Garlicky Baked Fries

April 12, 2009

Garlicky Baked Fries

GARLIC FRIES

I’m never going to make garlic potato fries any other way.

These garlic fries, win hands down as the best garlic french fries I’ve ever made. Plus they are baked – so I won’t feel too guilty if I make it every time I’m craving for some potato comfort.

When I read that there is garlic infused oil involved, my heart skipped a beat (in a good way, not the way oil would otherwise treat your heart). I got down to making them immediately. I used extra virgin olive oil instead of vegetable oil because I just love the aroma that garlic and olive oil combine to impart. And added to potatoes while baking – how could it be anything short of perfect? I also used more garlic to make my french fries extra garlicky fries!

Garlicky Baked Fries
crispy golden baked fries

These garlic fries are incredibly simple to make and are so full of flavour. They were gobbled down as soon as they were out of the oven. I had to hear a lot of “Take the photos next time!” and “Can I pick just one?” while I was trying to capture some shots of these crispy, golden babies.

Garlicky Baked Fries
crunchy potato skin

Garlic Fries
Adapted from: Lottie + Doof

8 garlic cloves, minced
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 russet potatoes (about 8oz each), each cut into 12 wedges
3 tbsp cornstarch/cornflour
1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Garlicky Baked Fries
warm and soft interior
  1. Preheat oven to 225°C/440° F.
  2. Combine the garlic and oil in a large bowl, warming it until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.
  3. Transfer 5 tablespoons of the oil (leaving the garlic in the bowl) to the baking sheet, coating it well.
  4. Add the potatoes to the bowl with the garlic mixture and toss to coat. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and microwave on high power until the potatoes are translucent around the edges, 3 to 6 minutes, shaking the bowl to redistribute the potatoes halfway through cooking.
  5. Combine the cornstarch, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the hot potatoes and toss well to coat.
  6. Arrange the potatoes in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and bake, turning once, until deep golden brown and crisp, 30 to 40 minutes.
  7. Serve with ketchup, mayo or sour cream.

Update: Given that I do not like to use the microwave for cooking, and plastic cling wrap is a little scary to use, I have tried making these garlic fries by par-boiling the potatoes and then letting them steam dry by laying them in a single layer on kitchen napkin. I proceeded with step 5 and it turned out to be SO GOOD!

{ 324 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Anonymous December 14, 2009 at 10:24 pm

I just made the wedges with one potato ( I am alone at home; my husband is in Halifax for the week) and gobbled it all at once, as soon as they came out of the oven, with sweet chilli sauce which I rustled at the last minute by mixing together red hot chilli sauce and a lil honey, since I thought tomato ketchup to be too bland with this and I didn't have any mayo. They were absolutely fabulous! I will make some for my husband when he comes home. I know he will love it. Thanks for sharing this amazing snack!

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2 Online Colleges December 15, 2009 at 11:55 pm

YUM! These look absoloutely delicious. I can't wait to make them. Thanks for the great recipe.

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3 Vipula December 18, 2009 at 10:08 pm

I made these (W/o the corn starch coz did not have it at home ) -was so tasty !

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4 Lesley December 22, 2009 at 5:37 am

Just made these, very good! A little spicier than I probably would have made on my own but they put frozen wedges and deli wedges to absolute shame! I used Sierra Gold potatoes because I had them on hand, the insides stayed SO moist and didn't crumble at all. I wish the outsides would have been a little more moist and crinkly rather than crunchy, I think next time I will just use an extra tablespoon of oil.

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5 Anonymous December 23, 2009 at 1:18 pm

Only thing not going for this recipe is that you use SIX TABLESPOONS of olive oil – that is not low fat, that is loaded!

You can make these with fry light spray and they are so much more healthy.

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6 Anonymous December 31, 2009 at 4:09 am

and if you don't have a microwave? I guess i'll try baking them (I live in Buenos Aires, Argentina in an older house that only has a simple gas stove and gas oven, no room for a microwave) I'l try it out and give feedback :)

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7 Leoni December 31, 2009 at 11:45 pm

i have a question about the parboiling step…did you cut the potatoes into wedges first, or did you parboil the whole potatoe, THEN cut into wedges? the microwave/plastic wrap thing makes me a little nervous too. thanks a lot, these look SOO GOOOOD.

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8 The Purple Foodie January 1, 2010 at 4:06 pm

Anon, there is an update about a method so that you don't use the microwave. I personally am not a fan so have converted to the par -boiling method!

Leoni: Yes, I first cut them then par boiled them. Remove them from the water while they're still hot and let them steam dry – this way they will stay wonderfully crisp. Hope you enjoy them!

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9 Anonymous January 6, 2010 at 7:12 pm

What temperature do you all use? The recipe calls for 225°C/475° F. Problem is the math is wrong, and 225° C is actually 437° F…

gus the engineer….

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10 The Purple Foodie January 6, 2010 at 11:42 pm

Whooops! Rectified! :)

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11 Anonymous January 9, 2010 at 5:46 am

DELICIOUS
And so easy !

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12 Anonymous January 19, 2010 at 7:59 pm

mmmmmm! these are delicious and very easy to make. didn't use a microwave though, we just tossed them in a frying pan to coat them and then put them in the oven! :)

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13 Anonymous January 25, 2010 at 9:37 pm

Just ate one after they came out of the oven. utterly delicious. my younger brothers friends are all begining to crowd around. uh oh.
thanks so much!!!

-Evan

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14 Anonymous January 25, 2010 at 9:37 pm

Just ate one after they came out of the oven. utterly delicious. my younger brothers friends are all begining to crowd around. uh oh.
thanks so much!!!

-Evan

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15 Ducky January 27, 2010 at 5:33 pm

I made these just a couple of days ago, and they were excellent! I boiled the potatoes for a couple of minutes instead of microwaving them, and then drained them and baked them for about 50 minutes. I also substituted regular garlic cloves with chinese garlic, about one and a half, minced. YUM!

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16 Anonymous January 30, 2010 at 9:38 am

Is it just me? I don't get Step 2 about warming the olive oil and garlic???

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17 Rebecca February 4, 2010 at 7:15 am

I have made these several times, and they are absolutely. outstanding. Outstanding I say! Thanks for sharing!

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18 Carsten February 5, 2010 at 2:44 pm

Thanks for sharing this recipe. I really feel hungry!

Cheers,

Carsten
tasteandshare.com
food social network * wine social network

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19 Rissa88 February 21, 2010 at 6:11 pm

I like your recipe! I really like the smell of garlic.

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20 Jenn February 25, 2010 at 3:51 am

These look fantastic! I can't wait to try them!

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21 Kevin February 25, 2010 at 8:33 am

I've got to say that these fries have become a family favorite!! I stumbled upon your site a couple of month's ago, and I think I've made them 8-10 times since. Believe it or not, they're just as good, if not better when made with sweet potatoes – but you do need to lower the temperature a little to keep them from burning. Anyway, thanks for all of the great recipes!!

Look us up if you ever make it to Southern California…

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22 miss 615 March 13, 2010 at 11:27 pm

yum these look delic. cant wait to eat with my mayo since im from the south see yall later

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23 cigan1 March 26, 2010 at 12:31 pm

Great post! Keep up the good work.

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24 Jennifer Cote March 26, 2010 at 9:14 pm

Sounds like this will go perfect with the brunch theme I've having on Palm Sunday- a few frittatas, fruit, bagels… And these potatoes! Thanks for posting!

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25 Daniel March 27, 2010 at 8:01 am

Great job I think I might need more then 8 garlic cloves since I absolutely love garlic… and fries… :)

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26 The Purple Foodie March 27, 2010 at 9:17 am

Daniel, you're my kind of person. :D

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27 Guest March 27, 2010 at 9:41 am

These look amazing, going to try them this weekend! =)

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28 David March 27, 2010 at 9:41 am

These look amazing! Going to try these this weekend. =)

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29 Valarie March 27, 2010 at 9:43 am

Those look absolutely wonderful! I will have to try this recipe once I get my kitchen sorted!

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30 daniel March 28, 2010 at 5:53 pm

wow! i barely glanced at these and i found i had put food on the stove!

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31 Jared March 31, 2010 at 1:51 pm

I took this recipe and topped them with melted cheddar and crumbled bacon. Wow, thank you for this, these are delicious.

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32 Brook March 31, 2010 at 7:16 pm

Yum! I am going to try these out tonight. Microwaving them before cooking in the oven sounds like a great idea. I have never thought of doing that way before. Thanks.

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33 loreloreliz April 4, 2010 at 10:19 am

The same thing happened to me, my fries were very dried ¡¡ But they tasted very well. I will try again.

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34 loreloreliz April 4, 2010 at 10:28 am

I´m very thankfull for your recipe. Here in my city a restaurant sells this kind of fries, and I had wondered for many years, How do they do it ¡¡¡. … You don´t know how much I try.
And now ¡¡ I did it… I´m very happy. But next time I will leave it a little bit less in the oven, they were very dry.. but the taste, was just what I had been looking for.
So I will try and try.. now looking for the texture.
Thanks ¡¡

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35 Sharon D. April 4, 2010 at 6:42 pm

yummmmm I do sweet potatoes the same way

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36 Sharon D. April 4, 2010 at 6:43 pm

yummm – I do sweet potatoes the same way

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37 Karyn April 5, 2010 at 1:20 am

I made these last night. They were very good – I do have to say, however, that the fresh garlic gets a bit overdone in the oven at such a high temperature over 40 minutes. Don't see much of a way to avoid that, except, of course, to leave it out altogether and serve the oily garlic over the top of the fries as an accompaniment/dip after they come out of the oven (like Trader Joe's Garlic Fries – yum!).

Otherwise, great and tasty – I was surprised by how well the cornstarch worked.

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38 Shay April 5, 2010 at 11:39 am

Would you be able to serve these with ranch dressing just like traditional potato wedges?

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39 The Purple Foodie April 6, 2010 at 8:31 am

of course!!

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40 snikkers April 16, 2010 at 12:59 am

How long do you parboil them for? I'm like you and microwaves…

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41 The Purple Foodie April 16, 2010 at 9:19 am

I'd say until a knife passed through a wedge slides through comfortably since different potatoes have different cooking time. Also, it depends how thick you've cut them.

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42 Eva April 18, 2010 at 8:09 am

Your photos are amazing! My mouth is watering from looking at them. Gotta try these! Thanks.

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43 annie May 11, 2010 at 1:18 pm

sooooo yummy! just made them for my bf and i!!!! thanks from nz :)

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44 Barry Eagen June 2, 2010 at 5:39 pm

Wow, fries. Wow.

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45 Jessica "Su Good Sweets" June 3, 2010 at 7:10 am

I could never get homebaked fries crispy. Just made these. Wow! Better than real fries at a restaurant. Perfect tender insides and great flavor. Next time I’ll reduce the salt to 1 tsp.

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46 Vanessa @ Mom's Menu Planner June 5, 2010 at 2:22 am

I love trying out new french fry recipes! These look great, can’t wait to try them :)

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47 heyder June 9, 2010 at 1:50 pm

I could honestly give two shits about where your husband is this week.

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48 Matt June 10, 2010 at 7:48 am

Wow! I tried these tonight, and they came out wonderful!

I sliced the potatoes into wedges, then parboiled them for about 6 minutes. Then I coated them in the garlic oil, and then combined the corn startch mixture into the potato wedges. They came out as if they were fried. So yummy! They went perfectly with the #7 steak I cooked! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, which I’ll be keeping in my repertoire!

Kudos!!

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49 Anonymous June 18, 2010 at 4:55 am

I made this same thing but with smaller potatoes. I microwaved the potatoes in a tupperware with a lid because I didn’t have plastic wrap. I also only used 2 tbsp of oil. Turned out really good! Thanks!

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50 nags July 31, 2010 at 6:42 pm

just made these. they are awesome!

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