Creating the Ultimate French Fry Board: Useful Tips & Tricks

What’s better than fries? A large selection of delicious fries topped with tasty seasonings and served with delicious dips on a fry board!

How to make a fun French fry charcuterie board?

The French fry board restaurant is becoming increasingly popular — and it makes sense. People love fries, so why not serve them a French fry board?

These platters contain several different types of fries and a selection of tasty dipping sauces. While the word board is literally in the name, your fries don’t actually need to be served on boards. You can serve them up on beautiful platters or in warm dishes.

In addition to deciding how to serve your fries, you’ll need to choose which types of fries to include, how to season them, which dips to offer, and more. You want seasonings and sauces that complement the fries and elevate without overwhelming. There are a lot of choices, and you want to ensure you have the right balance to truly wow your customers.

Types of Fries for Your French Fry Board Restaurant

When it comes to fries, the list of options is nearly endless. Possible fries to include on your fry board include:

• Standard Fries: Standard fries are long and thin at ¼ inches. They’re probably the most common type of fries — and with good reason. They’re soft yet crispy, easy to make, and delicious!
• Seasoned Fries: To elevate standard fries, consider adding a dash of salt, pepper, herbs, or spices as they’re frying or coming out of the oven.
• Carne Asada Fries: To give your guests a taste of Mexico, consider including carne asada fries. These fries are topped with carne asada, a Mexican dish featuring seasoned or grilled skirt or flank steak, guacamole, cheese, sour cream, and pico de gallo.
• Bistro Fries: Soft on the inside yet crispy and golden-brown on the outside, these fries are made by deep frying the potatoes twice or blanching them before frying. They’re a staple at Belgian and French bistros and are typically made with medium-sized potato sticks.
• Boardwalk Fries: Traditionally a street food, boardwalk fries have since migrated into restaurants. These long, thick fries have a square shape and are typically served in a basket or paper cup and seasoned with salt and vinegar.
• Newfie Fries: Including Newfie fries (a.k.a Newfoundland fries) on your fry board will give your diners plenty to talk about. After all, Newfie fries are flavored with spiced stuffing or dressing and then drenched in a delicious gravy.
• Cheese Fries: Cheese fries are exactly what they sound like — fries topped with Swiss, cheddar, parmesan, or mozzarella cheese. The cheese can be baked, broiled, or placed directly on fries fresh from the oven. Though cheese fries are often associated with fast-food restaurants, the right chef can easily elevate them to another level.
• Home Fries: These fries are irregular in shape and typically measure between ½ an inch and 1 inch long. Home fries are often served with bacon, sausage, or eggs, and the skin is usually kept on. For an extra soft and crispy texture, par-cook your fries in boiling water or toss them in the microwave before frying them.
• Chili Cheese Fries: Chili cheese fries will add some kick to your fry selections. Topped with cheese and a chili sauce, these fries will please any spicy food fan! Plus, you’ll have plenty of options for making these fries. You can use ground beef, turkey, chicken, or vegetables to make chili sauce or even stop by the store to pick up a bottle.
• Poutine: Poutine originated in Quebec, Canada, but its popularity extends beyond the Canadian border. Today, it can be found in fast-food chains, food trucks, and even fine dining restaurants. Comprising standard French fries that are crispy on the outside yet soft on the inside, a chicken or beef stock brown gravy, and cheese curds, poutine will be sure to please French fry board tasters.
• Disco Fries: A variation of poutine, disco fries (a.k.a Elvis fries) consist of fries, gravy, and mozzarella cheese. The main differences between disco fries and poutine are that disco fries use larger steak-cut fries, have a thicker, darker gravy, and use mozzarella cheese instead of cheese curds.
• Patatje Oorlog: Patatje Oorlog is a signature Belgium street food that contains French fries, Indonesian satay sauce, mayonnaise, and raw onions. For extra thickness and additional flavor, add peanut butter!
• Sweet Potato Fries: Sweet potato fries are sweeter and healthier than standard fries. They also have a high amount of vitamin A yet aren’t high in carbs or calories and can even be topped with honey or sugar syrup to form a dessert fry. The trade-off is that sweet potato fries aren’t as crispy as their regular counterparts.
• Steak Fries: Steak fries don’t have to be served alongside steak to taste great! These thick fries typically have a few seasonings and can be dipped in ketchup, barbecue sauce, or other condiments.
• Garlic Fries: Who doesn’t love garlic? Seasoned with minced or dry garlic and dried or chopped parsley, garlic fries will bring plenty of flavor to your fry board. (Pro tip: top your garlic fries off with some parmesan cheese for extra flavor and richness.)
• Chimichurri Fries: Originating in Argentina, chimichurri fries are standard fries topped with chimichurri sauce (which contains red wine vinegar, paprika, kosher salt, and herbs), crumbled feta cheese, and chopped scallions.
• Animal-Style Fries: These fries are topped with a sauce, shredded cheese, and grilled onions in such a way that they resemble an animal. They’re both fun and delicious to eat!
• Patatas Bravas: If you want to transport diners’ tastebuds to Spain, add Patatas Bravas. These fries are larger than others but still maintain their crispiness. Patatas bravas are traditionally served with spicy tomato sauce or aioli.

Healthier Alternative to Fries

People are far more conscious of what they eat these days, which could turn many away from a French fry board restaurant. After all, French fries offer very little nutritional value and have a high fat content, making them unappealing for diners trying to watch their weight or improve their health.

The good news is that potatoes aren’t the only vegetables that can be turned into fries! Everything from beets to celery root to yuca can be cut up and fried. Other healthier alternatives to potatoes that can be turned into fries include carrots, green beans, parsnips, asparagus, avocado, polenta, garbanzo puree, and Portobello mushrooms.

Tips for Creating the Perfect French Fry Board

Making the perfect French fry board is easier said than done.

First, you’ll want to make your board fun and appealing. Play around with colorful potatoes to make your fry board look more attractive and exciting. Think about making your fries from yellow russet potatoes, Adirondack Blue potatoes, and orange or purple sweet potatoes in addition to the classic white potato.

Also, don’t be afraid to experiment with different sizes and shapes of fries! Shoestring fries are thin, whereas crinkle-cut and waffle fries will give diners some texture. Curly fries, steak fries, and wedges can also add some excitement.

You’ll also want to include several flavorful condiments to elevate your French fries to the next level. The right condiment can make all the difference, but the wrong one can take away from your fries.

Dress To Thrill with Dips & Seasonings

Ketchup is a classic French fry dip. It’s tasty, low in calories, a great source of antioxidants, and a staple of American culture. However, there are plenty of other more adventurous dips to include on your French fry board.

For example, garlic aioli will give you a creaminess and garlic flavor to balance the crispiness and saltiness of your fries. It’s light, refreshing, and simple to make, but there are plenty of other aioli options you can add to your French fries board. For some extra kick, consider making chipotle aioli. If you want diners to experience a subtle sweetness, include sweet bell pepper aioli.

Ranch is another classic option. While it’s often poured over salads, ranch also goes great with fries. It’s refreshing, creamy, and endlessly customizable. You can easily make your own ranch or choose from Hidden Valley’s wide range of flavors, which includes bacon, buttermilk, cucumber, spicy, coleslaw, chipotle, and avocado.

When it comes to mayo, you also have several options. Classic mayo is always a winner, but you can also surprise diners with kimchi mayo, truffle-infused mayo, cilantro-lime mayo, bacon mayo, sriracha mayo, curry mayo, wasabi mayo, or pesto mayo. No matter what you choose, you can’t go wrong!

Nacho cheese can also further elevate your fries. Don’t be afraid to add some small chunks of peppers, onions, or tomatoes on top for additional color and flavor. Sweet and tangy barbecue sauce can also make the perfect sauce at a French fry board restaurant.

Just as the list of possible dips is seemingly endless, your seasoning options are plentiful. A few of the most popular seasoning options include:

• Italian Seasoning: Simple and cheap yet earthy and tasty, Italian seasoning goes great on fries!
• Shawarma Seasoning: Adding a dash of Shawarma seasoning will surely give diners a delicious taste of the Middle East.
• Baharat Seasoning: Another Middle Eastern seasoning, Baharat seasoning is perfect for fries. It’s made from seven spices (cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, coriander, cloves, and cumin), meaning it’s fragrant and flavorful.
• Stone House Seasoning: Stone house seasoning requires just three ingredients: salt, garlic, and pepper. But just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it won’t completely transform your French fries board.
• Fajita Seasoning: Everyone loves fajitas, so, it stands to reason that everyone will love fries covered in fajita seasoning! You’ll love it, too, as it’s easy and inexpensive to make.
• Taco Seasoning: Taco seasoning can also give your fries a little extra kick. It’s very similar to fajita seasoning — the only difference is that taco seasoning is bolder and contains more chili powder and oregano.
• Pumpkin Pie Spice: Perfect for the fall, pumpkin pie spice will give your diners uniquely flavored fries. Instead of heading for Starbucks for their pumpkin spice fix, they might turn to your French fry board restaurant!
• Garam Masala: Garam masala is a popular spice blend composed of spices originating from India. It will add warmth, sweetness, and heat to your fries.

You can even make your own flavorful French fry seasoning with paprika, oregano, basil, parsley, black pepper, cayenne, salt powder, or garlic powder!

Assemble The Perfect Fry Board with Riviera Produce’s Help

The right potatoes, herbs, and spices can make or break your board. If you need a reliable food supplier, Riviera Produce is the way to go!

Offering competitive pricing, high-quality wholesale foods, exceptional service, and dependable deliveries, Riviera Produce can get you everything you need to put together a mouthwatering fry board — and that includes quality potatoes, even in the middle of the potato shortage of 2022.

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