I did this initially when I ran out of fresh potatoes, and it worked really well. Place the chips in a saucepan of water, and boil as you would potato that you'd just peeled and cut up. The oily coating on the chips dissolves in the boiling water, and is poured away when you strain them.
It sounds extravagant, but I got 2.5kg (5.5lb) for £0.99, which doesn't compare badly with raw potatoes, once you allow for the loss of peelings, eyes and any bruised bits. And it's a timesaver. Don't attempt to do this with batter coated chips like Aunt Bessie's - and do be aware that the chips will retain slightly more moisture than cooked raw potatoes, and adjust any added ingredients accordingly.
Check out these recipes.
Brown hamburger; melt cheese into hamburger. Place hamburger-cheese mixture in the bottom of 9x13 inch dish. Place frozen French fries on top of hamburger and bake as directed on the back of the French fry bag.
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Fill their stomachs on this frugal tasty salad while they wait for the main course and I guarantee no one will come back for seconds. Place hot french fries (store bought or sliced potatoes) over a bed of lettuce with a biscuit or slice of toast on the side, topped with your favorite dressing or a splash of your own home blended dressing, salt and pepper to taste.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I have recently been given a large amount of french fries. Other than the obvious frying them to make french fries or chili cheese fries any ideas of what I can make with them? I am talking about 2 cases of french fries like McDonald's serves.
My son loves this recipe...
layer a casserole dish with french fries. bake until they are crunchy (or deep fry then place in the dish.) brown about a pound of hamburger. drain grease, add a can of cream of mushroom soup mixed with about 1/4 of the can with milk, pour the hamburger mushroom mixture over the fries bake about 35 minutes at 350 degrees.
Mix 1 can cream of mushroom soup with 1 can cheddar cheese soup. Put 1 bag of frozen french fries in your crockpot, pour soup over fries, and cook on low for about 4 hours. You can add chicken, ham or sausage cut up to make a main dish. Serve with a salad/coleslaw.
If not enough liquid, add 1/2 can of milk.
Possibly you could dice them up and use in soup in place of raw potatoes.
Why not share them with a family that has lil kids and that is in need of a lil extra help food wise.
Fry up some french fries on top of the stove and set aside. Then chop up onions, green peppers, shallots(optional) tomatoes or cooked sausage or hamburger meat, cook it all together and then drain.
Cook your fries, either bake or fry, then put them on a plate, season them with seasoning salt. Put some shredded monterey jack cheese on them and real bacon bacon bits. Put in microwave for a minute or so till melty. Then dip in ranch dressing. I got this from the good ole boy fries that Raffertys serves. They are so good. Since you have so many, experiment. With different spices to season them with, different dips. I saw some great mayonaisse based dips on the food network. They mix different spices in the mayo, looks so good. You could probably use them in any of the tator tot casseroles, I am not a big fan of the ones I have seen, but I did make up my own and will post it.
my casserole
2 lb bag of frozen tator tots
2/3 can of the big can of cream of chicken
1 1/2 cups of sour cream
two handfuls of shredded cheddar
1/2 cup onions
six pieces cut up ham lunchmeat
six pieces cut up cooked bacon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together in big bowl. Pour into greases 9x13 pan. Cook for 1 hour. Last five minutes sprinkle more cheese on top, put back in for last five minutes till all melty.
I take them and cut them up in small pieces and fry them in the morning as hash browns.. You may add onions & bell peppers to them if you wish..
Hi,
I would use like hash browns. Heat in skillet with your favorite grease, ( butter, bacon grease, olive oil, or vegetable oil ) till unfrozen. Chunk up ( cut up ) with your turner. Then add your choice of peppers and or onions, or plain. Salt and pepper, then fry till your way of being done.
Serve with breakfast, lunch or dinner.
You could Google Hash brown recipes, or french fry recipes.
you could chop them up and use them in any recipe that calls for potatoes if they are from real potatoes and not processed. the processed ones would come apart in soups or really liquid casseroles.
you might trade with someone for other frozen goods or be the one to take fries for the next fish fry or hot dog cookout.
You should try a classic french canadian meal: poutine! Topped your fries with cheese curds and brown chicken gravy. It is simple and delicious!
Can you substitute french fries for hashbrowns in hashbrown casserole? I have found that some fries are half the price of hashbrowns and wonder if anyone has substituted fries for them.
By Lou from Conway, AR
Why not try it and see what happens? If all else fails, make your own hash browns; it's really easy to do!
I don't see why you couldn't substitute them. I make this casserole called Cheeseburger and Fries.
2 lbs browned ground meat
2 cans cheddar cheese soup (no milk)
Small bag of frozen fries.
Mix the soup with the ground meat, place in bottom of baking dish, top with fries. Bake for 1 hour at 400 degrees.
I have done this successfully. Works well.
Some cheaper fries are full of grease so be aware. Take a chef knife and chop/cut them up.
Coll3,
This seems like a long time and a high temp. to cook meat that is already browned. Do you mean for the meat to be completely cooked through before going into the oven or just a quick browning but still not cooked all the way? Thanks,
~gloria
I have bags of frozen french fries and limited amounts of everything else. What can I use them for that my young children will actually eat?
By Ashley
I have seen several recipes lately that are similar to Tater Tot Casserole that use fries instead of the Tater Tots. You can also heat the fries in the oven, I do that for myself every now and then and they get reasonably crispy, then serve them to the kids with a hamburger or hot dog, and a veggie or fruit. I'm sure if you go to food.com or some of the other food sites, and type in recipes using french fries you might find other recipes.
Partially thaw if necessary then chop them up into "bite size" pieces and either fry them up with chopped onions into a variation of "home fries" or bake them on a flat balking sheet lightly sprayed with oil or cooking spray. Add in partially roasted chopped onions and/or coarsely chopped fall vegetables tossed in Italian dressing or spices of choice.
If you have too much to use all at once, bag it into dinner size portions and once it's cooked or baked you can re-freeze for future use. This potato hash can become a base for other dishes such as "home fries and eggs" for breakfast or lunch or covered with a heated can of chili or even beef stew for dinner.
You can also sprinkle grated cheese over the potatoes or even over the chili potatoes. If you are willing to experiment, you can run the frozen fries through a food processor and use then to make potato soup or "mashed potatoes". Just add the right spices and a little butter or cream cheese for the mashed potatoes.
I have stopped buying things that are a bargain unless I know exactly how I will be able to use them before they can expire. If this load is the result of extreme couponing, share them with your friends or a food shelter then you won't feel like you lost out on your bargain hunting.
