How Many Times Has Wendy's Changed Its Fries?

It may not seem like it, but an incredible amount of research and planning goes into each fast food product. This applies even more to staples that are part of a fast food chain's signature offerings, since they help the brand differentiate itself. For example, McDonald's and Wendy's have very different beef patties that both companies have poured significant resources into perfecting. 

The humble french fry is an equally big deal, considering it's Wendy's largest-selling product and has only been changed twice since the chain started in 1969. After keeping them the same for 41 years, Wendy's first updated its french fries in November 2010 to align them with the company's updated branding championing high-quality ingredients. Thus, the natural cut skin-on fries dusted with sea salt – the seasoning that helps set Wendy's fries apart — were born. In 2021, Wendy's took another gamble and introduced Hot & Crispy Fries. The name isn't just marketing; the fry, which took two years to develop, was specifically designed to stay hot and crispy for longer.

The logic behind redesigning the fry is that an increasing number of customers are using drive-through or delivery as opposed to eating at the restaurant. The COVID-19 pandemic sped the trend up even more. To ensure the fries are still at their prime when they're eaten by customers, the updated Wendy's fries are made to stay hot for up to 30 minutes. A further challenge was to do this without straying from their french fries' signature look and taste while also maintaining sturdiness for optimum "dunkability" into ketchup or a Frosty.

Like the previous iteration, Wendy's Hot & Crispy fries are made with the potato skin on, which adds (a little) to the flavor but also helps the fries stand out because of their brown tips. Most crucially, to ensure they stay both hot and crunchy, these fries are not cut into squares like most other fries are. Instead, after testing about twenty different shapes, the Wendy's culinary innovation team came up with a wedged fry shape. The narrow edge stays crisp for longer, while the wider side has more soft potato flesh on the inside and helps retain heat, keeping the fry hot for longer.

The all-important outer layer of the fry also got a makeover. It now comes coated in a fine layer of potato starch and sea salt, which adds the right amount of texture to the crunchy fry and ensures every bite is equally salty. It's no surprise that since the introduction of their Hot & Crispy Fries, Wendy's went up in our fast food french fry rankings.

The fries arrive frozen to Wendy's outlets, where they are given a final fry in vegetable oil and then served or packed to go. While you should sample the Wendy's fries to appreciate the effort gone into designing them, you can also make legitimately crispy french fries at home by following a few simple prep steps and then double frying them.