Crispy Frozen French Fries on the Blackstone Griddle

Next time you’re making burgers on the griddle, skip the air fryer and make your French fries right on the griddle.

For extra crispy, flavorful fries, try frying them in beef tallow. I promise this method will give you the crispiest, most flavorful French fries you’ve ever had! 

Blackstone Griddle French Fries

Usually, I would tell you to chop up some russet potatoes and make your own French fries from scratch, but this recipe is all about making it easy, so we’re using a bag of frozen French fries. 

If you want to try this recipe with homemade fries, par-boil your fries for 7-10 minutes to start the cooking process and then dry them well before adding them to the griddle.

Ingredients you’ll need 

• Frozen French Fries – Any type of frozen fries will work for this recipe, but I don’t recommend curly fries. They are difficult to get an even cook on when you’re frying them on the Blackstone. My favorite is the thin-cut, fast-food style fries. 
• Beef Tallow – The secret to crispy and delicious French fries is to fry them in beef tallow. It will add a flavor and richness that can’t be beaten. If you don’t have any beef tallow on hand, you can also use duck fat, lard, vegetable shortening, or any high-heat cooking oil instead.

• Seasoning – I used Blanco from Meat Church, but you can use chicken salt, regular salt or whatever you usually use to season your fries. Remember that you don’t want to season them until they are fully cooked so the seasoning doesn’t burn during the cooking process. 

Equipment you’ll need

• Griddle (or Blackstone) – I cooked this recipe on my Camp Chef GRIDIRON 36, but it works well on a Blackstone or any griddle that can keep a consistent medium-heat temperature. 
• Spatula – for flipping the fries 

Use beef tallow for the crispiest fries

My best secret for cooking frozen fries on the Blackstone is to ditch the oil and use a healthy scoop of beef tallow instead.

Tallow is simply rendered beef fat. It’s a natural product, and thanks to its high smoke point (420ºF), it is excellent for high-heat cooking and frying.

If you’re feeling adventurous, we have a recipe for making beef tallow from leftover brisket, or you can just buy a tub like the South Chicago Packing Wagyu Tallow that I used for this recipe.

What are the best seasonings for french fries?

I used Meat Church Blanco which is marketed as a “Steak and everything else seasoning”.

You can keep it simple with a bit of salt and freshly cracked black pepper or get crazy and add some BBQ seasoning instead.

I’ll also sometimes use chicken salt.

How to cook Frozen French fries on the Blackstone

1. Preheat your griddle 

Preheat your griddle to medium heat. If you have an infrared thermometer, you’re shooting for about 350°F (but if you don’t have one, just set your burners to medium heat and you’ll be just fine).

Let your griddle fully preheat for 10-15 minutes before you start cooking. You want the fries to get nice and crispy, so you don’t want them soaking up that tallow (or oil) too much before they start to crisp up.

2. Add your beef tallow or oil

Once the grill is fully preheated, add a scoop of beef tallow to the griddle and let it melt. If you’re using a different cooking oil, just let it sit on the griddle for a few minutes to heat up. 

3. Add the frozen fries

Adding frozen food to a hot griddle can be a dangerous game. There is even a chance of the surface warping. You want to add the fries slowly, handful by handful, instead of just dumping the whole bag onto the griddle at once. 

Lay your fries out so that they’re not piled on top of each other. You want each fry to be in contact with the surface of the griddle so that they all turn out nice and crispy. 

Once you’ve laid them out on the griddle, leave them alone. Seriously – don’t mess with them! You want to get a nice crispy layer on your fries before you start moving them around. If you start to mess with them too early, they can fall apart and turn into a total mess (ask me how I know). 

After about 10 minutes, you can take your spatula and gently flip the fries. At this point, they should have started to turn golden brown, and you can mix them up to let them get brown on all sides. 

After another 5 minutes or so, you can give them one more mix and let them cook for 5 minutes more, or until all of the fries are golden brown and crisp to your liking.

4. Season your fries

When your fries are nice and crispy, you can shut off the griddle.

At this point, you can sprinkle your fries with your seasoning of choice.

Give them a good mix of that seasoning, then remove them from the griddle. They’re ready to enjoy! 

What to serve with your French fries

I’m a firm believer that French fries can stand alone as the perfect snack, but they also make a great side dish for many of our recipes.

Here are some of my favorite things to pair with these delicious french fries: 

• Grilled Brisket Burgers – nothing beats a classic and it doesn’t get more classic than french fries alongside a burger. 
• Big Mac Smash Burgers – you’ve got the griddle fired up anyway, so why not pair your fries with a tasty smash burger while you’re at it?
• Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwiches – now we can’t let burgers have all the fun! These French fries also pair perfectly with our Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwiches. 
• Cheesy Tri-Tip Steak Sandwiches – if you’re craving a cheesesteak, these fries are the way to go when it comes to a perfect side dish.