With a homemade meat sauce and slathered in cheese, these Chili Cheese Fries are the appetizer of your dreams. The perfect game day, movie night or munchie food.
Can I tell you right off the bat at how much I LOVE Chili Cheese Fries? Because I do, this has been one of my favorite things for the longest time an I can never get enough of them.
They have always been a big hit around our house either as an appetizer or serving on a large platter as a dinner time meal! Our family goes crazy for them.
The best part of this recipe is that they are super simple. You really can’t mess this one up! With a delicious homemade meat sauce, it really send its over the top for flavortown.
I have always said that I could make whole meals out of appetizers, and these Chili Cheese Fries are absolutely easy to do with that. You can make your servings as large or as small as you’d like!
I prefer the larger meal size of these, but I’ll always take what I can actually get because like I said, just so so good. You are absolutely going to want to make these for your next party.
Some of my other favorite appetizers that we have on our site include: Brown Sugar Bacon Little Smokies, Mississippi Sin Dip Pinwheels and Fried Pickles.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- With a homemade meat sauce it brings the flavor over the top.
- You can make your batches as large or small as you’d like.
- Using freshly shredded cheese, it makes it nice a gooey.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM):
Frozen french fries
Ground beef
Onion
Garlic
Pinto beans
Chili powder
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Salt
Cumin
Tomato sauce
Beef stock
Unsalted butter
All-purpose flour
Paprika
Whole milk
Sharp cheddar cheese
Green onions, optional
HOW TO MAKE CHILI CHEESE FRIES, STEP BY STEP:
- Cook the french fries per the directions on the package. Once the fries are cooked, lower the heat in the oven to 350°F.
- While the french fries are cooking, in a large skillet over medium-high heat add in the ground beef, onion, and garlic, breaking up the beef. Brown the beef until no longer pink, then drain off the excess fat.
- Add in the beans, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and cumin. Stir to combine, and cook until fragrant, roughly 1 minute.
- Next, add the tomato sauce and beef stock, stirring to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer then lower the heat to low and simmer, covered for about 15 minutes.
- In a medium-size saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Then, whisk in the flour, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and paprika. Cook for 2 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Slowly stream in the milk, whisking constantly making sure there are no lumps. Cook until thickened, just until simmering making sure you are stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and add half of the cheese, stir it in until melted and smooth.
- Layer the french fries on a parchment-lined sheet pan, then top with some of the cheese sauce, add some chili and then top with more cheese sauce. Lastly add shredded cheese. Place the sheet pan back in the oven until the cheese is melted, roughly 5 minutes. Top with green onions if desired and serve immediately. (This can be done in smaller portions or on a large sheet pan).
DO I HAVE TO USE FROZEN FRENCH FRIES?
No if you want to make homemade french fries you can absolutely do that. We like frozen because we can ensure that they get a good crispness on them before adding the sauces.
I’M NOT A BEAN FAN, CAN I LEAVE THEM OUT?
We like to add the beans for a bit more texture to the sauce, but they are not an integral part of the chili sauce at all. You can leave them out completely or switch to a bean that you like better.
WHAT KIND OF CHEESE IS BEST?
First of all, you want to make sure that you are using a freshly shredded cheese as it does not have any preservatives and will melt nicely.
Secondly, we like to use a sharp cheddar for this recipe, this makes sure that the cheese flavor does come out in the sauce. We have found that other cheddars do not come out as much so we stick to a sharp cheddar for this.
HOW TO STORE:
I do not recommend storing assembled Chili Cheese Fries but you can store the chili ahead of time. This can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
You can heat this back up when ready to serve in the microwave or on the stovetop.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- Use any shape of french fry that you’d like.
- You can try other meats in the chili such as turkey or ground chicken.
- Use freshly shredded cheese for this, it will melt better as it does not have the preservatives.
- Double this recipe to serve more people.
- Serve this in individual servings or on a large platter for people to serve themselves.
- Feel free to use whatever beans that you like.
Looking for that one appetizer that pretty much trumps all other appetizers? Then you absolutely must try my Chili Cheese Fries, you will want to make them over and over again.
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried this CHILI CHEESE FRIES or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Chili Cheese Fries
Ingredients
- 32 ounce frozen fries
For the chili:
- 1 pound ground beef
- ½ cup diced onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup canned pinto beans drained and rinsed
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- â…“ cup beef stock
For the cheese sauce:
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 2 cups whole milk
- 3 cups freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese divided
- Thinly sliced green onions optional
Instructions
- Cook the french fries per the directions on the package. Once the fries are cooked, lower the heat in the oven to 350°F.
- While the french fries are cooking, in a large skillet over medium-high heat add in the ground beef, onion, and garlic, breaking up the beef. Brown the beef until no longer pink, then drain off the excess fat.
- Add in the beans, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and cumin. Stir to combine, and cook until fragrant, roughly 1 minute.
- Next, add the tomato sauce and beef stock, stirring to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer then lower the heat to low and simmer, covered for about 15 minutes.
- In a medium-size saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Then, whisk in the flour, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and paprika. Cook for 2 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Slowly stream in the milk, whisking constantly making sure there are no lumps. Cook until thickened, just until simmering making sure you are stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and add half of the cheese, stir it in until melted and smooth.
- Layer the french fries on a parchment-lined sheet pan, then top with some of the cheese sauce, add some chili and then top with more cheese sauce. Lastly add shredded cheese. Place the sheet pan back in the oven until the cheese is melted, roughly 5 minutes. Top with green onions if desired and serve immediately. (This can be done in smaller portions or on a large sheet pan).
Notes
- Use any shape of french fry that you'd like.
- You can try other meats in the chili such as turkey or ground chicken.
- Use freshly shredded cheese for this, it will melt better as it does not have the preservatives.
- Double this recipe to serve more people.
- Serve this in individual servings or on a large platter for people to serve themselves.
- Feel free to use whatever beans that you like.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
Mike
Ref: Place the sheet pan until the cheese is melted, roughly 5 minutes”. Place the sheet pan in the oven, under the broiler, or ?????.