Dive into the ultimate game day appetizer with our crave-worthy chili cheese fries! Packed with bold flavors and irresistibly cheesy goodness, these fries are the perfect recipe when you’ve got leftover chili to use up.
Elevate your game day snacking spread with this unbeatable chili cheese fries recipe slathered in nacho cheese that’s sure to become your football season go-to. It’s one of our favorite appetizers, and your friends and family will feel the same!
Ingredients
Enjoy crispy fries, savory homemade chili, and gooey cheese in every single bite:
- Frozen fries: you can absolutely make your own fries from russet potatoes, but we found that frozen potato wedges do the trick.
- Chili: this recipe is perfect for leftover chili. We made a super simple recipe with ground beef, onion, tomato sauce, beans, and chili seasoning.
- Cheese Sauce: don’t be intimidated by a homemade cheese sauce. All you need is butter, flour, milk, cheddar cheese, and salt.
Variations and Substitutions
Customize these easy chili cheese fries to suit your preferences! Swap ground beef for turkey or vegetarian meat alternatives for a lighter option. Experiment with different cheeses or add diced tomatoes and black olives for extra zing.
Alternatives to potato wedges: if you’re not going to use wedge potato fries, we recommend any larger cut fry variety like waffle fries or steak fries that will hold up as a finger food.
Cheese Sauce Alternatives
Good news for you, any kind of cheese sauce will work for chili cheese fries. Check out some of our other cheese sauce recipes that would work great:
Storage
Store any leftover chili cheese fries in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Reheat in the oven to get the most crispy french fries microwave for a quick and satisfying snack.
More Chili Cheese Recipes
- Chili Cheese Dip
- Velveeta Chili Cheese Dip
- Chili Cheese Dogs
- Copycat Taco Bell Chili Cheese Burritos
How to Serve Chili Cheese Fries
Serve these irresistible fries as a crowd-pleasing appetizer at your next party, or enjoy them as a satisfying meal on their own. To make them into loaded chili cheese fries, top with sour cream and chives if desired.
Pair with your favorite dipping sauces or serve alongside burgers and hot dogs for a complete feast.
Chili Cheese Fries Recipe
Ingredients
Potatoes
- 1 lb. frozen wedge potato fries
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ tablespoon Lawry’s salt
Chili
- 1 lb. ground beef
- ¼ medium white onion minced
- 15 oz. canned tomato sauce
- 15 oz. canned diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
- 30 oz. canned red kidney beans drained and rinsed
Cheese Sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup 2% milk
- 1.5 cups cheddar cheese
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Optional 1.5 teaspoons mac and cheese powder adds color and salty flavor
Optional Toppings
- 1 tablespoon chives minced
Instructions
Fries
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF and spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
- Pour the potato wedges into a bowl and sprinkle with olive oil and toss.
- Sprinkle the potatoes with lawry’s and toss again.
- Spread the fries out on the greased baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Chili
- Heat a large pot over medium/high heat. Add the ground beef.
- Break the beef up into small pieces and cook for 4-5 minutes. Add white onion.
- Cook the white onion with the ground beef until the beef is fully browned.
- Add all of the ingredients for the chili (except for the kidney beans) to the pot and stir until all the ingredients are combined.
- Bring the chili to a boil and then turn heat to low and add the kidney beans.
- Let the chili simmer for 10-15 minutes on low heat while preparing the cheese sauce.
Cheese Sauce
- Heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add butter.
- Once the butter is melted, add the flour to the saucepan and whisk the ingredients together until a crumble forms.
- While continually whisking, slowly pour the milk into the saucepan. Whisk until all the milk has been added and all of the crumbles dissolve.
- Continue to whisk until the mixture begins to thicken.
- Remove from heat and sprinkle the cheddar cheese, salt, and cheese powder (if using) into the saucepan. Whisk until all the cheese has melted.
Assemble
- Transfer the fries to a pan or platter, creating a pile.
- Top the fries with the chili and then drizzle the cheese sauce over the chili.
- Garnish chili cheese fries with fresh chives.
