Three products stood out from the rest in a blind taste test of frozen French fries.
Frozen French fries save everyday life when there is no time to cook. French fries on a baking sheet, ready-made meatballs or falafels as friends, and an easy meal is ready in no time.
In restaurants, french fries are deep-fried in oil, while at home, frozen fries are cooked in the oven. The oven naturally taxes the crispiness of the potato, but does not completely take it away. Our blind taste test reveals excellent crispy French fries in the freezer section.
We fried ten different bags of frozen French fries according to the package instructions and tasted them with a group of four. The tasters did not know which manufacturer’s potatoes they were tasting at any given time.
Three of the products reached a commendable rating. The winner was Oolanni’s country potatoes with their skins, which, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, had the longest ingredient list of the tested products.
Xtra French potatoes, the cheapest per kilo, took the jumbo place in the blind taste test.
Test results in order from best to worst:
1. Oolanni’s Peeled Country Potatoes, rating: 9.5
Price: 2.65 e
Country of manufacture: Finland
Ingredients: potato, rapeseed oil, modified starch, rice flour, dextrin, dextrose
– Restaurant-style French fries. Yum!
– Looks like country French, authentic appearance and good taste. These look and taste like real potatoes! A plus is that the shell is included. Distantly reminiscent of Kartano potato chips.
– Too big for my taste, but the taste is good.
– Nice country French, I like the taste and the shape of the potato.
2. McCain Golden Longs, rating: 9
Price: 2.59 e
Country of manufacture: The Netherlands
Ingredients: potato, sunflower oil
– Thin, crispy, good texture.
– A nice snapper. Here is the taste of childhood!
– Reminiscent of French fries from hamburger restaurants, both in shape and taste. Good product!
– A thin potato, which does have a crunch, but now a little too much.
3. Oolanni Oven Crispy French Fries, rating 9-
Price: 1.69 e
Country of manufacture: Finland
Ingredients: potato, rapeseed oil
– Not very crispy, but tasty!
– Soft inside, could be more crunchy, but good taste of real potato!
– The texture is too soft, but the taste is really great.
– Nice soft interior. The taste is basically good.
4. K-Menu French fries, rating 8.5
Price: 1.55 e
Country of manufacture: Belgium
Ingredients: potato, sunflower oil
– Tasty french fries! Structure ok.
– Really good potato taste! Pretty close to perfect.
– A bit industrial-flavored.
– Basic French. Taste ok.
Shared 5th place Harvest Basket Crinkle Cut Fries, grade: 8-
Price: 1.99 e
Country of manufacture: Belgium
List of ingredients: potato, sunflower oil
– Potato taste, beautiful patterns. Still crunchy!
– The potato comes out quite strongly in the taste.
– Basic French.
– The potato has a small aftertaste.
Shared 5th place Rainbow crimped french fries, rating: 8-
Price: 0.98 e
Country of manufacture: The Netherlands
Ingredients: potato, sunflower oil, dextrose
– These have a weird aftertaste, a little sweet?
– Nice taste and fatness comes through. Really good ones.
– Too thick. The texture is grainy, doesn’t really taste like a potato.
– Feeling dry. It also has a strange aftertaste.
7. Grandma’s folded french fries, rating: 7.5
Price: 1.29 e
Country of manufacture: Finland
Ingredients: potato, vegetable oil (rapeseed, canola)
– Attractive appearance, but the taste does not live up to expectations. Mushy texture.
– Tastes like frozen.
– It tastes a bit rancid.
– Delicious taste.
8. Findus Micro-prepared French fries, rating: 7+
Price: 2.09 e
Country of manufacture: Germany
Ingredients: potato, rapeseed oil
– Ohuehko. Pretty soft and tasteless. However, the fact that they are thin is a plus.
– Good-tasting potato, tasty.
– Very light and low-fat. It’s pretty bland.
– Dry french fries. There should be more fat.
9. Spicy french fries 7-
Price: 1.25 e
Country of manufacture: Belgium
Ingredients: potato, sunflower oil
– Fatty and tasty. Reminiscent of fast food French fries.
– Looks better than it tastes. Industrial taste.
– Kind of industrial-flavored.
– Pretty tasteless.
10. Xtra french fries, rating: 6
Price: 1.55 e
Country of manufacture: The Netherlands
Ingredients: potato, sunflower oil
– This potato tastes a bit watery.
– Thick and soft, taste like frozen mashed potatoes. They would miss the crunch.
– Doesn’t taste like potatoes in a good way. Quite a clumsy structure.
– Lumpy and soft in the middle. Pretty tasteless too.