French Fry Diary 83: Nathan’s Famous at Home

Nathan’s Famous has some of the best fast food French fries out there, in my opinion, but the good news is that you can also have those great fries at home any time.

Nathan’s has a variety of products available at most supermarkets, including their famous hot dogs, hamburgers, mustards, steak sauce, potato chips and especially their prize fries. The dogs are pretty much the same, and the burgers suffer from that same freezer burn and shaped problems that plague most burgers of that type. The potato chips however are quite nice.

They’re waffle chips although Nathan’s calls ‘em “crinkle cut style’ to cash in on their popular fries. They are thick and tasty and full of more potato flavor than many other chips out there from real potato chip companies. They also have no trans fat for the Health Nazis out there. Very good, and a suitable replacement when Nathan’s famous fries are not available.

Also for when the fries aren’t available are Nathan’s Famous Onion Rings, labeled as ‘thick sliced’ and ‘battered’ as if that could make them better, they are priced rather expensively in your grocer’s freezer. Quite honestly, I’m not a fan of Nathan’s rings when at the restaurant because of their greasiness, and these are only slightly better thanks to the baking option. The batter coating is pretty bad and even baked they’re greasy, I would give these a total pass.

On the other hand, Nathan’s Famous Fries in the frozen edition are almost as good as the real thing. While Nathan’s Famous are among some of the best of the fast food fries, their frozen fries are the best. And pass on the deep frying method to cook, unless that’s what you want, because they will taste greasy, but you asked for it.

The real beauty of these comes when they are baked. This is the crème de la crème of the baked frozen French fry. And because you make them at home you control the crispiness and the softness inside. For an extra treat I like to throw some spices, usually Billy Bee Honey BBQ Seasoning in the bag and shake it around before placing them on the baking sheet. Mmmm... fries...