Chili cheese fries are the perfect game day meal! Crispy potatoes are covered in chili, melted cheeses, and your favorite fixings!
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What are chili cheese fries made of?
This fantastic comfort food dish features homemade oven baked French fries with hearty homemade chili and two types of cheese on top. The dish would be complete right there, but it gets even better!
After the fries are smothered, you will pile them high with as many delicious chili toppings as you can handle! I usually add diced tomatoes, green onion, and sour cream on the top of my chili cheese fries.
Ingredient substitutions
- French fries – I use russet potatoes to make the fries from scratch, but feel free to make them with store bought if you want to as that will cut down on a ton of prep time. For a different flavor, consider using sweet potatoes instead.
- Cheeses – Sharp cheddar and mozzarella are my preferences, but any meltable cheese works just fine.
For the Chili Ingredients
- Meat – Use any ground meat of your choice. Typically, I use either ground chicken or turkey to make the dish healthier but you can use ground beef.
- Cooking oil– I use olive oil, but any neutral flavour will be fine.
- Yellow onion– You can use white or even red onion if you want to.
- Celery – If you don’t care for celery, you can certainly leave it out.
- Green bell pepper – Any color bell pepper would be fine, and if you want a spicier chili, you can use green chilies or any other hot pepper.
- Sriracha – Use any hot sauce of your choice, or leave it out for milder flavour.
- Crushed tomatoes – Diced canned tomatoes work fine as well. San Marzano tomatoes usually have a bit more flavor.
Topping ideas
There really isn't a limit to the toppings for chili cheese fries! Add whatever you would normally use to garnish a bowl of chili or a plate of nachos.
Here are a few ideas:
- Sour cream
- Chopped onions or sliced green onions (scallions)
- Salsa
- Diced tomatoes
- Diced avocado
- Black beans
- Jalapeno or banana pepper slices
- Corn chips or crushed tortilla chips
What sauces to serve on the side
In case there are a few lonely French fries that aren't covered with toppings, you might want to have something ready to dip them in.
Put out bowls filled with sauces for dipping, like salsa, ranch dressing, and maybe even guacamole or mango salsa.
Storing and reheating
Any leftover chili should be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator and used within 5 days.
You can reheat it in a pan on the stove top, or in the microwave for a few minutes. Enjoy it as is, or make a fresh batch of chili cheese fries.
You can also revive the fries by placing them back in a 350 F oven for 5-10 minutes or so – just watch them closely to ensure they don't overcook when you're reheating them.
Freezing the chili
If you freeze the chili in an airtight container or Ziploc freezer bag, the chili will keep well for up to 4 months. Unfortunately, the fries cannot be frozen and reused so make sure you eat them fresh.
Before placing it into a container, be sure that the chili has cooled to room temperature. This helps to prevent ice crystals from forming on the top.
You can then reheat the chili from frozen for around 8 minutes in the microwave, stirring a few times throughout. Or, you can let the chili defrost in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Meal prep tools
- Grab some Glass meal prep bowls if you plan on packing this recipe up for lunch
- I get all my grass-fed beef from Butcher Box
More loaded fries
Ultimate Chili Cheese Fries Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Russet potatoes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Chili
- 1 lb Ground chicken or turkey
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 2 stalks celery finely chopped
- Half green pepper finely chopped
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp Sriracha
- 1 cup crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 cup water
Toppings
- 1 tomato seeded and diced
- Shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheese
- green onions chopped
- sour cream
- Anything else you may want such as hot peppers, salsa, olives, pickles, lettuce, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Using a mandoline or a very sharp knife, slice potatoes so that they are as thin as possible--think McDonald's style french fries!
- Toss potatoes in olive oil, salt and pepper, and then spread on baking sheets. You can cook up to four baking sheets at a time so don't be afraid to leave some space on sheets so fries don't become overcrowded. Bake 20 minutes, flipping fries halfway through.
- Cook chili while fries are in oven by heating olive oil, adding meat and veggies, adding spices, then tomatoes and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 min.
- Chili and fries should be finished at the same time. Change oven settings from bake to broil.
- Plate fries by stacking them on top of each other on oven-safe plates. Ladle chili overtop, then sprinkle cheese and place in oven for about 2-3 min until cheese is melted.
- Finish with your favourite toppings, and serve right away while the cheese is melted and hot!
Nutrition
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Katie says
These sound so amazing! So trying them!
Taylor Stinson says
Thanks Katie! Let me know how you like them!
Craig says
Giving this a shot for the family here in Aussie. My daughter tasted Chili Fries at a market and we all fell in love with them and upon our return the stall was gone. We’ve returned on several occasions but to no avail.
Looking forward to this much healthier version.
Taylor Stinson says
Thanks Craig – these are my fave! Let me know how they turn out 🙂