The Best Homemade Crispy Curly Fries
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Have you guessed by now that I really love French fries?
I sure do! I can’t get enough of them! I’ve made straight French fries so many ways now, from Oven-Baked French Fries to Air Fryer French Fries to Restaurant-Style French Fries, and even Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries! I just love my French Fries!
The love doesn’t end there! At the time of writing this, I’m hosting a collab on YouTube for all French fry lovers out there! Throughout the month of July, share as many French Fries recipes as you want, and use the hashtag #funfries so I can see your awesome creations! Summer sure is the time where we need our fries as the perfect side dish to sandwiches, burgers, or just as snacks, and I’m totally inspired to explore fries in ways I never have before!
I go into more details about how having a theme can help you plan your meals and unlock some major creativity in the kitchen in my 5 Tips To Make Cooking Fun! free guide! To get this along with the one-month Live to Cook challenge, sign up to the newsletter! I bet you’ll find a way to make some awesome fries as part of the challenge! Tag me on Instagram so I can see and share what your delicious French fries!
Don’t forget to watch the video at the bottom of this post to grasp all the concepts of how to make The Best Crispy Curly Fries at home! Please subscribe to my YouTube channel if you haven’t already and hit the bell button so you receive all notifications when my video recipes are live! With something as hands-on as deep frying, I feel watching helps put all the pieces together so you get the tastiest results - you’ll see exactly how I make these curly fries from start to finish! Let’s get cooking!
Equipment for Curly Fries
A few key pieces of equipment are needed to make amazing Homemade Crispy Curly Fries. Let’s see what’s needed:
Spiralizer: This is how we’ll make the shape for our curly fries. Apparently, the OXO spiralizer is the best spiralizer for curly fries, so that’s the one I ended up getting! I used it only once, but I’ve found it really easy to use and I’m totally happy with my purchase! I’m using the 1/4 inch blade, and it’s also referred to as the “fettuccine” spiral.
Mixing bowl: You’ll want a large bowl to soak your fries in.
Wok: A wok, Dutch oven, or large pot is needed to deep fry our curly fries.
Thermometer: I highly recommend a digital thermometer so that you can check if your oil is at the right temperature. Oil that’s too hot will make your fries cook too fast, so they’ll be brown outside but raw inside. Additionally, if the oil is too cold, then you’ll have to cook the outside for too long before the inside gets cooked.
Slotted spoon: I can’t live without this when deep frying! This is perfect to get out the fries from the oil and drip out the excess.
HOW TO CUT THE POTATOES For Curly Fries
Wash and scrub the potatoes.
Cut one edge of the potato so it is flat.
Attach the flat side of the potato to the spokes of the spiralizer and secure the potato.
Turn the spiralizer to create the spirals. You can do a continuous spiral to create long spirals or shorter ones to create small ones. Alternatively, use a knife to adjust the length as desired.
WHY SOAK THE POTATOES FOR FRENCH FRIES?
You need to soak your potatoes because of the starch! Yukon gold potatoes and Russet potatoes contain a lot of starch. Soaking the potatoes in water for at least twenty minutes will remove the starch, allowing you to get perfectly crisp French fries. The water will turn cloudy as the starch releases. If you don’t do this, you’ll get mushy fries, and that won’t be enjoyable at all!
WHAT OIL SHOULD I USE TO DEEP FRY FRENCH FRIES?
According to DW Food in the mini documentary, Why Belgium Has the World’s Best French Fries, beef dripping, known as “tallow” is actually the best way to deep fry your fries.
It’s too bad that you can’t find that at the grocery store, or at least as far as I know! Let me know if there is anywhere that you can easily purchase tallow and I’d love to give it a try! With that being said, I’m going to deep fry my fries in vegetable oil. You basically want any neutral oil that has a high smoke point. Other alternatives that are great for deep frying are peanut oil, ghee, canola oil, avocado oil or grape seed oil. You could use coconut oil, but that’ll affect the taste of the fries. My favourite choices are vegetable oil, peanut oil and canola oil for general deep frying, and I like to use ghee for Indian fried foods.
WHAT TEMPERATURE SHOULD THE OIL BE?
In this recipe, you’ll be frying your French fries twice. Belgium, arguably has the best fries in the world and I will be following their footsteps for these golden fries. The temperature during the first cook of the oil should be 125 degrees Celsius and, and the temperature for the second fry should be 175 degrees Celsius. Here, having a kitchen thermometer is immensely useful.
Do I need to Double Fry Curly Fries?
The batter does what’s need to make the fries crispy! So no need for a second fry to turn the potatoes crispy.
What makes Curly Fries Taste different?
Curly fries are not exactly like regular fries. And no, I am not talking about just the shape but the actual flavour as well. Regular fries are just potatoes that are fried twice, once to cook the potato at a low oil temperature and then fried again at a higher temperature to turn them crispy. While curly fries are dipped in a batter to create a crispy outside coating so that the fries cook and turn crispy with just one fry. It’s the batter and the seasonings added to it that result in a different flavour profile.
How Long Do Curly Fries take to Cook?
Depending on your cooking vessel, it will take between 8-15 minutes to cook the potatoes inside and have the fries crispy outside.
TIPS FOR Awesome Curly Fries
Cut the fries to spirals that match your desired size and length.
Soak the fries in cold water to rinse off excess starch to help get the fries crispy.
When you’re ready to fry, pat down your fries and ensure they are completely dry so that any water residue doesn’t cause oil to splatter
Make sure to heat oil to about 375 to 400 Fahrenheit.
Fry a tester before preparing the first batch to ensure the oil is at the right temperature.
Season with salt after they are done frying and still hot.
WHAT POTATOES SHOULD I USE TO MAKE Curly Fries
I always suggest you use Yukon gold potatoes for making French fries of any kind. I know other bloggers use Russet potatoes, but I find there’s a bland aftertaste and you don’t get the same creaminess that comes from Yukon gold potatoes. You can experiment with both and see which one you prefer, but I strongly recommend the Yukon gold yellow potatoes. They are super crispy and delicious, and if you’re told that yellow potatoes get limp when deep frying, then that source just isn’t deep frying properly :)
Ingredients for Crispy Curly Fries
Let’s review what ingredients we need for our super Crispy Curly Fries. Remember to scroll to the bottom of this post for the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD for all ingredients and their quantities! The recipe card will also help you scale the recipe based on how many fries you’re making - all the ingredient quantities will be adjusted so you don’t have to make any calculations!
Yellow potatoes
Vegetable oil, for frying
How to make awesome homemade Crispy Curly Fries
Wash and scrub the potatoes. Cut one edge of the potato so it is flat. Attach the flat side of the potato to the spokes of the spiralizer and secure the potato. Turn the spiralizer to create the spirals. You can do a continuous spiral to create long spirals or shorter ones to create small ones. Alternatively, use a knife to adjust the length as desired.
Soak the potatoes in cold water for at least 15-20 minutes.
Grab a large bowl and create the batter by whisking flour, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper together. Then add water, little bit at a time and whisk until you have a thick, pourable smooth batter.
Heat the oil for frying in a large wok or pot - aim for a temperature between 375 F and 400 F on medium heat.
Drain the fries and then pat them dry. Prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Dip each curly fry and dip in the batter. Let any excess drip away and then place this battered portion on the baking sheet. Repeat the same with the remaining fries.
Once the oil is hot, add the battered fries to the oil and fry until they are golden brown crispy outside and soft inside. This can take between 8-15 minutes, depending on the level of doneness you desire. Season with salt and serve hot!
Can I make Crispy Curly Fries ahead of time?
Your best bet is to make your curly fries right before serving so that they are piping hot, fresh, and at their crispiest! You really need to make them in advance, you can store the fries in an airtight container and keep them in the fridge for about two days. The best reheating method would be to air fry your French fries at 400 F for one to two minutes, or until warmed through.
Serving suggestions for Crispy Curly Fries
Okay I’ll be honest with you and that you can have Crispy Curly Fries any way! I eat fries so often so I don’t mind having fries with anything or just alone. They make such a good snack! But if you want some pairing options with these fries to make a complete meal or a hit at a party, then here are my recommendations:
I love to dip my fries, so of course ketchup is a classic, but if you want to switch things up, you can dip them in barbecue sauce, buffalo sauce, Classic Spicy Mayo or a Garlic Truffle Aioli!
Other French Fry Recipes!
More Potato Goodness!
Watch How to Make the best homemade Curly Fries Here:
Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cookingwithanadi. Thank you!