French Fries Are Better With A Pickle-Y Twist

Meateaters, vegans, vegetarians, one thing we can all agree on is that french fries are pretty darn tasty. There are usually no complaints about crispy fried potatoes, although some may be partial to their favorite fast food french fries. But when you need the fix, it might be easier than you thought to make french fries at home. You just need some tips and tricks. Want to make the crispiest fries? You should parboil your potatoes after slicing them. For the best results, it's worth frying your french fries in cold oil. And, to make your homemade spuds even better, there's something else to try that you can't just do in a few hours, but it's well worth the wait — especially if you're a fan of pickles.

For an incredibly flavorful batch of french fries, give your potatoes a light pickle in a probiotic brine before frying them. They will come out tasting something like a salt and vinegar potato chip or the malt vinegar on your fish and chips, but the flavor will be completely cooked into the potatoes. For best results, this pickling trick will take at least a day or so, but if you're in a hurry, a brief dunk in a pre-existing pickle solution will do.

There are a few different ways to pickle your fries, so to speak, but for real fermentation and flavor that penetrates the potato, this first option is the best one. You just need salt, water, cabbage, and potatoes. Dissolve several tablespoons of salt in a big pot or bowl of water, pop in your french fry-cut potatoes and a few leaves of cabbage, cover with a towel, and store in a dark, dry place, for four to six days. The cabbage will help the saltwater lightly ferment, giving your potatoes an amazing, naturally pickled flavor without the vinegar. The longer you leave them in, the more pickled they'll become, and when fried, the pickled flavor will be evident in every bite.

Another option is to leave your fries in the fridge overnight in a jar of vinegar that's been slightly sweetened with sugar, honey, or agave syrup. For a faster flavor-packed snack, you can even use frozen french fries and put them in a jar of pickle juice for as little as 15 minutes to pick up some pickle flavor. The overnight option will work when deep frying your potatoes, but if you're only soaking them briefly, you may want to bake or air fry the fries to fully get the pickle flavor across. For a more sour and umami flavor, give your french fries the full, multi-day pickling treatment, but if you want pickled fries in a pinch, you've got some options.