The ultimate snack to share with friends, perfect for game day, or to enjoy while binging your favorite series!
A big pile of crispy french fries smothered in melty cheese and bacon and topped with green onion and your fave toppings!
Serve these fries with sour cream and homemade ranch for dipping!
There’s just something about a big pile of cheesy fries. Perfect for snacking on during the big game or for casual nights when you just want something to snack on with friends.
Ingredients for Cheese Fries
French Fries – To make cheese fries you’ll need fries of course! You can make them from scratch (check the notes of the recipe) or use frozen fries for a faster snack.
We find thicker steak fries, crinkle fries, or even wedges work well and hold up to the toppings. Make them in the air fryer or try oven-baked fries. Season them with kosher salt & pepper.
Cheese – We choose shredded cheese over cheese sauce because we find the fries don’t get soggy this way.
Shredded cheddar or a shredded cheddar mozzarella cheese blend is great on fries. For most recipes, I recommend that you shred your own cheese but this is one place (along with nachos) where the bagged shredded cheeses work well!
Bacon – Everything is better with bacon, including cheese fries! If you want to fry up some bacon and crumble it on top, that works well but real bacon bits (or precooked) works just as well too!
Other Toppings – Green onions are a favorite to sprinkle on cheese fries (reminiscent of potato skins). Make these into loaded cheese fries by adding any of the following to suit your tastes:
- Ground beef, browned sausage, or taco meat.
- Brown gravy (trust me, it makes them AMAZING), a take from our fave poutine recipe.
- Diced tomatoes, sliced jalapenos, avocado, burger sauce, or even a big scoop of leftover chili.
- Sour cream or homemade ranch for dipping.
How to Make Cheese Fries
- Cook Fries: Air fry, deep fry, or bake french fries in a single layer per the recipe below until they’re extra crisp.
- Broil Cheese & Bacon: Sprinkle shredded cheese and cooked bacon over the crispy fries and broil under high heat until melted and bubbly.
- Add Fresh Toppings: Add any fresh toppings (like diced tomatoes or sliced green onions) and a drizzle of sour cream or dipping sauce.
For dipping, try any of the following:
Loaded Cheese Fries
Equipment
Ingredients
Fries
- 32 ounces frozen french fries or 8 cups homemade french fries
Toppings
- 1 ½ cups cheddar cheese
- 3 tablespoons bacon cooked and crumbled, or real bacon bits
- 1 cup brown gravy homemade or packet, optional
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 green onions thinly sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (or cook fries in the air fryer per directions in the notes).
- Add the fries to a rimmed baking sheet and cook for 25-30 minutes or until extra crisp, stirring after 15 minutes.
- Once the fries are crisp, remove them from the oven and turn the broiler on to 500°F.
- Top the fries with cheddar and bacon and place back into the oven for 1-3 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
- Top with green onions. If using, drizzle with brown gravy and top with sour cream. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Appetizer, Party Food, Side Dish
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great fries vary crispy
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe Gavin!
Hi Marianne, the fries are getting fully cooked in the air fryer in the first 10-14 minutes and then the last few minutes are once topped with cheese to get the cheese melty! I hope this helps.
How are you not fat!?! Thanks for another great recipe.