Baked French Fries Recipe (2024)

Parchment paper is the age old trick for crispy potatoes (and any other roasted vegetable for that matter). The semi-porous paper allows the potatoes to breath at the interface with the paper and they neither stick nor get soggy/gooey due to excess liquid accumulating at the downward surface. You can get nearly "deep fried" texture with this method without all the fuss of a fryer. No clean up either- just toss the paper and the sheet pan is clean underneath!

Question. If using parchment paper do you pre-heat pan with parchment? Or just pre-heat oven?

I don't think most sheet pans or parchment paper are rated for 500° use. Caution you could ruin the finish on your sheet pan or incinerate your parchment.

Put the sliced potatoes in the microwave for 8-10 minutes, then toss with oil and seasonings. 10-15 minutes in the oven (on parchment) at 350-425, whatever your oven is set to for other items. I’ve been using this twice cooked approach for years with great results.

Parchment is key! I started letting my potatoes sit in a bowl of water first for 15 minutes. Drain then proceed with seasoning. I cook mine at 425 for around 15 minutes then bump it up to 450 last 10! They always are beautiful. Russets are awesome. I like to season mine with garlic, paprika, oregano and even semolina dust :)

Parchment paper has an upper heat limit listed on the box. Even at that temperature, the paper will scorch.

Use parchment paper. It helps a lot in making the potatoes crispy.

I also soak my potatoes after cutting them up - 10-15 minutes in cold water before baking. I don’t know why but this seems to make a big difference in outcome. Always delish.

When I'm really feeling decadent I melt some butter and minced garlic in a frying pan and toss in the cooked fries to coat them. Sometimes I also add a little parmesan along with parsley for color. Really delicious and extra special (and caloric, or course). But these are wonderful on their own, too.

Don’t crowd the pan! Pepper after baking. Very tasty.

Yes, I do them all the time in my Breville convection oven, but not at such high heat - just 425 for the duration. Always important yto ket that pan hot before you add the potatoes.

I will definitely try this! I make lots of oven fries...and I discovered that putting the fries on a lightly greased wire rack (like a cooling rack for cakes and cookies) in a big flat pan so that there is space between pan and fries makes for crisper fries then when the potatoes sit directly on the flat surface.

We love this recipe. Few notes: thanks tp those who suggested parchment paper: it really helped. I neglected to toss with oil this time (but did oil the pan), and it didn't seem to make any difference. And I find that the fries need more oven time - I gave them at least another 10 minutes at 500 - otherwise there's no way they even approach crispy

So good! Used parchment as suggested - after pre-heating the pan (it browned but didn't burn). Needed an additional 10 minutes at 500 to get them perfectly browned. And lots of extra salt after coming out of the oven. So completely satisfying.

I soak cut potatoes for 20 minutes to remove starch and then dry them with paper towels. I then do reverse of Melissa: 20 minutes at 375 and then 15 minutes at 475.

Baking on full whack didn’t work for me. Just made for a messy pan and some burnt fries. Someone mentioned precooking in the microwave then cooking on parchment paper for 15 minutes at 425. I enjoyed the fries much more prepared that way. And cleanup was much easier.

I had parchment rated to 450 so instead I ruined some rubbery, reusable inserts which burnt badly in the preheat. Also the fries stuck to the center lol. Other than that it worked great and I will use this basic method going forward!

Soaked in water once sliced for 15-30 minutes. Beautiful

Used parchment. Cooked 45 minutes at 425. It was good, but I will cook a little longer next time.

Easy and yummy. I ice bathed them for 45 min. Only caveat is getting the fries cut in similar size so they bake evenly. Some of mine were undercooked and some were overcooked. Will def make again.

Frozen fries+ airfryer = CRISPY heaven

This was a revelation. Excellent technique. I tried one commenter's suggestion to microwave the cut potatoes for 8 minutes first, then follow the rest of Ms. Clark's instructions. Great fries.

500° is above the smoke point of extra-virgin olive oil. Has this been a problem for anyone?

I’ve been making baked French fries in a similar way for 25 years. I cut Yukon gold potatoes into French fry shape and toss in a plastic bag with minimal olive oil. I preheat sheet pan with aluminum foil on it to 385 degrees. Place potatoes in one layer on the pan and cook for 20 minutes. Turn oven to broil and cook for ~5 minutes. Remove when the tops are crispy. Salt and pepper as desired and remove from pan.

Yay crispy oven fries BUT NOTE the recipe does not call for extra virgin olive oil. From what they say out there, oven is too hot for EVOO. They say only certain oils are supposedly okay for 425 degrees. From what I’ve seen on smoke point charts (I have no personal knowledge and am not giving medical or similar advice) pecan, extra light olive oil, avocado oil, almond oil and grape seed oil have smoke points above 425. Some say ghee okay for high heat too. Check smoke point charts on line.

Instead of trying to heat a thin baking sheet, I just put the baking sheet on a pizza stone in the oven. Saves time and prevents warping from a baking sheet shocking at cold potatoes and oil. Also, I flip the potatoes part of the way through so they brown on every side. Delicious recipe

Tasty but woof, pretty much ruined my sheet pan from the sticking. Will need a LOT more oil if following the recipe as written.

Follow the directions and the “fries” are fantastic.

I used our toaster oven, which heats only to 450°, with very good results. Since I like French fries seasoned only with salt, I omitted the pepper. I don't think I measured the oil, using just enough to coat the potatoes. Parchment paper is a good idea. I plan to cook these often.

Good heavens, I bake sourdough bread on parchment at 500° all the time. Yes, of course it’s burnt and crispy when I’m done but I’ve never once set my house on fire!