I had bar food on my brain. Not sure how it got there but I was dreaming of potato skins, nachos, sliders… and chili cheese fries. Nothing beats a bowl on a cold day, sure… but put it over crispy potatoes and top it with a creamy, ooey-gooey cheese sauce, and well… Hey, it’s bar food time!
Load ‘Em Up
You could keep going with the toppings on chili cheese fries. Yeah, throw some sliced jalapenos on there, sure. Some sour cream? Yeah. Whatever you want, it can go on there because there aren’t any rules when it comes to bar food. I know because I’ve eaten my share of bar food. Bar food is meant to be decadent, over-the-top good.
You could make this same dish with crispy, hot baked (or fried) tater tots. In fact, now that I thought of that, I’ll be doing that next. There’s nothing better than hot loaded fries or tots.
I cooked and served these fries on my cast iron fajita skillet. It’s easy to clean up (even with the melted cheese) and it looks great.
To really kick these up, top them with my prime rib chili!
This recipe is based on a recipe from Small Town Woman.
Chili Cheese Fries
Ingredients
For the fries
- 26 ounce frozen French fries
- 4 cups chili I made a batch of Carrol Shelby's chili, but you can use your own recipe or even canned chili, whichever you prefer
- other toppings optional, consider adding sliced jalapenos, sour cream, whatever you like!
For the cheese sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 ¼ cups whole milk
- 1 ½ cups sharp cheddar for a good kick, use pepper jack cheese instead
Instructions
For the fries
- Prepare the fries per package instructions. Meanwhile make the cheese sauce (below).
- Serve fries topped with chili, cheese sauce and whatever favorite toppings you prefer.
For the cheese sauce
- Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium-low heat.
- Whisk in the flour and cook for 2 minutes, whisking constantly.
- Add the garlic powder, onion powder and chili powder and whisk to combine.
- While whisking, slowly add in the milk. Let the sauce come to a simmer and stir to thicken.
- Reduce heat to low and stir in the cheese until smooth, creamy and melted. If the sauce gets too thick stir in a bit more milk.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are approximate.
