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Today, I want to share an easy oven fries recipe. If you need some crispy, delicious, satisfying, yet easy-to-make-fries, this is your recipe! These are a favorite with my family, so we make them frequently.

I used to use my deep fryer frequently. In fact, once, before I had kids and apparently had too much time on my hands, I went down a rabbit hole of learning how to make french fries “just like McDonald’s.”

It involved boiling, frying, flash freezing, and frying again. And to be sure, they were amazing fries! But who has time for that on a regular basis?

I have kids and a farm, so….

Not to mention, I also don’t use cheap soybean oil anymore – not that I’m judging anyone who does – but deep frying is more of a special occasion activity now.

This oven fries recipe is more the style for a busy mom who wants fries but also a wholesome meal. These are a great side to serve with gluten-free meatballs!

Why not just use frozen french fries?

For me, there are two reasons:

One is the cost. It’s typically cheaper to buy potatoes than to buy processed/packaged food unless you are a coupon ninja.
The second is ingredients. There are typically going to be additives such as color enhancements, plus, again, I try to avoid soybean oil in our everyday diet, and you’ll find that on most frozen potato product ingredient lists.

What oil to use?

I usually make my recipe for oven fries with olive oil or lard. These are my two favorites. I find that coconut oil fries get soft very quickly.

Tip: I use light-tasting olive oil to both avoid the heavy olive flavor and because it has a higher scorch temperature.

Lard has a bad rap, having been demonized for so long by the seed oil industry, but lard I definitely prefer lard from a healthy hog over most cooking fats. If I buy it, I like to use premium all natural lard from Armour. Of course, you can do your own research and decide what sort of fats you want to use.

Will my oven fries be crispy?

Yes! The key is to coat them evenly with fat, arrange them on your baking tray for airflow (no potatoes touching each other), and use high heat.

What kind of pan should I use?

I usually use a stainless steel baking sheet. With stainless steel, your potatoes will release from the sheet when they’re fully cooked, but that makes it hard to flip them halfway through, so if you prefer crunch on all sides and not primarily the bottom, a non-stick cookie sheet so you can flip them halfway through is ideal.

How long does it take to make oven fries?

This is going to depend partly on how thick your fries are.

For me, it takes 5-7 minutes to peel and cut potatoes and get them in the oven.

Cook time is going to be closer to 25 minutes, depending on how thick they are.

Of course, the thinner, the faster they cook. I like to shoot for 1/4-1/3 inch thickness (about 1 centimeter) for nice, thin, dippable fries.

They take a little longer to cut than thicker steak fries, but they also take 20 minutes to cook, as opposed to 30-35 minutes for the steak fries.

Long story short: It’s going to take less time than deep frying but more time than making peanut butter sandwiches.

And by the way, this is an excellent time to make roasted asparagus. Since asparagus takes less time to roast than potatoes, you can get it prepped and in the oven after you put the potatoes in the oven. You’d even have time for roasted lemon-garlic asparagus.