These crispy Cajun Oven Fries use only three ingredients. Find out the trick to getting perfectly browned french fries right out of your oven!
In the late 90s, there was a loud woman with short blonde hair who was a fitness and nutrition personality, regularly appearing on QVC. I believe she had lost hundreds of pounds and evangelized about eating healthy and exercising. Do you remember her name? For some reason, I must have actually liked this woman because I bought her cookbook. In this book was a recipe for oven roasted potatoes, and one of the steps was to soak the cut potatoes in water for 15 minutes before baking. This resulted in perfectly cooked potatoes, with a slightly bubbly surface and just the right amount of crispiness.
I prepared potatoes in this way for my late grandmother, and she claimed they were the best potatoes she had ever eaten, which is ridiculous considering how many potatoes she had the pleasure of eating in her long life. Even so, she was right that they were delicious. I’m no food scientist, but soaking removes some of the starch from the potatoes to make them… better. I used this technique to make these Cajun oven fries. As you know, I feature a meal including french fries in my dinner menu almost every week, and I typically use frozen potatoes for convenience. I can’t say I will stop that and make my own from now on because this way definitely takes longer, but try these if you are trying to avoid processed foods or want to impress your friends.
Cajun Oven Fries
Spicy, crispy, delicious fries right out of your oven!
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 2-3 1x
Ingredients
- 2–3 baking potatoes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1–1/2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning or to taste
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Wash potatoes well, and cut into 1/4-1/2″ thick strips, leaving skin on. Place in a large bowl, and cover with cold water. Allow to sit for at least 10 minutes.
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Drain potatoes and dry well on a kitchen towel. Rinse and dry the soaking bowl, and add oil and Cajun seasoning. Stir to combine, add potatoes, and toss to coat.
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Arrange potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or until brown and crispy.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 40
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: Cajun
You know what fries go great with? Burgers! Try one of these recipes tonight:
Arlett says
Loud mouth blond is Susan Powter – not sure if spelling is correct.
Andi says
You are so right, Arlett! I forgot this prize offer was still here since this is an old post, but email me your address for your pen. I’ll be happy to send it out this week :)
Linda says
I stopped deep frying back in the 1970’s, not for health reasons at the time. It was simply because I was too lazy to clean up the mess from deep frying!! I definitely love baked “fries”. Thank you for informing me about soaking the potatoes first.
However, I don’t put the oil in a bowl and mix the potatoes around, I simply give a bit of a spritz of oil and place them on oil-spritzed baking sheets.
The Weary Chef says
Hi, Linda. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I don’t fry food for the same reason: It’s too messy!
Soaking the potatoes definitely makes a difference, so I hope you will give it a try and let me know how you like the results. I often drizzle oil and sprinkle seasonings over vegetables, then toss them together with my hands before roasting. Spraying with oil is an even better way to cover them evenly. Thanks for the tip!
Jenn says
I am loving cajun seasoning lately and I can never eat too many fries!
The Weary Chef says
You should give these a try then! Thanks for stopping by!
cindyricksgers says
These would be good with sweet potatoes, too!
The Weary Chef says
I also linked to this recipe for sweet potato fries recently that uses a cornstarch coating, but I haven’t tried them yet.
auntiedoni says
I adore oven fries, but why I never thought to dedge them in Cajun Seasoning escapes me, GREAT IDEA! But maybe you need some dessert, since you saved up some of your calories. How about this one.
ALOHA!
The Weary Chef says
Um, are you some kind of mind reader? I was literally just standing in my kitchen thinking about making some kind of bar cookie today. I will give these a try!
auntiedoni says
:) Enjoy! We did!
Funny, some people dropped by this morning and I have some Caramel Cuts still sitting on the counter, amazingly enough, and the husband goes for a grab. Missus gives him a dirty look and says, ‘ask first’ … of course I offered him a cuppa to go with it!!! ;)
auntiedoni says
… do let me know what you think of the Caramel Cuts or Haole Brownies… ALOHA!
Tony Moir says
Susan Powter?
The Weary Chef says
Tony, yes! Susan Powter! I am impressed that you knew the answer so quickly. I will contact you about shipment of your sweet pen.
Laura Hollis says
Dear Weary Chef (and sweet friend), I should know this since I still lived at home in the late 90s and my mother was an absolute QVC addict… :( Seriously, the tv in her bedroom had the QVC logo and 800 number burned into it. I guess I have wiped that period of time from my memory because I do not recall this food enthusiast. I would have enjoyed a pen, but I am looking forward to going over these menus and seeing if I can dig up some enthusiasm of my own to cook for my own family.
The Weary Chef says
I watched a lot of QVC in college, a fact that I’m not proud of. Now I rarely watch TV, but back then it was on all the time. Watching QVC made me feel like I had some company if I was home alone, especially if I was scared at night.
You deserve a pen just for playing ;)