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What Are Waffle Fries?
Waffle, or lattice, fries are a distinctive cut of French fries. The commercial French fry maker or home cook slices the potatoes with a ripple-bladed cutter and rotates the potato between cuts to create small holes or windows in the potato slices. Usually commercial food processors use white potatoes to make the wavy cut fries, but some companies also offer waffle-cut sweet potatoes. The home cook can use a special tool to cut many different vegetables, including specialty potatoes like Yukon gold, into waffle fries.
To make waffle fries at home, a person can use a mandolin with a wavy or rippled blade or a vegetable cutter. The mandolin is a professional tool that allows the operator to slide the potato over the cutting blade. Another tool is a blade with a handle, which sellers may list as a French fry cutter, vegetable cutter, or crinkle cutter. The operator lays the potato on the cutting board and presses the blade down through it to cut off a slice. With either tool, the cook needs to rotate the potato 90° with every cut to achieve the characteristic cut.
Most companies that offer frozen potato products sell waffle fries. Some companies market them as lattice fries. Nutritional values vary depending on any seasoning or coatings that the food processor may have added. Other factors that affect the nutritional values include the temperature and type of frying oil or if the fries are oven-baked instead of fried.
Waffle fries tend to be thicker than other sliced potatoes. For example, they generally are thicker than cottage fries. Slicing the potatoes too thin usually causes them to fall apart. The cuts must be close enough to create small windows. Often home cooks find it is easier to buy commercially cut waffle cut fries.
A wide variety of eateries offer waffle fries. Some food historians suggest that a restaurant chain invented the waffle cut, but others question the origin of the cut. Many places offer plain or seasoned fries, including Cajun-flavored waffle cut fries. Home cooks can sprinkle seasonings on the potatoes after frying them or before baking them if they choose the lower-fat cooking method. Seasoned salts are typically a popular choice.
Another way to customize the waffle fries is to use other types of potatoes or vegetables. Sweet potato fries are popular with home cooks and restaurant patrons. Home cooks can experiment with other waffle-cut vegetables, such as zucchini and carrots.
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![Potatoes are cut in a special way and fried to make waffle fries.]()
By: mbongoPotatoes are cut in a special way and fried to make waffle fries. -
![Regular french fries look different than waffle fries.]()
By: Africa StudioRegular french fries look different than waffle fries. -
![Waffle fries are cooked in a deep fryer like regular fries.]()
By: starushWaffle fries are cooked in a deep fryer like regular fries.
Discussion Comments
This is a very un-American thing I am about to say...I am not a big fry eater.
I know, I know our fast food restaurants have almost been born around the fry - think about it, whatever you are buying at a typical fast food restaurant, if you buy it in meal form, you are getting fries with it no other choices just fries.
What other food item could make it possible for a restaurant get away with not offering multiple choices in America? We love our choices!
But I digress, back to my only so-so feelings about fries. I must say the waffle fries are the best there are by far!
They taste more like the actual potato from which they came and they also hold more condiment. And I have made a great condiment to go with the waffle fries discovery...
If you get the waffle fries at that restaurant chain that may or may not have invented the waffle fry, then I highly suggest getting the Polynesian sauce at that restaurant which is usually thought of as just a condiment for the chicken.
But not so! The sweet goes well with the salty of the fry.
I try to stay away from sharp objects, because I am very uncoordinated. So, I would never cut my own waffle fries. I always buy the frozen kind, and they taste great to me. I can have them ready in 20 minutes, because all I have to do is stick them in the oven.
My husband makes a great sauce to go with them. It resembles comeback sauce. I believe it involves ketchup, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper. We end up eating more waffle fries than we should when we have this dipping sauce, because the flavor is just so irresistible.
@Perdido - It took me many attempts to master the ripple-bladed cutter, but I am happy to say that I can now cut restaurant quality waffle fries. This makes me very happy, because I can flavor them any way I want. I don’t have to buy the frozen pre-seasoned ones from the grocery store anymore.
I like to brush my waffle fries with melted butter before putting them on a baking sheet. Then, I sprinkle them with season-all. I cook them in a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes, or until the tops turn golden brown. This is the same way that I cook my homemade potato chips, but I prefer the taste and texture of the waffle fries. Since they have several raised surfaces, they also have more crispy spots.
Has anyone out there had a whole lot of trouble using a home waffle fry cutter? I keep practicing, but mine keep turning out a mess. They are either too thin and floppy or too thick to cook all the way through.
I feel that surely I will one day get the hang of it, and when I do, I want to experiment with lots of seasonings. I have heard that old bay seasoning is great on potatoes, as well as parsley flakes.
Does anyone have a great waffle fry recipe to share with me? I would love to try something that has already been proven to taste good.
Fried chicken and waffle fries together make the perfect meal. Most people that I know cook mashed potatoes to go with their chicken, but waffle fries have more flavor and just look more appetizing.
I went to a family reunion recently, and someone had brought fried chicken and mashed potatoes to the picnic. I had brought waffle fries, which I set down next to the potatoes. At the end of the day, there were plenty of mashed potatoes left over, but the waffle fries were long gone.
I’m sure that the waffle fries had more calories and fat than the other potatoes, but sometimes, you just need to let lose and enjoy some indulgent food. What better time to do this than at a family reunion?
I have always liked waffle fries, but my kids won't hardly touch them. I keep telling them they are made the same way, just cut differently, but it doesn't seem to matter.
If we are at a restaurant they aren't familiar with, they will always ask if they serve regular fries. They don't have any problem eating the thicker cottage fries, but never have liked the waffle fries.
When I order them for myself I don't have to worry about not getting enough for myself, because they never want any of them.
I don't usually order french fries at a restaurant, and usually try to go with a side that I feel is a little bit more healthy.
The first time I tried waffle fries, they were sweet potato fries. Since I love sweet potatoes, and thought this sounded healthier than regular fries, I ordered them with my sandwich.
I don't know if it was the taste of the sweet potato fries or that it had been so long since I had eaten any kind of french fries, but I didn't have any problem eating every one of them.
I also enjoyed the cut of the waffle fries and will definitely treat myself to these again.
For some reason I think a plate of waffle fries looks more appealing and appetizing than a plate of regular fries. I have always wondered how to make waffle fries, and order them at a restaurant whenever I see them on the menu.
We have a favorite local pizza restaurant that we eat at often. They make the best waffle fries I have ever tasted. It must be the seasoning that they put on them because they are very tasty.
They taste like they have a blend of seasoned salt on them, are very crisp and filling. Once they cool down, they don't last very long.
@Subway11 - You really don’t have to go to the trouble of buying a waffle fry cutter because they sell frozen waffle fries at the grocery store. You can also do what I do and get a chicken sandwich and waffle fries at Chick-Fil-A which will definitely satisfy your craving.
I don’t really have time to do a lot of cooking, so going the fast food route really works for me. I think that I can eat waffle fries as a meal all by itself.
I like to use waffle fries when I am having guests over for barbecues, as I think they that they look much nicer than your typical shoestring fries.
Also, I feel like they feel heartier after you have eaten them because they tend to be larger. I guess it is pretty common knowledge that our eyes tend to trick our other senses. If we see something bigger and eat it, we feel more full.
One of the things you can do if you want to make a great topping for waffle fries is to find a recipe for some great avocado dip. This stuff tastes absolutely amazing and goes well with the waffle fries.
Waffle fries can be a fun way to spice up your kid's dinners. The unique cut of these fries make them fun for children to eat, as I find that my kids like to see if they can keep ketchup in the small windows of the lattice work.
While I don't usually want my kids playing with their food, if this simple dish amuses them, it can be a good treat now and again. Especially if I am too tired to cook something more substantial.
One thing you can do with waffle fries is to serve it with a ranch dipping sauce, or salsa. While you usually use nachos for such things, with the shape of the waffle fries it works quite well.
This article is making me hungry. I absolutely love waffle fries, but have never thought of making them myself. I have a regular potato cutter at home, but I am considering buying a waffle fry cutter so that I can make waffle fries at home.
I also want to try making a sweet potato variation as well. It is a nice substitute to waffle fries and it also has a lot of fiber and Vitamin A. I feel less guilty eating sweet potato fries then I do eating waffle fries because the calories in waffle fries is enough to keep me from eating them more than once a week.
I know if you bake the waffle fries instead of fry them it will have less calories and fat, but it doesn't taste the same. I rather have the real deal.
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