Who doesn’t love a big ol’ pile of fresh french fries, hot out of the fryer from your favorite burger joint, with lots of salt, a little bit greasy, and OH so darned good?!!!
Very few places actually make great fries anymore. Most are pretty disgusting, actually. Did you know that McDonald’s has over 20 ingredients in their “faux” fries??? What could go wrong? π
What happened to just potatoes. Oil. And salt??
Why make it so difficult and scary-bad??
That’s probably why I never order fries. There’s NO excuse for restaurants to not serve real potatoes. NONE. Partially dehydrated, frozen, “fake fries”, with over 20 chemicals and additives infused and sprayed all over them is NOT my idea of a “happy meal”. More like a science class lab experiment gone terribly, terribly wrong. And I choose not to be their “guinea pig”.
Fries need almost nothing. Leave the peel on, use good oil, and season to your own liking after frying. EASY.
And that’s just what good burger chains, diners, and restaurants should be doing.
And we finally came across one that does. And that new favorite place is “Five Guys”! NO frozen, dehydrated, chemical-laden, fake potato sticks to be found there! NOPE. Just REAL potatoes! Sacks and sacks of them everywhere! π
Although I had always thought that I made pretty darned good homemade french fries, these guys had me beat. Theirs just tasted better for some reason. And I was determined to figure out why! And that. I think I did. At least we sure do think so!! π
One bite, and my hubby and I looked at each other, and said in synch, …”FIVE GUYS”!!!
There was one simple ingredient that (I think) they add that just took their flavor over the top creating the perfect fry….and that was simply….garlic powder! Yep. Garlic powder!!
Now, I do not claim this to be fact, I have never worked there, and I’m not privvy to some “secret recipe”. All I know is, they taste just like them!!!
As I’ve said, a great fry doesn’t need much. And food establishments don’t go overboard on a lot of expensive ingredients or they wouldn’t be profitable. So this does go to reason that I may be right, or at least very close! π
But, you can’t just use prepared, store-bought, “garlic salt” already blended. That would be WAY too much garlic, not that I would MIND that – – I LOVE garlic! – – but that’s not what we’re going for here. “Garlic Fries” are a whole ‘nother deal. π
No. We’re trying to go simple, and just plain good, old-fashioned, memories of childhood, tastes like Five Guys, french fries!
Nothing fancy-schmancy, and certainly much healthier than “faux fries” in the giant, brown paper or plastic, 15 pound bags. π
The only rules to follow are simply this. Get all of your ducks lined up for a fast production line and safe frying.
Make sure your oil is hot enough but NOT smoking hot. They do need a few minutes to cook. DO NOT fill your pan too full of oil. I did my deep frying pan only 1/3 full, (1 1/2″ deep of oil with 3″ left above the oil), and that gave plenty of room for the potatoes, as well as the bubbles that will furiously rise during the first 2 -3 minutes of cooking. I leave the peel on, as that’s where a lot of the vitamins and minerals are hiding, slice them not too thick/not too thin, (about 1/3″), and pat them dry a little before adding to the hot oil. (*This will help lessen the bubbles).
Place the cut potatoes into a colander and rinse with cold water, shake, then place onto paper towels and pat dry. *I have skipped this step since, and there isn’t any difference. So you can rinse excess starch off if you want, or just skip it altogether. Just place the cut potatoes onto paper towels and pat dry and the results are the same.
I always test one little piece before adding the whole potato. (BTW, only add ONE potato at a time to make sure you don’t overflow the oil and start a grease fire)! When the oil is hot enough, the potato will bubble and almost immediately rise to the surface. Add the rest of the potato, carefully, and stir gently for the first minute so that they don’t stick together.
Fries should only take about 4 to 5 minutes tops to cook. Then use a skimmer to remove them, letting as much grease drain as possible, before adding them to a paper towel-lined colander. I added 3 small pinches, (which measured out to be a 1/4 tsp.), of the salt & garlic mixture, and shake and toss well in the colander to coat and absorb excess grease.
Then just dump them out onto a brown paper sack-lined rack over a baking sheet, (*add a little more of the garlic-salt if you’d like), pop them into a warm oven to keep warm while the rest cook, and you’ve got the PERFECT french fry!!
(*Photo depicts 4 medium-sized, cooked russet potatoes).
Ok, maybe minus a couple. π
BETTER than any restaurant, better than frozen, and yes, better than baked. Perfect fries need to be fried! And they should be enjoyed as if they were a treat, not an every day dish. It’s ok to splurge now and then. Life was meant to be lived. Live it. π ENJOY it! π
I served these heavenly, hot babies up alongside my hubby’s favorite burgers!
My Mozzarella-Stuffed Pesto Burgers, of course! π π
So the next time you’re dreaming of a fantastic burger and great fries….
just make them at home!
You’ll be sooooo glad that you did!!!
Copycat 5 Guys Fries!
Ingredients
Instructions
I worked at Five Guys for 3 years and not once ever had garlic powder or garlic salt in the restaurant, But every thing else was right, just potatos, salt and doubled fried in peanut oil.
whoever would have thought a couple of young fellows in a hole in the wall shop in a strip mall could make the PERFECT french fry. well done guys.
I love making French fries at home. Nothing better than homemade fries with a little salt and dash or two of malt vinegar. That being said they are wonderful done in peanut oil,but if you are allergic to peanuts a combo of canola and corn oil works just fine. We
Wow, there are no words for these fantastically simple fries! Oh except for YUM!! I decided to give these a shot after a major 5 Guys craving. I only had vegetable oil on hand and I’m positive peanut oil would have been delightful but I was hungry right then and there. All this being said I got these babies to the table and was so impressed by how much they smelled just like 5 Guys. My daughter and I devoured them and she claimed they were even better than the restaurant. Needless to say we didn’t leave my husband any so I had to make more the next morning. Delicious with no leftovers, this is the way to go! Thank you for making my Sunday exceptional.
Isn’t it fantastic how wonderful homemade fries are? I always find it amazing, every single time, how the simple, humble potato can turn into such a magical thing with such few ingredients! Homemade fries make us very happy, too! π Glad I was able to make your day! And thank you for making mine, too!! π
Do these get crispy? And if so don’t they get soggy again sitting in the oven
Yes, they get crispy. They get a little soft in the oven, but these aren’t supposed to be those hard-baked kind of fries. These are “boardwalk-style” fries, the kind that people wait in line for. π The reason why Five Guys is so popular and voted one of the best burger chains in the U.S.
We only run into Five Guys when we travel, but they do have awesome fries!
Next time we are craving burgers ‘n fries, I will give yours a try π
Thanks, Kris!! I hope you like them as much as we do! They really do taste just like theirs! A little TOO good! Ha!
That red onion. Thats the way to cut it. Yup, a whole slice.
Yep! π And nice and thin, too! π
Did you know McDonald’s back in the day actually used rendered beef tallow (lard) which is one of the reason everyone loved their fries. Over the years when that type of fat was frowned upon, they switched it up to canola oil or other types of oil. Nowadays, rendering your own lard is becoming more popular, and is actually considered to be a “healthy” fat … go figure!!
Yep!!!! I STILL use lard on occasion, but I buy it. (Oscar Mayer sells it in wrapped sticks, just like butter, and it’s pure white and very nice stuff!!) EXCELLENT for pie crust!! π π
Yes, the “trans fat haters” have ruined quite a lot of reliable products such as Crisco. They actually had to actually say that their infamous recipes, such as their fried chicken, no longer works due to having to “remove” trans fats. (When real ingredients are removed, they’re usually replaced with chemicals to resemble “real”. Think “chemical shitstorm” whenever you see things like fat-free, lo-cal, gluten-free, sugar-free, etc…. ) REAL is always best. My ex sister-in-law once tried to rip me on using real butter. I had her read the ingredients on her “fancy” health bar of some kind of margarine stuff. There were a TON of ingredients, and most we couldn’t even pronounce. Then I read mine. ONE ingredient. “Cream”. I told her, now, which one do YOU think is “healthier” and which do you want to feed to your children?
I think she finally got it.
LOL exactly! Full healthy fats are good for you! Way to go Kelly!
Thanks, Mary!! π
I totally agree. Nothing compares to fresh cut fries, yet hardly any restaurant does them. I remember restaurants that people would flock to, just because they had fresh, homemade fries with their burgers, etc.
Yep!!! I remember, too!! And it’s even easier to make them now, as they do make wall-mounted cutters that you place the potato in and just pull down on the handle to cut a whole potato at once. Fast. Simple. And REAL. π Always best!!! π