Chili Cheese Fries

What’s better than crispy French fries topped with homemade chili and cheese sauce?! These chili cheese fries are sure to be a family favorite in your house as a fun appetizer or game day snack.

Chili Cheese Fries for All Occasions

Welcome to the perfect marriage of French fries, chili and nacho cheese. What’s not to love?! This chili cheese fries recipe is simple yet delicious, and is a perfect appetizer for game day.

Chili Cheese Fries – What You Need

taters

• Frozen wedge potato fries 
• Lawry’s season salt 
• Olive oil 

chili

• Ground beef
• Minced white onion 
• Canned tomato sauce
• Canned diced tomatoes
• Canned red kidney beans
• Maple syrup
• Tomato paste 
• Garlic powder 
• Chili powder 
• Paprika
• Salt 
• Tabasco sauce

cheese sauce

• Butter
• Flour 
• 2% milk 
• Cheddar cheese
• Salt 
• Mac and cheese powder (this is optional, but adds color and salty flavor!)

Why Potato Wedges?

We love using potato wedges for chili cheese fries for a few reasons:

• Potato wedges work great for scooping chili and cheese sauce.
• They’re also less prone to losing their crispiness when topped with chili and cheese than other styles of thinner French fries.

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.

How to Make Chili Cheese Fries

There are 4 elements to preparing these chili cheese fries:

• The fries
• The chili
• The cheese sauce
• Assembling everything together

Let’s walk through each element together.

For the Fries

1. Preheat the oven to 425ºF and spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. 
2. Pour the frozen potato wedges into a bowl and sprinkle with olive oil and toss. 
3. Then sprinkle the potatoes with lawry’s seasoned salt and toss again. 
4. Spread the fries out on the greased baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. 

For the Chili

1. Heat a large pot over medium/high heat. Add the ground beef. 
2. Break the beef up into small pieces and cook for 4-5 minutes, and then add the white onion. 
3. Cook the white onion with the ground beef until the beef is fully browned.
4. Add all of the ingredients for the chili (except for the kidney beans!) to the pot and stir until all the ingredients are combined. 
5. Bring the chili to a boil and then turn heat to low and add the kidney beans. 
6. Let the chili simmer for 10-15 minutes on low heat while preparing the cheese sauce. 

For the Cheese Sauce

1. Heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add butter. 
2. Once the butter is melted, add the flour to the saucepan and whisk the ingredients together until a crumble forms. 
3. While continually whisking, slowly pour the milk into the saucepan. Whisk until all the milk has been added and all of the crumbles dissolve. 
4. Continue to whisk until the mixture begins to thicken. 
5. 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 chili cheese fries

1. Transfer the fries to a pan or platter, creating a pile. 
2. Top the fries with the chili and then drizzle the cheese sauce over the chili.
3. Garnish your chili cheese fries with fresh chives or any of the following topping ideas below. Enjoy!

Additional Topping Ideas

These chili cheese fries are obviously delicious as-is, but go right ahead and make this recipe your own by garnishing with any of the following toppings:

• Sour cream
• Chopped green onion
• Diced red onion
• Shredded cheese (can’t go wrong with MORE cheese!)

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Chili Cheese Fries Recipe

What's better than crispy French fries topped with homemade chili and cheese sauce?! These chili cheese fries are sure to be a family favorite in your house as a fun appetizer or game day snack.

Prep:15 minutes

Cook:35 minutes

Total:50 minutes

Fat 33

Carbs 54

Protein 31

Yield: 8

1x2x3x

Print Pin Rate

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.

Nutrition facts

Calories: 624kcal Carbohydrates: 54g Protein: 31g Fat: 33g Fiber: 7g Sugar: 17g

Author: Emily Richter

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