Pre-cut, blanched, and frozen russet potatoes are widely used, and sometimes baked in a regular or convection oven, such as an air fryer.

French fries are served hot, either soft or crispy, and are generally eaten as part of lunch or dinner or by themselves as a snack, and they commonly appear on the menus of diners, fast food restaurants, pubs, and bars.

[5] The potatoes are prepared by first cutting them (peeled or unpeeled) into even strips, which are then wiped off or soaked in cold water to remove the surface starch, and thoroughly dried.

The golden-brown colour of the fry will develop when the amino acids and glucose on the exterior participate in a Maillard browning reaction.

– Cut new potatoes in thin slices, put them in boiling fat, and a little salt; fry both sides of a light golden brown colour; drain.

In the early 20th century, the term "french fried" was being used in the sense of "deep-fried" for foods like onion rings or chicken.

[30] An 1899 item in Good Housekeeping specifically references Kitchen Economy in France: "The perfection of French fries is due chiefly to the fact that plenty of fat is used.

Frédéric Krieger, a Bavarian musician, learned to cook fries at a roaster on rue Montmartre in Paris in 1842, and took the recipe to Belgium in 1844, where he created his business Fritz and sold "la pomme de terre frite à l'instar de Paris" ("Paris-style fried potatoes").

[37] The Belgian journalist Jo Gérard [fr] claimed that a 1781 family manuscript recounts that potatoes were deep-fried prior to 1680 in the Meuse valley, as a substitute for frying fish when the rivers were frozen.

[42] Fries are very popular in Belgium, where they are known as frieten (in Flemish) or frites (in Belgian French), and the Netherlands, where among the working classes they are known as patat in the north and, in the south, friet(en).

[43] In Belgium, fries are sold in shops called friteries (French), frietkot/frituur (Flemish), snackbar (Dutch in The Netherlands) or Fritüre/Frittüre (German).

Traditionally fries are served in a cornet de frites (French), patatzak/frietzak/fritzak (Dutch/Flemish), or Frittentüte (German), a white cardboard cone, then wrapped in paper, with a spoonful of sauce (often mayonnaise) on top.

A note in a manuscript in U.S. president Thomas Jefferson's hand (circa 1801–1809) mentions "Pommes de terre frites à cru, en petites tranches" ("Potatoes deep-fried while raw, in small slices").

Currywurst is a sausage (often bratwurst or bockwurst) in a spiced ketchup-based sauce, dusted with curry powder and served with fries.

[53] A blue plaque in Oldham marks the origin of the fish-and-chip shop, and thus the start of the fast food industry in Britain.

It consists of fries dressed with mayonnaise, a peanut-based satay sauce and garnished with diced raw onions along with a variety of other optional ingredients.

Subsequently, in 1967, Ray Kroc of McDonald's contracted the Simplot company to supply them with frozen fries, replacing fresh-cut potatoes.

In 2004, 29% of the United States' potato crop was used to make frozen fries; 90% consumed by the food services sector and 10% by retail.

[62][63] Pre-made french fries have been available for home cooking since the 1960s, having been pre-fried (or sometimes baked), frozen and placed in a sealed plastic bag.

[64] Some fast-food chains dip the fries in a sugar solution or a starch batter, to alter the appearance or texture.

Poutine has a growing number of variations, but it is generally considered to have been developed in rural Québec sometime in the 1950s, although precisely where in the province it first appeared is a matter of contention.

[73] Fries are a common side dish in Latin American cuisine or part of larger preparations such as the salchipapas in Peru or chorrillana in Chile.

[74][75] Whilst eating 'regular' crispy french fries is common in South Africa, a regional favourite, particularly in Cape Town, is a soft soggy version doused in white vinegar called "slap-chips" (pronounced "slup-chips" in English or "slaptjips" in Afrikaans).

[79] Inspired by Japanese cuisine, okonomiyaki fries are served with a topping of unagi sauce, mayonnaise, katsuobushi, nori seasoning (furikake) and stir-fried cabbage.

French fries primarily contain carbohydrates (mostly in the form of starch) and protein from the potato, and fat absorbed during the deep-frying process.

For example, a large serving of french fries at McDonald's in the United States is 154 grams and includes 350 mg of sodium.

"[98] Kristin Kirkpatrick calls french fries "an extremely starchy vegetable dipped in a fryer that then loads on the unhealthy fat, and what you have left is a food that has no nutritional redeeming value in it at all.

"[98] David Katz states that "French fries are often the super-fatty side dish to a burger—and both are often used as vehicles for things like sugar-laced ketchup and fatty mayo.

[99] Starting in 2008, many restaurant chains and manufacturers of pre-cooked frozen french fries for home reheating phased out trans-fat–containing vegetable oils.

[106][107] This classification, referred to as the "French fry rule", was upheld in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit case Fleming Companies, Inc. v.