My friends, I am here today to blow your ever-living, ever-loving mind. I have stumbled upon this method of making french fries on the stove that is complete and utter genius. It’s pretty well-known that I am not a big fryer, as frying times and oil temperatures {and boiling hot oil spatters…ouch} basically baffle me. But this technique is so easy and almost impossible to mess up, and it yields fries that are perfectly fluffy and tender on the inside, while being crisp and crunchy on the outside. You ready for this? You dump your fries in cold oil. Nope, that’s not a typo. COLD oil. Here, let me explain.
You know how they say the secret to really great fries is the fact that you have to fry them twice? You’re supposed to fry them at a lower temperature first, to cook the actual potato, and then again, in really hot oil, to crisp them up. Well, I’m here to tell you that you can do that in one pan, with a single cooking process, by starting off with cold oil. The genius to this method is that as the oil slowly heats up, the potatoes cook all the way through. Then, by the time the oil is boiling hot and spattering, the inside of the potatoes is cooked, so they are ready to be crisped up. So easy! So good! Who needs fast food french fries, anyways?
I have always been a big fan of baked fries, and my mom makes some roasted fries like you wouldn’t believe…but sometimes, you need a good, old fashioned french fry, and this is basically the best recipe ever. The only downside is that you are a bit limited by the size of your pan, and since these take a good 15-20 minutes to cook, making batch after batch isn’t really ideal. But if you’re willing to have multiple pans going at once… then totally go for it. These fries are worth it!
I, personally, cannot lay claim to this genius technique, but for the life of me I just cannot remember where I read about it! It might have been somewhere on Pinterest, but to be honest, I’m thinking it might have been in Bon Appetit or another cooking magazine, back in the pre-Pinterest day. Yes, children, my blog is actually older than Pinterest. I’m practically a senior citizen in blogging years. When I started, we had Facebook and we had Twitter. That was pretty much it. No Pinterest, or Instagram, or Google Plus, or any of the other {complicated and ridiculous} networking websites. “But I don’t like change!” Yep, I definitely sound like an old lady.
- 2-3 potatoes
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
- Wash and peel your potatoes, and cut into french fries.
- Place the fries into a cast iron skillet, making sure that they are in a single layer and not overlapping, and pour just enough oil to almost cover them completely {it may or may not be the whole cup, just go with the visual}.
- Turn heat onto medium-low, and let the potatoes cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep them from sticking together. The fries are ready when they are golden brown and crisp on the outside.
- Remove the fries from the oil, and place on a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Toss with salt and pepper, or any other desired seasonings, and serve immediately.
This made great fries. Thank you. I made them for fish and chips. Still had to double fry because I cooked them too early but they would have been perfect.
Best French fries ever!!!!!
consider yourself earned a new fan! these French Fries are so darn delicious <3
This is weird. I always found if oil was too low a temperature that the fries became more oil-soaked (as in did not form an immediate protective crust from quick frying)…
But it sounds interesting enough to try so I will do that and see for myself! Thanks!
Medium low didn’t seem to work for me. I have an electric stove and cooked on medium for about 15 minutes and then medium high for about 5 minutes to get the outside crispy. They were the best fries I have ever cooked. Crispy but not hard and the insides were soft and fluffy.
I tried this method tonight and I can’t believe how great my fries came out. Even cold they were good. I will be making french fries more often.
This is a wonderful recipe! It looks super easy and I know it tastes amazing!
These are DANGEROUS! I will freely admit I’m not the best cook – probably because I hate cooking lol. I was desperate for something different for a side dish tonight and found this recipe – it was so easy even I didn’t mess it up lol. I was a bit worried they would become soggy sitting in the oil that long but they were nice and crispy. Normally I rarely fry anything, mainly because my hips – among other body parts – don’t need it and to be honest I hate the smell of oil that lingers in the house. This might be a bit too easy and good to make too often !
These made the best stove top fries!!! My kids, who are 5 and 7, LOVED these! They’ve never been crazy about fries I’ve made in the pan and the oven before. And your method has a lot less oil splatter too. I’m a fan!
Worked great! Will definitely keep this method in the repertoire…
That looks awesome but how how do I make more than one portion if they need to be cooked in cold oil?
Raflin you have to use multiple pans if you want to make a bigger batch.
This worked great, but question can you or have you tried sweet potatoes?
Hi Lexi! Great question – I have not tried this with sweet potatoes. I am not sure if they would work the same way since they tend to get very mushy when cooked.
Yes, this really works! I don’t usually make fries because it’s such a pain, but this is easy and very very good.