An important staple of Chanukah is latkes, and for those that can make them, I applaud you. Personally, I find latke making to be a big time commitment. Between the grating and watching and waiting for everything to fry so it turns out perfect, by the time the latkes are done, half my night is gone! That’s why on Chanukah I prefer to make fries (or chips, for our British readers). They still have the potato base and the excessive oil requirement, but unlike latkes, I can just stick them in the oven and forget about them, allowing me to spend the extra time with my family.

But which fry recipe should I try, you may ask? Never fear, as the work has been done for you! Below you’ll find 10 of the best fry recipes on Kosher.com, rated by taste so that when you make your fries, you can be confident knowing that they are truly the best ones!

10. Baked Cajun Fries by Naomi Hazan – 4/10

This recipe is great for someone with a high spice tolerance. My spice tolerance is incredibly low, so I would either go for a different recipe in the future or use less spices next time. The real reason that this recipe earned a 4 was because the potatoes were cut into wedges and cooked for 25 minutes at 400 as instructed, and they did not cook all the way through. For anyone who is interested in this recipe, I suggest cutting the potatoes into smaller wedges, and cooking for longer.

9. Dill Pickle Roasted Potatoes by Menachem Goodman – 5/10

If you’re a fan of dill, you’ll be a fan of this recipe! Opinions on the fries ranged from perfectly salted to a little too much salt. The cooking time was good and accurate, as everything was completely cooked through. The fries were not particularly crispy, but that’s to be expected from an oven. All in all, these were good potatoes!

8. Asian Sweet Potato Fries by Estee Kafra – 6/10

These Asian sweet potato fries were good, but they didn’t taste very Asian. The only ingredients required were sesame seeds and sesame oil, and despite generously covering and mixing the fries in both, you could barely taste the sesame. In order to rectify that, we dipped the potatoes in soy sauce and it was amazing and added the Asian taste that was promised but missing originally! It probably would have been even better if the potatoes were cooked with the soy sauce. As well, I prefer making fries directly from potatoes as opposed to a bag of frozen pre-cut fries as they’ll taste fresher that way.

7. Spiced Sweet Potato Fries by Estee Kafra – 6/10

The Spiced Sweet Potato fries tasted like pumpkin spice. The flavour was amazing and I really enjoyed it! Similar to the Asian sweet potato fries, I would have preferred cutting up a sweet potato to make the fries, as opposed to using bagged frozen pre-cut fries. As with the other oven baked fries, it was soft and not crunchy, but I really didn’t mind too much. All in all, great fries!

6. Salt and Vinegar Potato Fries by Esther Ottensoser – 7/10

Eating these fries tasted just like eating salt and vinegar chips! The process involved in making the fries was interesting, as boiling them in the vinegar beforehand was essential to getting the taste to come out right. Broiling them in the oven afterwards allowed the fries to get a little bit of crunch that they wouldn’t otherwise have. All in all, a solid fry!

5. Sweet and Tangy Steak Fries by Chavi Feldman – 7/10

These fries were not bad. They were soft and had an interesting seasoning. I feel the amount of vinegar added to the fries was excessive, and the recipe could have even done with no vinegar at all. However, by the end of the night, all the fries were eaten up — so if it looks good to you, I’d definitely give this recipe a go!

4. Roasted Fries by Dining In – 8/10

Are you looking for just a basic french fry? Then this is the one for you! Quick and easy to make, the roasted fries require minimal ingredients and minimal prep. This is especially good if you have those with lots of allergies or picky eaters coming to your table, as there is not much involved in this recipe aside from the potatoes themselves.

3. Basil Fries by Victoria Dwek & Leah Schapira – 8/10

The fries tasted like exactly what I would buy from a restaurant! Although I don’t own a deep fryer, I filled a pot with oil and heated it on the stove. Once it was sufficiently hot, I added the fries in two batches. The fry time suggested was perfect, and I ended up with crunchy and delicious fries! If you don’t feel like checking parsley, I feel like the parsley didn’t add much to the fries and was unnecessary. Also, these fries were a lot oilier than those that are baked in the oven. For this reason, I prefer the oven baked fries as I feel healthier eating them. As well, oven baked fries taste better as leftovers than fried fries, so for these, you have to make sure to eat them all up as soon as they’re ready!

2. Za’atar Fries with Tahini Dip by Victoria Dwek – 9/10

The Za’atar Fries were insanely and unexpectedly good! We couldn’t stop munching on them and they were gone before we even knew it! The prep was super easy and took 5 minutes, and the ingredients involved were minimal. I highly recommend trying the Za’atar Fries!

1. Oven Baked Fries (that taste fried) by Erin Grunstein – 10/10

These fries were addicting! Preheating the oil allowed the fries to get that crunch that you don’t usually get in the oven, but they still felt healthier than deep-fried fries as they weren’t immersed in oil. Although you can use any type of paprika, using the smoked paprika makes for an amazing taste with minimal ingredients involved. This recipe had the best ratio of easy prep to best taste and I recommend for everyone to try it out!!

Thank you for joining us on our fry-tasting journey! You know what they say, into the frying pan and out comes the champion, and I’m confident that the one we chose is truly the best of them all! Do you agree with the order? Let me know in the comments! 

Happy Chanukah! 

~ Nessa

Thank you to the employees of the Israeli Source for your fry tasting expertise.