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? 😉

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! 😀

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!! 😉

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! 😉

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. 😉

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. 😉

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. 😉 

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. 🙂 ENJOY it! 😀

I served these heavenly, hot babies up alongside my hubby’s favorite burgers!
My Mozzarella-Stuffed Pesto Burgers, of course! 😉 😀

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!!!

Yield: 2 - 4 servings

Copycat 5 Guys Fries!

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Ingredients

• 4 medium-sized unpeeled russet potatoes, (washed and dried), cut into 1/3" sticks
• 1 Tbl. regular table salt
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• peanut oil for frying, (can sub canola oil)

Instructions

Wash potatoes well of any dirt and mud. Leave peel on. Let dry.

In small bowl stir together the salt and garlic powder until well mixed.

Turn oven onto low, about 200º F.

In a large deep frying pan, add oil to only a third deep. DO NOT add any more oil than that to prevent oil from overflowing. (*My pan is deep and held 1 1/2" of oil with 3" of space above the oil).

Heat oil over medium heat until nice and hot, but not smoking.

While oil is heating, line a colander with two sheets paper towel. Place a cooling rack over a baking sheet, and place 3 - 4 brown paper lunch sacks on top.

When oil is hot, slice potatoes lengthwise into 1/3" slices, then lengthwise again into 1/3" sticks. Rinse well with COLD water, and pat sticks dry on paper towel. Carefully add to oil ONE POTATO at a time. Oil will bubble furiously at first. So DO NOT add too much at once or you could overflow your oil! I did mine in 4 batches.

After adding to oil, immediately gently stir potatoes for one minute to keep them separated. Fry another 3 - 4 minutes until golden browned. (I just used the knife I cut them with to stir).

Remove with a basket skimmer to lined colander. Add 1/4 tsp. garlic salt mixture and toss well. Dump out onto brown paper sacks, add a little more of the garlic-salt if you'd like, and pop into oven to keep warm. Continue with rest of potatoes until all are cooked.

Serve hot with a little extra garlic-salt for salty-fry lovers like me!