Frozen chips are a go-to option for quick weeknight meals, yet they frequently produce disappointingly tasteless outcomes when cooked. They’re also notoriously difficult to cook correctly, often turning out either undercooked or overdone, leaving you with soft outsides and hard centres, and flavourless results.
While making frozen chips from scratch isn’t particularly challenging, having a bag stashed in the freezer is undeniably handy. Although the instinct is to simply throw them straight into the air fryer or oven, spending just a few moments adding a handful of ingredients can vastly improve both their texture and flavour. Tesco shared the technique on their website, requiring no more than five minutes of preparation.
The recipe description reads: “These aren’t just any oven fries, they’re covered in an array of tangy and exciting flavours. Enjoy a little lift from the herbs and spices, then bake them until golden and crisp.”
Ingredients
- 500g frozen oven chips
- Vegetable oil
- Half a teaspoon of smoked paprika
- Quarter teaspoon of sea salt flakes
- Half a teaspoon of dried rosemary
- Quarter teaspoon of garlic granules
Method
Place the oven chips onto a large baking tray and coat with the vegetable oil. Then, dust the chips with smoked paprika, sea salt flakes, dried rosemary and garlic granules.
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For those who prefer an extra kick, add a quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
Give the frozen chips a thorough toss to ensure every piece is uniformly coated in the seasoning mixture, then cook according to the packet instructions.
The chips will come out golden and crispy thanks to the vegetable oil, while delivering wonderful flavour from the four-ingredient seasoning blend. This method also works brilliantly in an air fryer, if the packet instructions suggest it.
They might even turn out crispier due to the air circulation inside the appliance.
If you’ve got time to make chips from scratch, Maris Piper potatoes are the perfect variety, with around 350g being enough for two servings.
Boil them for three minutes, leave them to steam-dry for five minutes, then place on a baking tray. Add a drizzle of oil and sprinkle with salt before popping them in a 220°C/200°C Fan oven for 18 to 20 minutes, flipping them over and cooking for another eight minutes.
For those choosing sweet potato fries, rinsing isn’t necessary, although Tesco recommends adding a splash of olive oil, sugar and salt before baking to boost the taste.
