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Recipes

Ditch Your Deep Fryer for These Oven-Baked French Fries

This article is written by a student writer from the Spoon University at UC Berkeley chapter.

Real talk: there are a ton of reasons french fries are great and all, but what kind of college student has easy access to a deep fryer? Honestly, why bother making your own fries when the dining hall serves them? Besides, aren’t there a million other ways to cook potatoes?

I wasn’t convinced at first, either. I mean, having to wait an hour for some fries? Cooking them in water and then having to bake them? That seemed a little excessive. I soon found out I was completely wrong. Patience really does pay off.

Heating the fries in water ensures a soft, fully-cooked interior and baking them in the oven helps the outsides crisp up beautifully. Cook twice, eat once… and never look back.

These oven fries will satisfy your french fry addict cravings in a healthy and devastatingly delicious manner. When you smell their savory aroma, hear the sizzling of the oil on the pan and see their dazzling golden-brown crunch, you’ll understand that they are worth the wait, no matter how long.

#SpoonTip: Feel free to use any type of flavored salt (or fall back on the classic combo of salt and pepper) to season these fries. Load ’em up with a mixture of cheese, bacon bits, and chives if you want to get wild. Treat yo’self.

Garlic Salted Oven Baked French Fries

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 20 minutesCook time: 40 minutesTotal time:1 hour Servings:4 servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 450°F.

  2. Photo by Rachel Lee

    Rinse your potatoes.

  3. Photo by Rachel Lee

    Peel your potatoes.

  4. Photo by Rachel Lee

    Cut off a thin layer of the bottom of each potato to create a flat surface to cut on. Then, cut each potato into ½-inch slices, stack the slices and cut into rods.

    #SpoonTip: Place the rods into a bowl of water to keep them from browning.

  5. Photo by Rachel Lee

    Place the cut potatoes into a large pot and add an inch or two of water so that the potatoes are just submerged. Heat on high for 10 minutes. Do not boil your potatoes. If the waterboils, turn the heat down.

  6. Photo by Rachel Lee

    Meanwhile, cover a sheet pan with aluminum foil and grease with two tablespoons of olive oil. Place the panin the oven to heat up the oil as you wait for the potatoes to cook.

  7. Test thepotatoes for firmness. They should be firm, but not crunchy. Drain the potatoes and immediately spread them onto the sheet pan with hot oil.

  8. saltthefreishohoh

    Drizzle with one tablespoon of olive oil, sprinkle with Lowry’s or garlic salt and roast for 25 minutes.

  9. Photo by Rachel Lee

    Remove the fries from the oven, flip them over, and return to the oven for another 5 minutes. Repeat this process twice, or until golden brown on all sides.

  10. Photo by Rachel Lee

    Remove from the oven when all fries are golden-brown. Season with more salt to taste. Enjoy!

Luna Zhang

UC Berkeley '18

Luna is a fourth-year student at UC Berkeley, majoring in Business Administration and Molecular and Cell Biology. She enjoys cooking as a way to procrastinate and trying out new restaurants with friends.