Bacon Cheese Fries

Bacon cheese fries are an easy treat that comes together quickly thanks to frozen fries. A party appetizer, game day snack or indulgent weekend dinner, loaded fries with bacon and cheese have a similar flavor profile to that of twice-baked potatoes and can be easily customized with any additional toppings. Be sure to line a baking sheet with foil to make clean-up a snap.

Ingredients for Bacon Cheese Fries

• French Fries: You could definitely make french fries from scratch, but frozen french fries are a shortcut ingredient that makes this recipe quick and easy. You can use standard shoestring fries, but curly, crinkle cut and waffle or sweet potato fries would all work beautifully. Prepare them as directed in your oven or air fryer.
• Cheddar Cheese: Shredded cheddar melts in the residual heat of the cooked fries and under the broiler. Use mild, medium, sharp, or extra sharp, according to your preference. Note that very aged cheeses, including specialty cheddars, have less moisture content and tend to have a more crumbly texture, which doesn’t melt as easily. This is an occasion where a standard cheese sold in the dairy aisle is a better bet than a specialty cheese sold at the counter.
• Green onions: With the richness of the bacon, cheese, and the fries themselves, the sharp flavor of green onion acts as important punctuation for this recipe.
• Bacon: Cooked and crumbled bacon sticks to the melted cheese on top of the fries, adding meaty, savory flavor to every bite. The bacon must be cooked beforehand, but not so crisply that it burns instead of sizzling under the broiler. Check out our ultimate guide for the best ways to cook bacon. You can also use store-bought, ready-to-serve bacon in this recipe.
• Ranch salad dressing: A cool and creamy foil to hot and melty cheese fries, drizzle ranch dressing all over the top or serve it in a cup on the side for dipping. Store-bought ranch is great or you can try your hand at our homemade version.
• Red chile pepper: Scattering the top of bacon cheese fries with little rings of cool, crunchy chile pepper is optional, but it creates a great temperature and flavor contrast. Slice up Fresno chile peppers if you’re after a bit of spice, or you can use sweet red peppers instead. If you like something with a little sweet heat, try jarred peppadews.

Directions 

Step 1: Assemble Bacon Cheese Fries

Julia Hartbeck for Taste of Home

Cook French fries according to package directions. Preheat broiler. Place cooked fries on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with cheese, onions and bacon. Broil 2 to 3 inches from heat until cheese is melted. This should take one to two minutes. If desired, top with sliced chile pepper. Serve with ranch dressing.

Editor’s Tip: Because you’re broiling the fries to melt the cheese, don’t cook them as long as you might otherwise. This way, they won’t overcook to the point of dryness.

Julia Hartbeck for Taste of Home

 Recipe Variations 

• Change out the cheese: You can use any cheese you like on your bacon cheese fries. Our recipe calls for shredded cheddar, but feel free to go with another cheese that melts nicely, such as gouda, havarti, Monterey Jack, pepper jack, or Colby. You could also use the jarred or canned queso to make each bite a little saucier.
• Make Bacon Nacho Fries: Dust the fries with chili-lime seasoning before baking them. Add sliced jalapenos (or pickled jalapenos), pico de gallo, and guacamole or diced avocado. Swap in a dollop of Mexican crema or sour cream instead of the ranch dressing. 
• Try Bacon BBQ Cheese Fries: Dust the fries with barbecue rub before cooking them. Once cooked add barbecue pulled pork, shredded chicken or chorizo. You can also drizzle the fries with a sweet, tomato-based barbecue sauce and a tangy, lightly spiced white Barbecue sauce made with horseradish. 

How to Store Bacon Cheese Fries

If you have leftover bacon cheese fries, let them cool completely and then pack them into airtight containers and store them in the refrigerator.

How should you reheat bacon cheese fries?

Bacon cheese fries are best served hot, especially if you pile on a multitude of toppings. If you have some leftover, use an air fryer to crisp everything up again. If you liked this easy yet delicious recipe, be sure to make more recipes with frozen french fries, like cheeseburger nachos or short rib poutine.

Bacon Cheese Fries Tips

Julia Hartbeck for Taste of Home

Why bother to shred the cheese yourself?

We generally recommend shredding cheese just before using it because if you shred cheese from the block, it will melt better since the cellulose in shredded cheese you buy at the store is meant to keep it from sticking together and, therefore, doesn’t melt as well.

What kind of sauce goes with bacon cheese fries?

While ranch dressing is always wonderful, try spicy ketchup, sriracha aioli, chipotle mayo and homemade guacamole.