Deep-fried crinkle cut fries. Shallow-fried waffle fries. Pan-fried curly fries. Air-fried shoestring fries. Baked standard fries. No matter how you cook or cut them, French fries are universally loved.
But if you’re looking for a way to spice up your fries, quite literally, to elevate them to a new level of culinary adventurousness and help your favourite salty side dish soar to new heights of flavour, you’ve come to the right place.
These five spice mixes are so good you just may never go back to making regular fast food-style French fries again.
Eat one fry. We dare you to try! It’s impossible to stop eating these delectable cajun spice fries that are similar to what you might get at a southern U.S. fast food fried chicken restaurant. You’ll need chili powder, pink salt, National Black Pepper powder, garlic powder, sugar, oregano and cayenne. You’ll also need to make huge portions as these fries are sure to disappear fast.
- Chicken tikka masala fries
Chicken tikka masala…minus the chicken! This dish captures everything magical about the popular south Asian dish (the heat, the creaminess, the zestiness) and packs it into French fries. Simplify the recipe by using National’s Chicken Tikka recipe mix. Once coated in the chicken tikka masala and mix, top your fries with dollops of yogurt, chopped coriander, sliced chillies and spring onions to complete the experience.
- Best ever fries
There’s no other way to describe these fries: they really are the best ever. In fact, this spice combo could be the top candidate to dethrone salt as the go-to French fry seasoning. Season your fries with onion salt, paprika, dried parsley, garlic powder, dried oregano, dried thyme, dried basil, black pepper powder and cayenne pepper. If frying, season your fries immediately after removing them from the hot oil. If baking or air frying, season the fries before you cook them.
- Spicy chaat masala fries
Looking for the comfort of fries but want something a little more hiccup-inducing? Instead of seasoning your fries with salt, try using National Chaat Masala with chili powder to give it an extra kick of flavour. And we do mean a kick. Have your glass of milk at the ready!
- Cheesy spice fries
These cheesy fries star a secret ingredient known mostly in the vegetarian and vegan world: nutritional yeast. The flaky yellow deactivated yeast has a savoury and downright cheesy flavour. Mix nutritional yeast with dried parsley, onion powder, garlic powder and pink salt and you get fancy fries that are vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, gluten-free and dairy-free. And did we mention they taste fantastic?
There’s no replacing plain salt on fries: it’s a beautiful thing. But if you’re looking for something a little different to cuddle up next to your burger, don’t be afraid to experiment with spices and recipe mixes.