While there are endless shapes and sizes for frozen grocery store French fries, there's a limited selection of flavors. I think the most branching out I've seen from fry companies are black pepper and the somewhat tame orange seasoning on curly fries. For such a highly regarded snack, we've really taken a backseat on flavor exploration. French fries are the tortilla chip of the freezer aisle—let's give them Takis-level seasoning (or at least kettle corn-level). Here are some ways to get creative with your next batch of French fries.
Naturally, I make my frozen French fries in the air fryer. Sure, you could use your conventional oven but if you have an air fryer, don't rob yourself of time and crunch. Air fryer French fries are consistently superior and take a fraction of the time of oven roasted fries. It's even the best way to revitalize soggy, cold, leftover fries the next day. If you're shopping around for an air fryer, take a look at my roundup and reviews of my top air fryer picks for this year.
Best seasonings for air fryer French fries
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
To apply dry seasoning powders, I usually add the hot fries to a big mixing bowl and shake the powder widely around the surface. Then use the bowl to toss the fries around and coat them more evenly. If you want the powder to stick even better, consider using an oil sprayer to give the fries a light coating before they go in the air fryer. They'll retain some of that extra oil when you toss the seasoning dust on later and the powder will stick in a thicker layer. The ratio of powder to fry is personal, but I find that erring on the side of more-is-more works out better for me.
Bouillon powder
If you thought savory French fries meant adding salt, boy are you missing out. You can make your french fries a little meatier with a shake of bouillon powder. I use the Maggi chicken flavored bouillon powder that comes as a loose powder. You can use the dry cubes (not the semi-hydrated stuff) and crush those into a powder if you can't find the loose stuff.
Ranch dressing powder
No surprises here but ranch dressing is a crowd pleaser, even when it's dry. I think it's the buttermilk. Use the same method of dusting the powder over your bowl of freshly air fried French fries and toss.
Tajin
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
I don't love Tajin rims on my cocktails but I do love Tajin powder on my French fries. If you haven't kept up with the Taijn craze, it's a bright red powder that blends spicy seasonings with citric acid. It's a pop of sour with a spicy finish, and the prickly combo is irresistible on French fries.
Tajin is powder but it's a larger granule size than something like ranch dressing powder. I have two tactics for helping it stick to the fries. I recommend using a spritz of oil over the fries before frying so the powder sticks better later. In conjunction with that, use a mortar and pestle to grind the Tajin down into an even finer powder. If you can't find Tajin, you can duplicate the flavor profile with a heavy squeeze of lime juice and a mixture of salt and cayenne powder dusted over the fries.
Buldak (or other) ramen seasoning packet
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
It's almost like the former three suggestions all rolled into one. Savory, spicy, sour, and a bit creamy, Buldak ramen packets have dry seasoning packets nestled inside with the noodles. They're essentially bouillon powder, but the Buldak and Shin brand instant noodles always include a spicy element, or have an optional spice packet. My Buldak was “quattro” cheese and came with a savory cheese powder that I dumped over my straight cut fries.
What do you think so far?
Cinnamon sugar
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
Stick with me on this. Cinnamon sugar French fries are actually great. If we're all okay with something like sweet and sour chicken and fastnachts (doughnuts made with potatoes) then you can accept the idea of adding sugar to your french fries.
I'll add a couple teaspoons of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a heavy shake of cinnamon to my mortar and pestle, and grind it down into a fine powder. You can use powdered sugar and cinnamon instead if you don't have a mortar and pestle. Dust this over your frites and enjoy a potato-y version of funnel cake.
Salt and vinegar
I know this isn't exactly new, but think of this as a reminder that you can add salt and vinegar to your French fries at home. I did this to oven-roasted French fries a little while back, but it works just as well in the air fryer. Do this as a pre-treatment or post. If you don't like wet fries, drizzle vinegar over your frozen fries first, then add them to the air fryer to cook. After they come out, quickly toss them with salt. The vinegar bite is much more mild this way. If you like the sharp vinegar experience, use a spritz bottle or just drizzle malt vinegar over your fries after they come out of the air fryer, and finish with salt.
These are my favorite fry seasoning experiments so far, but keep in mind that you can take the basic method and run with it to suit your tastes. The key, like with adding seasoning to popcorn or tortilla chips, is using a fine powder so it sticks to the surface, or creating a light “adhesive” with a mist of oil or a sprinkle of liquid (like lime juice or vinegar) so the dry seasoning can stick to that.
