Homemade Baked French Fries – a fun and delicious way to health-ify French fries!!!

There is a time and place for the deep-fried, salty french fries ….. this is not that time.  If you are in the mood for some french fries that won’t take a year off your life…. this is that time.  These fries are salty, but not in an all-encompassing way that makes your body immediately swell up.  They are tasty  – the paprika is the key ingredient – and the olive oil coating still makes you feel like you are eating your classic greasy indulgence.  They really are a great substitute for any frozen counterpart you find at the store and definitely better for you than what you can find at your local drive-through (hello – there are only 5 ingredients!).  And they are just waiting to be added to your next meal plan….

These can be a fun and classy side dish at your next dinner party or an easy add-on to your weekly meal.  Feel free to add different herbs and spices to mix it up as well as swapping out the dipping sauce (I just opted for good ole ketchup). You can also easily control the crispiness of your fries – I actually don’t mind a softer french fry at times, especially when they are thick-cut, but they can’t be mushy (gross – mushy fries).

How to make homemade baked French fries

Find a potato – easy.

Slice it.

And then cut into your desired strip size.

Then toss in olive oil and add salt and paprika.

Place on a cookie sheet (on top of foil for extra ease during clean-up) and lightly spray a non-stick (they definitely tend to stick).

Bake at 450.  You are going to have to vary the cooking time depending upon how thick your fries are and how crispy you want them.  You can see the size I have above, I baked these for about 20 minutes and they were done, but still somewhat soft.  If you want crispier fries at this same size, I would keep them in for a good 30 minutes or so.  Don’t forget to toss them around every so often so they cook evenly and to prevent sticking.  If you do really thick-cut fries AND want them on the crispier side, you may be looking at 45 minutes or so.  Just keep pulling out tester fries to gauge whether they have reached your desired texture.

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