The Frozen French Fries I Always Keep in My Freezer

Here’s something we all can agree on at Clean Plates: Every once in a while, you’re going to want French fries. This is especially true if you have children, in my case, twin teenaged boys. Which is why I don’t personally ever go without french fries in my freezer. During the pandemic, I made so many quick lunches or dinners with a fried egg, a pile of greens, and a pile of air-fried frozen French fries. So many. My kids love them, and these days, they can blow through a bag in one sitting with very little help from me because, well, growing boys, as they say.

Specifically, I am never without a bag of Organic Sea Salt Oven Crinkles from Alexia Foods.

Design by Zoe Burnett

Alexia Organic Sea Salt Oven Crinkles Are the Best Frozen French Fries

This relatively recent discovery involved eating my way through the a lot of French fries. (As I mentioned above, the pandemic was a time of serious French fry-eating.) Alexia makes several organic fries, including Yukon gold selects, sea salt oven crinkles, sea salt and pepper crinkle fries, oven fries (like a thick-cut steak fry), and potato puffs. All have short ingredient lists, without chemicals, additives, or preservatives. So, of course, I tried them all.

The oven crinkles win for several reasons. They are equally good in the air fryer and the oven. If it’s just me, I use the air fryer, mostly because I am impatiently hungry. I also find that larger batches of french fries, regardless of their shapes (even tots!), just don’t work as well in the air fryer. There’s only so much space in those baskets and things should be spaced out in one layer as much as you can.

I like the oven if I’m cooking anywhere from half to the entire bag. Space out those fries on your baking sheet so that they don’t steam; if they’re too close they will. You want them crispy, not mushy.

Either way, both methods result in crinkles that are just crispy enough, with fluffy, soft insides. Bonus: They take well to additional seasoning, which isn’t a given with all oven-baked frozen fries.

Buy It: Alexia Organic Sea Salt Oven Crinkles, $4.19

More Finds from the Freezer Aisle

• We Ate a Lot of Frozen Pizza and Found the Healthiest, Tastiest Ones
• The Best Healthy Freezer Meals from Trader Joe’s
• The One Healthy Freezer Staple I Always Buy at Trader Joe’s