These French onion fries make a delicious, comforting appetizer or side dish, great for fans of French onion soup! If you love caramelized onions as much as I do, you'll love this goat cheese appetizer too!
French fries might be the only thing better than French onion soup, but why choose one or the other when you can combine them to make delicious French onion fries?
These tasty fries are easy to customize with toppings and sauces like this truffle aioli, lemon garlic aioli, or spicy ranch sauce!
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😍 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- French onion fries are easy and fun to make!
- This recipe is a great way to use up those old fries in the freezer!
- You can make your own tweaks to this recipe.
- This recipe makes enough for two servings, so it's great for date nights!
🔖 Ingredients & Substitutions
- Onion: Sweet yellow onions work best!
- Boursin: I like to use the caramelized onion & herbs flavor, but chive & onion would be great too. Goat cheese would work well, too.
- Cheese: Gruyere cheese is typical for French onion soup, but you can also use mozzarella, Swiss, parmesan, cheddar, American cheese, provolone, etc.
- Butter: I use Kerrygold unsalted butter, but salted butter would work too, though you may want to reduce the amount of salt added to the sauce.
- Fries: I like keeping it simple by using frozen shoestring fries or fast food fries, but you can make your own fries with russet potatoes or even sweet potatoes! These air fried potato wedges would work great too!
- Balsamic glaze: You can make your own 3-ingredient balsamic vinegar glaze or find it bottled at most grocery stores.
- Old Bay: Or Cajun seasoning. Feel free to omit, if desired.
- Serrano: I like to add a bit of spice with some sliced serrano pepper or jalapeno. Pickled jalapenos work great too!
- Beef broth: Demi glace concentrate and water would be a great substitution, or you can also use mushroom broth, or chicken/vegetable broth for a lighter flavor.
🧅 How To Make French Onion Fries
Step 1: Melt butter in a small pot or skillet over low heat, then add thinly sliced onions and salt. Caramelize over lowest possible heat for 30-45 minutes until deeply golden and soft, stirring every 10 minutes.
Pro Tip: Don't be intimidated by that heaping pile of onions - they'll cook down to practically nothing!
Step 2: When onions are about halfway done, preheat oven to 425°F, or according to package instructions. Spread half a bag of frozen French fries in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast until golden and crispy, flipping halfway through (about 15-20 minutes in total).
Step 3: Once onions are caramelized, stir in beef broth, balsamic glaze, thyme, and black pepper. Simmer for 5-7 minutes until slightly reduced and saucy. Remove from heat and stir in ¼ cup Boursin.
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Step 4: Season fries with Old Bay seasoning, then top with shredded gruyere cheese. Add French onion mixture to the fries, then finish it off with more crumbled Boursin, a swirl of balsamic glaze, chopped parsley, and thinly sliced serrano.
🍽️ Serving Suggestions
French onion fries make a great appetizer or side dish to go with smoked burgers, tri-tip sandwiches, a croissant sandwich, or this Reuben sandwich recipe.
🤷🏻♀️ Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! French onion soup is typically made with beef broth, which offers a rich flavor, but veggie or chicken broth would also work, though the flavor would be a bit lighter. Mushroom broth would be the best vegetarian/vegan substitute!
Absolutely! Caramelized onions will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days and reheat beautifully!
You can dress up your tasty fries with different sauces like hot sauce, aioli, balsamic glaze, and more! You can also get creative with toppings, such as peppers, bacon, crispy fried onions, and herbs like parsley and thyme.
👩🏻🍳 Pro Tips
- Thin, uniform slices are best for caramelizing as they will cook down evenly with less risk of some pieces burning.
- I like to cut the onions into rings, but you can dice or slice them however you wish, as long as they're consistent!
- Resist the urge to rush the process! True caramelization takes time but adds major depth to the flavor.
- Fries are best when hot and crispy, so don't let them sit too long after topping them off!
- If you want, you can broil your assembled fries for 1-2 minutes after adding the toppings to get the cheese nice and melty and reheat the fries if they've cooled off.
More Appetizer Recipes
📖 Recipe
Easy + Cheesy French Onion Fries
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 medium yellow onions
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 13 oz shoestring fries
- ¾ cup beef broth
- ½ tablespoon balsamic glaze
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup caramelized onion & herb Boursin (divided)
- ½ teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- ¼ cup gruyere cheese
- 1 tablespoon parsley
- ½ serrano pepper
Instructions
- Melt butter in a small pot or skillet over low heat, then add thinly sliced onions and salt. Caramelize over lowest possible heat for 30-45 minutes until deeply golden and soft, stirring every 10 minutes.
- When onions are about halfway done, preheat oven to 425°F, or according to package instructions. Spread half a bag of frozen French fries in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast until golden and crispy, flipping halfway through (about 15-20 minutes in total).
- Once onions are caramelized, stir in beef broth, balsamic glaze, thyme, and black pepper. Simmer for 5-7 minutes until slightly reduced and saucy. Remove from heat and stir in ¼ cup Boursin.
- Season fries with Old Bay seasoning, then top with shredded gruyere cheese. Add French onion mixture to the fries, then finish it off with more crumbled Boursin, a swirl of balsamic glaze, chopped parsley, and thinly sliced serrano.
Notes
-
- Don't be intimidated by that heaping pile of onions - they'll cook down to practically nothing!
- Thin, uniform slices are best for caremlizing as they will cook down evenly with less risk of some pieces burning.
- I like to cut the onions into rings, but you can dice or slice them however you wish, as long as they're consistent!
-
- Resist the urge to rush the process! True caramelization takes time but adds major depth to the flavor.
-
- Fries are best when hot and crispy, so don't let them sit too long after topping them off!
-
- If you want, you can broil your assembled fries for 1-2 minutes after adding the toppings to get the cheese nice and melty and reheat the fries if they've cooled off.
Kelly Methey says
Oh this recipe sounds sooo good! I can’t wait to make it! I love every ingredient in it! Thanks Hilda!
Hilda Sterner says
Thanks, Kelly! We aim to please!
Hilda Sterner says
We hope you enjoy this recipe!