauliflower crust pizza and some jarred mushrooms to top it with. Old El Paso Stand ‘N Stuff taco shells and Gardein Ground Be’f, even though I think “be’f” is a nightmarish contraction. Favorite ranking: Stouffer’s frozen dinners. I don’t own a microwave (I get my cancers the old fashioned way!), so I love taste testing things that I don’t really buy to eat at home. Least favorite ranking: Soy sauce. Don’t get me wrong, I love soy sauce—but consuming that much sodium in one sitting is probably illegal in some countries. Our frozen enchilada taste test was a close second; the smell of microwaved corn tortillas still haunts me.