McDonald's fries: Here's how to make it at home

French fries are the most dynamic side-dish ever, and complements everything, from beef-burgers to stews. There’s always been widespread contention among fast-food fans about which fast-food brand has the best fries. Throughout the years, McDonald’s fans have steadfastly held on to their belief that McDonald’s French fries taste the best with its crisp exterior and tender interior.

Secret to McDonald's fries

McDonald’s has maintained that its fries are made with premium ingredients such as Russet Burbank and the Shepody potatoes. An investigation into McDonald’s fries by CNET revealed that indeed all McDonald’s fries are made from real potatoes and additionally, the company does not purchase any GMO (genetically modified organism) potatoes.

As per the report, the shape of McDonalds fries just comes from the potato being cut in a special machine. Once the fries are cut, dextrose and sodium acid pyrophosphate is added to create the shiny colour and crisp texture. Then the fries are partially cooked in the factory's fryer with vegetable oils and then flash-frozen and packed off to different McDonald’s restaurants.

Unfortunately for fans who want to replicate McDonald's recipes, the fast-food chain keeps all their menu items recipes a secret and hence, there is no way to completely gather the full cooking method to make their fries. This is where copycat recipes offer you the chance to don a McDonalds cook's hat right in your home. From McDonald's fries, to chicken McNuggets, their signature sauces, and McFlurry desserts, you can try it all!

This McDonald's fries recipe by The Food XP will show you the best way to make your fry for it to taste just like McDonalds. The secret ingredient of this recipe is the brine. Just using brine can make a big difference to fries and produce a crisp texture and taste in potatoes, just like McDonald's French fries. The cooking time consist only of frying and takes just 15 minutes with a rest time of about 40 minutes -2 hours.

Ingredients

Fries

• 6 large Russet potatoes
• ½ cup vegetable shortening, which is a type of fat used in making crumbly pastry
• 4 cups vegetable oil
• Salt

For Brine

• 7 cups cold water
• 3 tablespoon salt
• ½ cup corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Preparation

• To prepare the brine, add together the cold water, corn syrup, salt, vinegar, and sugar. Adding sugar lends browning to the potato fries while vinegar aids the crisp factor
• Peel and rinse potatoes in cold water. Slice them into fry-shape and size. Once done, you need to soak them completely in the brine water for about 60 minutes
• Take them out of the brine and let them chill in the fridge for anything between 40 minutes-2 hours. Here, letting the potato be cold ensures that you will have a crispy texture after frying
• Take the potatoes out. Heat vegetable oil and vegetable shortening in a frying pan
• Once the oil is hot enough, fry the potatoes in batches. Use a wire rack to remove excess oil, or place them on a paper towel-lined bowl for oil to absorbed
• While still hot, sprinkle salt and your crispy fries are ready to be devoured. You can also add spices here if you want some heat

Yes, making your own crisp McDonald's French fries at home actually does not take hours! Except for the prep time, you hardly need to spend any time cooking. These fries can be frozen and stored and all you need to do before serving them is reheat the frozen fries in the oven.

You can also use an air-fryer to make your French fries even healthier. To do this, place your potatoes evenly without overlapping any onto each other in the fryer basket of your air-fryer. Your healthy air-fryer French fries should be done in about 15 minutes.

As per McDonald's website, a small serving of French fry has about 230 calories while the recipe by The Food XP is only 490 calories for 5 servings, which comes down to 98 calories per serving.

Read more:

⋙ McDonald's: Here are 5 tips to get a perfect order every time

⋙ People are shocked to discover this secret in the McDonald's fries packaging

Sources used:

The Food XP: 'How To Make McDonald’s French Fries At Home'

McDonald's: 'World famous fries'

CNET: 'Former MythBuster goes on McDonald's french fry fact-finding hunt’