If you know me, you know I love frozen french fries. Fresh cut fries are hard to get right, and I don’t trust everyone to do it correctly (ahem, In-N-Out). Plus, frozen fries are a lot less hassle to make at home. Making good food is hard work, dontcha know? Let someone else bear the brunt of it if you can. As a bonus, frozen fries tend to have a wonderful texture; most companies add starch, like potato or corn, to create an extra crispy coating. Friends, I’m telling you, frozen fries are worth it. I am extra proud of this ranking.
We were joined by Mythical Kitchen’s own Vianai Austin for this taste test. We looked for crunch, texture, flavor, and seasoning. The best french fries are crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. All fries should be salted properly, and if they have a distinct, fatty flavor from the oil they were fried in, that’ll seal the deal. The brands that did those four things right earned a spot on this list.
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- Lamb Weston Grown in Idaho Hand Cut Style Fries
Lamb Weston is the king of frozen french fries. This is the brand my restaurant pals and chef friends swear by, and I completely understand why. Their fries are golden and delicious, well seasoned, crispy, and fatty. They use modified food starch (potato, corn, and tapioca) to achieve an extra layer of crust. The texture is also amazing—creamy on the inside, crispy on the outside. That’s how a good french fry hits the mark. I’m also willing to bet these have been soaked and blanched, and properly, too. I can’t say enough good things about these perfectly executed fries.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Amazon
- Lamb Weston Grown in Idaho Super Crispy Steak Cut Fries
Steak fries are often divisive and tend to get a lot of hate, but these steak fries changed a lot of minds here at Sporked. They are just so damn creamy. The potatoes are perfectly soft and tender, and enveloped in that signature Lamb Weston crust. Lamb Weston’s aesthetic is a lightly battered fry; they add crunch without taking away from the star flavor, potato. As a result, these are some of the best steak fries I’ve ever had. No joke.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Amazon
- Market Pantry Crispy Shoestring Fries
None of the shoestring fries we tried actually had the thin, long shape of an actual shoestring. Aside from that, these were a delightful surprise. Market Pantry’s Crispy Shoestrings are wonderfully seasoned fries—well-salted, with some nice paprika on the back end. Flavorful is the word here. Of course ketchup will do the trick, but I’d love to toss these with parmesan cheese and parsley, then dip them in some aioli or Duke’s mayonnaise.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Target
- Alexia Seasoned Waffle Cut Fries
These waffle fries are perfectly crispy and have an excellent seasoning to them. Check the ingredients: Salt, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, chili pepper powder, and salad mustard (vinegar, mustard seed, salt, turmeric, and paprika). What a wonderful brew of spices. As a result, Alexia’s Seasoned Waffle Cut Fries bang hard. These are the best waffle fry, but maybe the best seasoned fry, too. It pains me to put them 4th here.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Amazon
- Arby’s Seasoned Curly Fries
These Arby’s fries are nearly as good as the ones they serve in the restaurant, gang. They come pre-fried; to cook them, you just have to heat them up. They are already saturated with delicious fryer oil. That greasiness is what we love about fast food fries, and Arby’s keeps that intact. These curly fries are also seasoned well with onion, garlic, and a mix of other spices. The store-bought frozen bags deliver virtually the same product as the Arby’s restaurant fry we all know and love, in my opinion.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Amazon
- Ore-Ida Extra Crispy Fast Food Fries
Ore-Ida is a steady, trusted grocery store brand for fries. I’ve used them many times at home, and they never disappoint. These fries get really crispy, and they’re also really greasy. There’s a lot of oil on them, which makes them delectable and addicting. I think of them as the McDonald’s fries of frozen grocery store fries. I’ll say it again: crispy exterior, creamy interior. That’s the goal, and these nailed it. While they rank sixth, they’re still damn good. There are just a lot of great options for frozen french fries out there.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Target
- Alexia Crispy Rosemary Fries with Sea Salt
“Herbs fix everything,” Vianai correctly remarked. The seasoning on these is really lovely. The rosemary adds an extra dimension of flavor, and the salt factor is nice, too. Alexia’s Crispy Rosemary Fries give off fancy, gastropub vibes but without any overpriced gastropub pretension. Sometimes you just want a fancy fry. One of my favorite things to do at a nice restaurant is sit down at the bar and order a cold beer and some french fries with aioli. Pair these with some good mayo, and you can experience a little decadence right at home.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Amazon
Best of the Best
Best Steak
Best Shoestring
Best Waffle
Best Curly
Best Fast Food
Best Herby
Other products we tried: Ore-Ida Steak Fries, Checkers Famous Fries, Kroger Shoestring Fries, Kroger French Fries, Lamb Weston’s Shoestring Fries, Whole Foods 365 Golden Crinkle Cut, Great Value Seasoned, Great Value Crinkle Cut, Market Pantry Thin Cut.
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Looking forward to trying some of these. While I have fried them before, I usually stick to the “air fryer” these days (less work, less cleanup, etc.). Especially looking forward to trying the Rosemary fries, they sound great.
My own personal preference in the frozen section has been the Rally’s/Checkers seasoned fries. Not a single location around me, but their fries are at Wal-Mart, and they’ve completely taken over for fries at home.
I am a big fan of Nathan’s jumbo crinkle-cut fries but I know they don’t come out that crispy out of the regular oven and I don’t have an air fryer yet. I just love the size and taste of Nathan’s fries.
I wish we had some of these brands in Mexico, I make do with wedges from McCain’s
It would be helpful to add to the story how the fries were cooked. Were they all done in the oven? Convection oven? Air Fryer? Deep fried?
Hey Catt! All of the fries were cooked in the oven. We’ll be sure to mention cooking method in future frozen food rankings.
Would you recommend air frying or baking?
Love that target generic brands finally made a good showing. Usually not a favorite on the main episodes
I am surprised that the Great Value Seasoned Fries did not make the list, but I haven’t had the Alexia ones yet. From the sounds of it, they’re next level tasty. So, I’m excited to try them out!
What’s funny is most of the fries and such are made at Lamb Weston but packaged for the other company’s