Why You Should Avoid Whole Foods' Frozen French Fries Like The Plague
If frozen fries had a Hall of Shame, Whole Foods' 365 brand would be inducted twice: dead last and second-to-last. In our official frozen french fry ranking, both the Straight Cut and Crinkle Cut varieties landed at the very bottom.
The Straight Cut fries are the worst offenders. They come out of the oven dry, fibrous, and aggressively bland, like someone tried to rehydrate old cardboard and shape it into fries. They have the mouthfeel of instant mashed potato flakes pressed into sticks, minus the seasoning or satisfaction. The Crinkle Cut fries aren't much better as they're thick, soggy, and somehow both gluey and flavorless.
Frozen fries shouldn't be this disappointing. If you want something with more crunch, perhaps you can take matters into your own hands and learn how to make the crispiest homemade fries at home. Because you (and your ketchup) deserve better.
How to salvage a bad bag of fries
If you've already stashed a bag of 365 fries in the freezer, don't panic — there are ways to make them edible. The biggest flaw is their texture: They don't crisp properly and lean toward dry or soggy. One fix is to hit them with extra fat. Tossing them in a light coating of oil or melted butter before air frying can help coax out crunch. Another option is the double cook: Bake until just golden, let them cool, then blast them at high heat to force crisping. Seasoning is non-negotiable. These fries come with almost no flavor of their own, so load them with garlic powder, paprika, or even a sprinkle of parmesan as soon as they come out hot.
You can also spice them up with extra ingredients. Canned chili makes for a genius frozen fry upgrade, adding a hearty flavor and masking the fry's dry texture. Some people online have also suggested using subpar frozen fries as a base for a loaded-nacho-style platter — bury them under cheese, sour cream, and jalapeños, and their flaws will get lost under the toppings. They may never rival a great fry, but at least you won't feel like you're chewing on cardboard.