Currently in love with these cheesy fries! They are so yummy and definitely not healthy, but so worth it. They are even better than my stuffed jacket potato recipe. It’s not something you eat everyday, so I think it’s worth it. It’s full of cheesy cheddar, ranch and crispy bacon bits! This comfort food is awesome for lounging on the weekend doing absolutely nothing and putting your feet up. Call all your friends too because this makes a generous serving!
White potatoes are great for making homemade fries. Traditionally, russet potatoes are typically used. They don’t need to be peeled: just washed and patted dry. You have to fry the potatoes for longer with every batch. The easiest way to get crispy fries is to soak your potatoes in cold water for at least 1 hour. This helps remove any excess starch from the potatoes which make them soggy when heated. For this recipe I used a 10-inch cast-iron skillet because it conducts heat really well so I like using it for frying stuff.
The topping for these cheesy fries is made from ranch sauce, fried chopped bacon and grated cheddar. The are mixed together with seasoning and some herbs and spread over cooked potato fries. Then it is baked in the oven until it gets all nice and gooey with melted cheese! You can taste the bacon as well with the ranch and it is really tasty and addictive.
Ingredients
6 white or Russet potatoes, washed
1 package bacon rashers, cut in half
1 cup ranch sauce
3 cups grated cheddar (454g block cheddar)
2 tablespoons dried chives
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder or minced garlic
3 cups cooking oil to fry potatoes
Extra chopped or dried chives to garnish
Chopped green onions to garnish
Extra ranch sauce to garnish
Hot sauce to garnish
Instructions
- Don't peel the potatoes. Cut them into medium length sticks just like French fries.
- Soak the potato sticks in cold water for 1 hour to remove excess starch. This makes the fries crispier when you fry them.
- Place as many bacon rashers as you can fit on a wide frying pan, and fry on medium heat (with no oil) until both sides are browned and super crispy.
- Repeat the previous step until all the bacon is used up.
- Chop the crispy bacon with a sharp knife into small bits.
- Mix the chopped bacon with the ranch, chives, black pepper, garlic, cheddar cheese together in a bowl and set aside.
- Drain the potatoes of the water and pat dry with a kitchen towel or paper napkins.
- Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet until it reaches 350°F/175°C, and deep-fry the potatoes in batches on medium-high heat 7-9 minutes until lightly browned on both sides. I fried mine in three batches.
- Place the cooked potatoes on a wire rack.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F/205°C and line a large baking sheet (I used a cookie sheet) with foil.
- Layer the potatoes on a flat layer and spread the bacon-ranch mixture from step 6 over the fries.
- Bake this at 400°F/205°C until all the cheese on the fries has melted.
- Garnish right away with the chives, green onion, ranch, hot sauce or any other sauce you prefer.