Pro Chefs Blind Taste Test Every Bag of Frozen French Fries

[Narrator] We've gathered three professional chefs

to blind taste test every frozen French fry brand

we could get our hands on,

and see which ones meet their standards.

[fries pack thudding] [plastic crinkling]

Ore-Ida Golden Fries.

These ones look a little thicker

than what you typically see in a fast food joint.

It's not that yellowish tint

that you usually have with frozen French fries.

They're a little bit softer, not super crispy.

So what I'm looking for in a French fry

is a crisp outside.

A crisp outside helps balance

a nice pillowy potato inside.

I want a French fry to have a rigid structure.

Meaning that it won't droop when you pick it up.

I'm looking for fries to have a golden color.

It shows that the fries have been caramelized

and cooked at the proper temperature.

And at the end of the day,

it's got to have real potato flavor.

[upbeat music]

You taste potato but, honestly, almost too much so.

But it is seasoned well.

There's no crispiness to this

and, unfortunately, there's no caramelization in the flavor.

They are a little bendy.

Ideally, you want like a little bit of a snap.

It just kind of mushes in there.

No steam, which means that the interior

is probably a little bit too wet.

Maybe the crust wasn't set as well as it could have been

when these fries were manufactured.

They're actually a little bit dry because of that.

All you're getting is that dry potato inside

and none of that crispy coating.

Is this McCain's?

McCain's? I think this is

an Ore-Ida standard.

[plastic crinkling] Ore-Ida.

Classic golden potato fry.

These things are as old as I am.

Ore-Ida is a combination of Oregon and Idaho.

It says here there's annatto in these.

You would think that they would be a little bit more yellow

because of the annatto,

so that means that these really weren't cooked

at a very high temperature.

These are made with grade A potatoes, right?

Grade A is the best, it means that it has

the least blemishes and bruises,

it means it's consistent in size.

Overall, I think I'm pretty happy with these fries,

and I think it really sets the tone

for all of the other fries to come.

[fries pack thudding] [plastic crinkling]

[Narrator] Trader Joe's Handsome Cut Potato Fries.

These are a bit more anemic-looking.

but we do see skin, that will add to both the flavor

as well as some of the nutrients in the potatoes.

It's good potato flavor, it's good seasoning,

but I would say it's pretty soft.

To me, I'm getting more of like a hash brown vibe.

It bends before it breaks.

There's no sound, there's no crunch to it.

I personally like the Ore-Ida ones better

because I thought the crust was a little thicker,

it was more caramelized, it was more golden.

It tastes like a rustic potato,

and that probably has a lot to do

with the skin being left on.

In the bites with the skin,

you almost get that juicy,

slightly acidic nature of a potato skin,

which I think complements the saltier inside.

Potato skins actually have a ton of nutrition,

they have a ton of vitamins and minerals and fiber,

and so there is a nutritional benefit

to keeping the skins on your potato fry.

Maybe it's sort of like a more natural brand, like Alexia.

[plastic crinkling]

Trader Joe's Handsome Cut Potato Fries.

I guess they're cut by hand by a very good-looking person.

There's a little bit of an irony with it

as these are not evenly cut in any way.

I think if they had a little bit more color,

that would go a long way.

[fries pack thudding] [plastic crinkling]

[Narrator] McCain Quick Cook Straight Cut

French Fried Potatoes.

This is a proper French fry, right?

They're straight, they're a nice thickness.

It's got a proper golden yellowish tint to it.

More structure and rigidity than the last two.

This is better for me.

This potato flavor through and through.

Finally, there was a little bit of that crunch.

Considering that they're not super crispy,

they actually have really great structure.

It's a good crust, it's a good potato flavor.

They're maybe not quite as salty as I would like.

I think so far these are my favorite straight-cut fries,

I'm probably going to say McCain.

Is this McCain's?

McCain Classic Cut.

[plastic crinkling]

Yay, I was right.

McCain's Quick Cook Straight Cut French Fry.

Very interesting.

So these are made in half the time,

and it says you don't have to flip them.

And if that is the case,

they are even in color on all sides

so it is pretty impressive that they're able to do that.

Normally, you would flip the French fry in the oven

because you want even cooking.

Fries are usually par-cooked,

typically in a two-fry process.

There's the first fry, which sort of cooks it through,

and then the second fry to crisp it up.

Quick Cooked fries are par-cooked even further along,

so there's less for you to do at home.

If you can have better fries in half the time,

why wouldn't you do that?

[fries pack thudding] [plastic crinkling]

[Narrator] 365 by Whole Foods Market Steak Cut Fries.

They're very, very yellow.

Not really a caramelized color, though.

That's pretty characteristic of a steak fry.

They are so thick, and they have more moisture

because there's more potato in there.

Hmm.

I think I need some water with that.

It's more of a baked potato flavor

in the sense that it's just dry potato.

More than a bit, it'll actually choke a donkey.

These are definitely under-seasoned.

I actually wonder if these are low-sodium fries.

There's not really any crunchy exterior.

All of the moisture in the potato

is sogging up any crust that would ever form on this fry.

The fluffiness factor is pretty good,

and that's something that steak fries

definitely have going for them

because they are cut so thick,

they do have a lot of potato starch.

Potato starch, when it comes into contact

with water and heat,

they swell and expand and they release steam.

And that releasing of steam

creates the fluffiness inside the french fry.

The coloring of the interior,

it's not really as white as I would expect it.

It might not be from an Idaho potato,

and it's not really as puffy

as an Idaho potato typically would be.

[fries pack thudding] [plastic crinkling]

Oh, man.

Whole Foods Organic Steak Cut Fries.

No salt added.

I would really love it if Whole Foods made things

that were healthy and delicious at the same time.

It doesn't say what kind of potato.

It is possible that these are actually a more waxy potato,

which would contribute to some of the color

and the flavor that we were tasting.

These fries are organic.

I can't honestly say organic or not organic,

it really has any bearing on the flavor at all.

It can connote Put more care into our ingredients

and into our preparation, but that's not always the case.

[fries pack thudding] [plastic crinkling]

[Narrator] Red Robin Seasoned Steak Fries.

Structure, we're very much there.

Hmm. Wow, why couldn't I

have had these before?

They're big, they have a lot of potato mass,

they have a lot of moisture,

but in contrast to the other steak fries that we had,

still do have that crust.

Not to the touch but they actually crunch in your mouth

and are a lot fluffier.

I'm not so sure that it's natural to the potato,

I think there is some sort of boosting starch in there.

Pepper, paprika, maybe a touch of cayenne,

maybe a touch of chili powder.

Your tongue and your brain

and your mouth and your [mumbling]

are going in a lot of different directions.

You can kind of be fooled into thinking

that it's more golden than it really is,

but I do think that there is some nice

caramelization on this fry.

The interior is perfectly cooked, pillowy soft.

And you can snap it open like this, no floppiness.

I wonder if this comes from a restaurant?

This is their signature seasoning.

Sonic, Red Robin, but I'm not sure.

I'm gonna say these are Red Robin Steak Fries.

Woo, Red Robin. I'm really proud of myself.

Well, a place like Red Robin

is going to get all of the french fries

shipped to them frozen from corporate.

Being frozen actually is a good thing for the french fry.

The freezing process will also maintain that french fry,

so if you do everything at the peak of the potato's life,

then it will stay at peak life up until you fry it.

Overall, I really like these fries.

I think the flavor is very particular,

so you kind of have to be in the mood for this certain fry.

[fries pack thudding] [plastic crinkling]

[Narrator] McCain 5 Minute Fries Shoestring Cut Potatoes.

They're thin cut.

Some of these fries look to be a little wrinkled.

I'm not getting a ton of potato flavor,

just because they're so thin.

There's something kind of missing for me.

No added flavor from, you know, that caramelization.

I would rate the crispiness of these very inconsistent.

The thinner you cut a French fry, the crispier it becomes.

I don't know what happened here.

It's definitely drooping.

I think these might be Ore-Ida shoestring

or Ore-Ida fast food fries.

[plastic crinkling]

McCain's 5 Minute Fries.

I think they would actually benefit from a bit more cooking.

We noticed with the Quick Cook Fry

there was a really even coating and an even coloring

on all of them, so they do have a difference

between that coating that they have

on those quick-cooked fries and their regular fries.

When I think of a shoestring french fry,

I'm thinking of something crispy, something golden,

and something flavorful.

These, I can't even get past one.

[fries pack thudding] [plastic crinkling]

[Narrator] Lamb Weston Grown in Idaho

Super Crispy Shoestring Fries.

This looks a lot better.

Skin-on potatoes, once again.

We can see that there's a texture on them,

almost as if there was some sort of batter.

It takes a bit for me to, like, break that,

and I actually trained this morning, so...

They have a nicer color,

but I'm not really convinced that it's from the frying.

I think it might be from this batter on the outside.

Hmm. Very tasty french fry.

Skin-on potato just adds so much more flavor.

In a word, crispy.

Compared to the crispiness

of the previous shoestring fries,

these are significantly crispier.

The batter really helps with that crispiness

and ends up giving a much more enjoyable mouthfeel.

Tossed in some sort of cornstarch

to give it bulk and extra crunch factor.

When the fries are tossed in any sort of starch like this,

you're gonna get extra surface area,

creases the level of fried caramelized parts on the fry.

Overall structure is maintained throughout.

They have a nice snap, they have a nice crust.

The outside doesn't add these competing flavors;

you're still getting the potato flavor.

Ah, Lamb Weston. Lamb Weston Grown in Idaho

Super Crispy Shoestring Fries.

We use Lamb Weston for our

preferred fries at the restaurant,

so it's a great fry to start with.

Made with 100% real Idaho potatoes.

You could say the best potatoes for french fries

are Idaho or russet potatoes,

and that's because it's high starch.

When the starch comes in contact with water and heat,

it's going to expand and soften

and create that soft fluffy interior.

Russet potatoes are also low moisture,

and you want that because

moisture is the enemy of crispness.

And then last, russet potatoes are low sugar.

When sugar is cooked, it can over-caramelize

and you can get some sort of bitter acrid flavor,

so you want a potato that is low in sugar

so you don't get that over-caramelization.

Idaho has sort of a unique soil.

It has a lot of volcanic ash in their soil,

which really helps for the flavoring of potatoes,

it's a much more savory potato, it's a much drier potato,

it doesn't have much of that sweetness

and that's really helpful for making a proper French fry.

[fries pack thudding] [plastic crinkling]

[Narrator] Nathan's Famous Jumbo Crinkle Cut French Fries.

And we have our first crinkle cut fry,

but I can't say the look of these is very appealing.

You don't really want this black color on your fries.

So this is either part of the natural process

of how these are made,

or these were cooked at a much higher temperature,

or there's a little bit more sugar content in these fries.

Even though it does look really crisp on the outside,

they're actually pretty soft and squishy.

That's offensive.

It's hard to call them tasty.

Doesn't have a lot of flavor to it.

So the whole point of a crinkle cut fry

is that you get more surface area

for that golden caramelization,

but that's not the case when the crust is not crispy.

Look, that's like an accordion.

A fry like this, because it's so thick and thick cut,

the potato itself is gonna maintain a lot of the structure.

I'm seeing a lot of caramelization, a lot of color.

I mean, a little bit of too much color in some instances.

Really more about an inconsistency

between the potatoes in the batch

and also with the ridges getting cooked

before the actual interior of the potato.

I think the problem is that there is

so much moisture in this potato.

you're not getting that fluffiness; it's very dense.

I'm gonna go with Nathan's Crinkle Cut Fries.

Oh my gosh, Nathan's. Nathan's?

A crinkle fry should have excellent caramelization,

it should be extra crisp because of that extra texture,

and unfortunately these Nathan's fries

are just not delivering on those.

Pretty straightforward.

Potatoes, vegetable oil,

there's a little bit of sugar in there at some point.

It actually says zero grams trans fat.

And trans fats are very, very unhealthy fats for you.

They lower your good cholesterol

and they raise your bad cholesterol.

A lot of fries will market that they have zero trans fats,

and that just means that they're no longer

using oil that has trans fats.

I have great childhood memories from Nathan's,

and unfortunately these fries just didn't live up to them.

Stick with the hot dogs, man.

[fries pack thudding] [plastic crinkling]

[Narrator] Alexia Organic Oven Crinkles.

Immediately, I can see that they are cooked more evenly.

Almost white in color.

They actually look crispier.

Tasty, but it doesn't quite hit with the potato flavor.

It's got a flavor, but I can't tell you what it is.

On the outside, they feel crispy,

but then you can almost just mash it

in your fingers like that.

The crinkles do add extra surface area,

which I definitely appreciate.

The golden color is a bit inconsistent,

opaque-looking in spots, caramelized in other spots.

But not enough to make up for any flavor aspects of it.

It's fluffier than the Nathan's ones, for sure.

A pillowy softness, a little sweetness in there,

a touch of salt so these aren't completely unseasoned,

but not much, if any.

I'm gonna say Alexia.

One of these has gotta be Alexia, so...

Yes, I was right. Alexia.

Oven crinkles with sea salt.

Concentrated apple juice.

You know, we did note

that there was a little bit of a sweetness to it.

Maybe the apple juice had something to do

with that funky flavor that it had.

I don't know. And I think these are

a lot better than the Nathan's fries.

I don't attribute that to them being organic

or to having sea salt.

Sea salt is still salt.

They say that they use sea salt

because it's perceived to be a higher-end ingredient.

Love the idea of a crinkle cut

but if you're looking for extra surface area,

then I think there are different cuts of French fries

that would serve that purpose better.

[fries pack thudding] [box tearing]

[Narrator] Ore-Ida Microwavable Extra Crispy Crinkles.

They look better than the last two.

We have two completely different colors in the same batch.

Hmm. There's kind of

an odd taste in these.

I think it's a little under-seasoned

and there's something a little funky about the potato

that I can't quite put my finger on.

The potato inside is light enough,

it almost dissolves in your mouth.

Well, I don't wanna put it like this

but it's not very good.

I know you want dry for a fluffy fry,

but this is kind of

wake-the-moisture-out-of-your-mouth type of dry.

Caramelization, it's there, but not much else.

I would hope for more crispness,

especially from a crinkle cut fry.

You do see that sort of bends

back and forth like a spring almost.

Ore-Ida Easy Fries.

Extra crispy crinkles.

It seems that these were cooked in the microwave.

I would just hope that you have a little bit more

than four minutes or five minutes

and just get a better french fry.

Whenever you wanna crisp something,

you never use the microwave.

Foods in the microwave tend to get soggy.

When you trap the fries in this container,

fries are going to release steam

and then the steam is going to sog the fries

and soften that crust.

Noting that they were cooked in the microwave,

I'll say that they're not as terrible

of a product as I would've assumed.

I guess I'm impressed.

[fries pack thudding] [plastic crinkling]

[Narrator] Great Value Waffle Cut French Fried Potatoes.

One thing that I love about waffle fries

is you can get them really, really crispy

but then still taste the potato inside.

I'm getting kind of an undercooked potato flavor.

I dunno if I'd even call 'em a fry at this point,

which is kind of like a waffle potato.

And that's not very appetizing.

These really aren't that crisp at all.

No caramelization.

Either not blanched long enough

and definitely not fried long enough at the end.

A French fry shouldn't be able to

wave in the wind like this.

It also feels like extra greasy to me.

So when we get the waffle shape,

first we start with our mandolin

and we're gonna make two cuts.

The first cut's gonna be straight down,

and the next cut, oh, 90 degrees, go straight down again.

As you can see, our first cut,

we only had ridges on the one side,

and our second one has a beautiful waffle shape.

Oh. Great Value.

A Walmart brand.

Ingredients include potatoes.

Notice that they're a product of Belgium,

which means that the potato is probably not a russet.

I do know that they're typically

a little bit more waxy in their potato.

The waffle fry that we cut from an Idaho potato,

it's a lot more white than these ones

that are cut from a Belgian potato.

In a French fry we typically wanna go with that drier,

fluffier, whiter potato

'cause we don't want it to be creamy,

we want it to be able to get crispy.

[fries pack thudding] [plastic crinkling]

[Narrator] Lamb Weston Grown in Idaho

Super Crispy Waffle Fries.

Immediately, these are a lot, lot nicer.

They look very crispy.

The caramelization is definitely there.

It's a really tasty fry.

I'm getting a hint of salt.

More so than any fry that we've had today.

It's actually crunching underneath my teeth.

And I'm getting a fluffy

proper potato flavor on the inside.

So that caramelization is confirmed.

These have a great rigid structure,

and you say there's no droopage.

I mean, you really feel like you're eating a potato

cooked really nicely.

Just because I like them,

maybe it's like a made-in-Idaho.

Ooh, yay.

Idaho Lamb Weston Super Crispy Waffle Fries.

That skin-on potato adds to the flavor.

This is what a waffle fry should be.

This is the second Lamb Weston product

that we've had so far.

Once again, the flavor reigns supreme.

This one seems like pretty unadulterated,

there's no extra starch on it.

I think that this is the best-tasting fry

that we've had so far.

[fries pack thudding] [plastic crinkling]

[Narrator] Arby's Seasoned Curly Fries.

I really love curly fries.

I feel like a little kid.

There looks to be loads of seasoning.

I don't think I've ever seen a non-seasoned curly fry.

These to me immediately look like Arby's fries

since this is so tight, it's kind of soft

but you know what, I don't really care.

So that's like your quintessential curly fry flavor.

It's off the chain as far as texture.

You do get a little bit of a crunch factor

because of this sort of starchy, seasoned outside.

They could be a bit more crispy

and have a bit more structure.

You get like a little bit of potato flavor at the end,

but it's mostly the taste of the seasoning.

Onion powder, garlic powder, paprika this time.

Maybe some black pepper.

I'm actually getting more seasoning

than I am getting potato flavor, but I don't mind that.

A batter in that flavor tastes good,

whether it's crispy or soggy.

Honestly, curly fries even taste good

when they've lost some of their heat.

The color and the caramelization is spot on.

Let's try this one, which is like the less curled one.

Hmm. You get even more variance in here

because here you have this like plush inside of the potato,

and then here it tapers off, so it gets a little crunchy.

C squiggle hybrids have stayed the crispiest by far.

Piggy tail ones don't really have that so much,

and there are so many different textures in here.

That is just very appealing to me.

I think this is Arby's, the Arby's of my childhood.

Oh, let's go, the classic Arby's curly fries.

There she is. Yay.

True nostalgia of the curly fry here.

I have never been to Arby's a day in my life,

but I would definitely buy these.

These are actually produced by Lamb Weston.

They're using Lamb Weston potatoes.

More restaurants than you probably think

use frozen French fries from large suppliers.

And a lot of times they'll be getting them in frozen.

They'll typically deep fry them in a canola oil

or a neutral oil, and especially for a curly fry like this,

with the seasoned batter,

the less additional flavoring, the better.

You want the batter that they put on there

to be the one that sings the most.

I loved Arby's French fries when I was a kid,

and I still love them now.

[fries pack thudding] [plastic crinkling]

[Narrator] Checkers Rally's Famous Seasoned Fries.

I can see every granule of spice and seasoning on these.

So clearly there's some sort of coating on them.

The batter has found a good

caramelization point and crispy point.

These are tasty,

although they're very, very, very highly seasoned.

Black pepper and a hint of salt.

Even though the Arby's fries are very highly seasoned,

I find that a little bit more neutral and more versatile.

Potato flavor is there

but it's really overpowered by the seasoning.

And it does have some crispiness to it.

Caramelization is great,

it has like a really nice golden color.

Structurally, it looks the part

but then once I actually put hands on,

it just almost collapses.

Since it has that starchy coating,

it has that extra surface area to give it that extra crunch,

all those bubbles and micro ridges.

It's possibly Checkers Franchise.

It's like trying to be something fancy or something.

Ah! Checkers Rally's

Famous Seasoned Fries.

Okay, it's not a super fancy brand.

Listen, the black pepper and the salt,

they work with the French fries.

Maybe you should just call them black pepper and salt.

I'm a fan of seasoned fries,

but I think these are just like

a little bit too much for me.

[fries pack thudding] [plastic crinkling]

[Narrator] McCain Craft Beer Battered Potatoes.

These are probably the best-looking

shoestring French fries of the lot.

That takes a bit of doing, that's crispy.

Best shoestring french fry of the day.

That was a nice, crispy, crunchy bite.

You still get the potato on the inside,

but you get the crisp and the crunch from the outside.

Potato flavor through and through.

Caramelization is decent but it is kind of irregular,

which leads me to believe

that there's something different about these fries,

some sort of batter.

I'd say it's either Ore-Ida or McCain's again,

but I really don't know.

McCain's Craft Beer Battered Potatoes.

Okay, so that explains a lot.

I don't get the beer-battered flavor, but they are good.

When you put beer in any sort of batter that you deep fry,

what you're doing is you're adding flavor,

and then you're also adding lightness

'cause it is carbonated, and those air bubbles

are going to add lightness to the batter.

And now that I know that it's a beer-battered fry,

it's easier for me to accept that it's something different.

McCain, all right, you kind of redeemed yourself

from the last time. Not bad at all, not bad.

[fries pack thudding] [plastic crinkling]

[Narrator] 365 by Whole Foods Market

Crinkle-Cut Sweet Potato Fries.

When you crack through 'em, they're so wet.

It's almost like a sweet potato pie in there.

Ooh. Okay,

so these are unseasoned sweet potato fries.

Not the most pleasant bite of food

I've had all day, for sure.

Tastes like a baked sweet potato.

It's very, very, very-

I mean, look how it smushes under my fingers like this.

Even though it's cooked to mush

it still has some tooth to it,

so there's almost a raw sweet potato flavor.

This is a high sugar content, obviously,

but not much texture at all.

Sweet potatoes are very difficult

to make into the proper fry.

They also have higher water content,

that's also gonna make it difficult to fry up.

I mean, you got a slight bit of crust here,

especially towards the end.

Crinkle cut will add that texture and rigidity,

but this just, it's not there.

There is like a little bit of golden color,

but I just think that the sweet potato

is just way too moist.

The sweetness of the sweet potato

definitely comes through,

and if that's what you're going for

you definitely get that healthier feel,

that healthier taste.

If some salt was used, it would come through even more.

I wonder if this is also like a Great Value

or something like that.

Okay. Whole Foods 365.

Crinkle-cut sweet potato fries.

We have a consistency with the Whole Foods brands,

they were both very unseasoned.

Cornstarch, rice flour, so they're coated.

That's a bit deceiving because you would think

for a battered french fry, they'd have a lot more texture.

And cane sugar.

It's interesting that they're adding

even more sweetness to the sweet potato.

It does have a very good wholesome sweet potato flavor,

but that's just not what you're looking for

in a sweet potato fry.

[fries pack thudding] [plastic crinkling]

[Narrator] Alexia Sweet Potato Fries.

Structurally, they're a bit more sound.

You could see that they're dry.

They're just not very golden.

These definitely get a lot closer,

I think they have a good fried sweet potato flavor.

You know, there's a hint of salt

and maybe with a bit more,

that would counteract the sweetness

and those two sweet and salty going together at once.

There is a little bit of a crust.

The inside is nice and fluffy, it's not sogging.

I think you have to grade sweet potato fries

on a slightly different rubric,

just because they're totally different plants

and they're gonna react totally differently

when they're fried.

Ah, Alexia. Okay.

It says it has a hint of sea salt.

And they actually say sweet and savory,

and it's certainly not savory at all.

Honestly, it says to bake

for only 10 to 12 minutes at 425.

I think you really need to double that,

they're not nearly baked enough.

[Narrator] Let's see which products

our chefs liked the most and the least.

The winners of today for me

were the two fries made by Grown in Idaho.

A really good showcase for everything

that Idaho has to offer.

I think both of the Lamb Weston products

really stood out from a flavor standpoint.

Crunchier exterior,

so a really quality potato there as well.

For me, Red Robin was number one, my absolute favorite.

They were flavorful, they were a good size, good cut.

The seasoning was spot on.

My other favorite were the Arby's curly fries.

They were very potatoey, they were highly seasoned.

Every flavor just stood out,

it's what a seasoned French fry should be.

I really didn't care for the 365 steak cut fry.

There was no seasoning on it,

really light in color, no texture.

The Nathan's, they were really disappointing.

No crisp, no texture, no flavor.

I really didn't care for either of the sweet potato fries.

I thought that they were under-seasoned

and definitely didn't hold up to the cooking.

At the end of the day,

french fries at home are sort of tricky.

There's tons of great options out there,

you just gotta find your favorites and stick to them.

[whimsical music]