Your Frozen Fries Will Taste Super Bland Unless You Do This

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On busy weeknights, frozen french fries are an absolute lifesaver. They're usually just potatoes and only take at most 20 minutes to bake or air fry, meaning there's no wasting time with peeling, cutting, soaking, or drying your spuds. Finding the best frozen french fries can be crucial to a great dinner, but even after baking them to perfection you might be left wondering: why are these so bland? Well, after you're done cooking frozen fries, you should always season them.

Even if they come with some salt, odds are it won't be enough and will make the flavor pale in comparison to the best french fries you can get at fast food chains. So, what are you, the average consumer to do? The best thing you can do to soup up frozen fries at home is to salt and season them right out of the oven or air fryer. Since most frozen fries are pre fried (that is, fried just enough to be cooked and then flash frozen), they still have plenty of oil locked inside. Cooking releases those oils, which help seasoning stick to the fries. Waiting to season until after they've cooled down will result in the seasoning settling to the bottom of whatever serving vessel you're using.

Great, so you know to add the seasoning when the fries are still hot. While you probably won't get your hands on McDonald's industrially synthesized beef tallow flavoring, there are a few things you can do to spice up frozen spuds. One of the easiest ways to really bump frozen fries up a few notches is to add garlic salt. That alone can pack enough flavor to make each bite delectable.

If you find this is still not enough, adding in pre-mixed chili seasoning will really turn some heads. Usually a mixture of flour, pepper, cayenne, paprika, garlic, cumin, and salt, chili seasoning will take your fries into the flavor atmosphere. Add some nutritional yeast (which you should buy right now) and you suddenly have a plate of fries with a spicy, salty, earthy, almost cheesy, nutty flavor. It'll be complex and intriguing, turning a bland dish into something special.

Don't be afraid to simply throw on whatever spice or seasoning you like. Cajun seasoning? Slap ya mama that'll be good. Hidden Valley Ranch packets? Sounds awesome. The humble frozen french fry doesn't have to be a bland, droll, sad, pre-packaged affair. It can be the blank, starchy canvas for your wildest culinary delights.