Loaded French Fries
Crispy fries topped with cheese sauce, bacon, and ranch, these Loaded French Fries are an irresistible appetizer or snack to share with friends. With endless ways to customize them, they’re perfect for game day too.
Delicious Details
- Cuisine Inspiration: American
- Primary Cooking Method: Oven
- Dietary Info: Gluten-free
- Skill Level: Easy
These loaded French fries take basic frozen fries and turn them into the best appetizer to share with friends. They’re topped with my Gluten Free Cheese Sauce, which is the perfect level of saltiness. The crunchy bacon adds a nice texture, and the ranch (drizzle and dip) was the perfect flavor addition to these.
If you bake the fries until they’re crispy, they really hold up well under all the toppings. They do tend to get pretty cold pretty fast, so it’s best to eat straight out of the oven. Not that that’s a hardship…I’m not sure how exactly, but two friends and I absolutely demolished these in minutes!
Why These Loaded French Fries Are A Family Favorite
- Ranch, cheese sauce, AND bacon! These fries are topped with a triple threat – your favorite ranch dressing, homemade cheese sauce, and salty, crispy bacon. Every bite is a little salty, a little creamy, and a little cheesy. So, so good!
- Quick & easy to make. It typically takes about an hour to make loaded French fries, but that’s simply due to the time it takes to bake the fries. The actual hands-on time is just a few minutes, and they’re so easy to assemble. Just bake the fries, make the cheese sauce, and assemble.
- Endless customizations. Don’t stop with just cheese sauce and ranch! Loaded fries can be topped with pretty much anything you desire, from taco meat to buffalo chicken. I’ve provided lots of ideas below.
Key Ingredients
Here’s an overview of the handful of ingredients needed to make these gluten free loaded fries. Scroll all the way down for the full recipe card with measurements.
- Frozen French fries – I recommend using a thicker cut fry, like steak fries or crinkle cut, which will hold up better under all the sauce and toppings. Check that the brand you use is gluten free, like Ore-Ida (labeled GF at time of writing).
- Bacon – You can cook the bacon ahead of time. It can be fried on the stove, or check out my post How to Cook Bacon for tips on cooking it in the oven, microwave, air fryer, or Instant Pot.
- Green onion – Feel free to use chives or even thinly sliced or chopped red onions.
- Ranch sauce – You can use thinned-out store-bought ranch, or go the extra mile and make homemade ranch (which is always better). I like my Greek Yogurt Ranch.
- Cheese sauce – For more details on making the cheese sauce, check out my recipe for Gluten Free Cheese Sauce. It’s thickened with cornstarch, so it works for everyone, gluten free or not.
How To Make Loaded Fries
It’s kind of crazy how easy these loaded cheese fries are to make at home! The prep can be done while the fries bake, so they can be assembled and ready to serve in no time at all. The printable instructions can be found in the recipe card below.
- Bake the fries. Cook the fries according to the package instructions until they’re crispy. I recommend the oven, even if there are air fryer instructions, to make the assembly easier.
- Prepare the toppings. While the fries are baking, make the cheese sauce, chop the bacon and green onions, and prepare any other toppings.
- Assemble. Push the fries to the middle of the tray with a spatula. Top with as much cheese sauce as desired (I like to leave some on the side for dipping), then sprinkle the bacon and green onions evenly over the cheese. Finish with a drizzle of ranch.
- Serve & enjoy. Top with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately from the tray for ease, with dipping bowls of cheese sauce and ranch on the side. Enjoy!
Recipe Tips & Variations
Here are a few fun ways to customize these gluten free cheese fries, as well as a few general tips.
- Make sure the fries get crispy. Starting with a base of crispy fries will make these loaded fries so much better! That usually means cooking them in an even layer and stirring a few times while they bake.
- Use homemade fries. If you want to use fresh potatoes, make a batch of my Oven Fries or Air Fryer French Fries.
- Try it with tater tots. Loaded tater tots are a fun twist on these loaded french fries! Like with frozen fries, many brands of tater tots are gluten free (though you should always check the label) and they hold up well to lots of toppings. Check out my Air Fryer Tater Tots post for tips on cooking crispy tater tots.
- Thin the ranch. If the ranch is too thick to drizzle, whisk in a splash of milk to thin it out while still maintaining the creamy texture.
- Swap the sauce. Instead of Ranch, try using Big Mac Sauce or even Honey BBQ Sauce. You can also try a variation like Buffalo Ranch or Avocado Ranch for a little flavor twist.
How to Store Leftovers
Loaded French fries won’t taste good reheated, as all the fries will get soggy. However, if you know ahead of time that you won’t eat it all, save some undressed fries in an airtight container in the fridge, as well as any unused toppings. That way, you can simply reheat the fries in the oven or air fryer when you’re ready to eat and top them with the leftover toppings!
More Topping Ideas
Part of the fun of loaded French fries is being able to customize them with different toppings. Here are a few ideas to get you started. Some of these are even heartier enough to turn the fries into a meal!
- Chili cheese fries – Top the fries with some hearty chili, like my World’s Best Chili or No Bean Chili, cheese sauce, and sour cream.
- Loaded taco fries – Load the fries with your favorite taco meat (I love this Instant Pot Taco Meat or any ground meat cooked with my Taco Seasoning) and toppings, like beans, salsa, guacamole, jalapenos, corn, and shredded cheese.
- BBQ loaded fries – My family loves BBQ Pulled Pork Fries so much that they have their own recipe post. Another variation is to simply add pulled pork (my go-to is Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Pork), cheese sauce, and pickled jalapenos.
- Buffalo chicken fries – I’ve also shared a variation of Loaded Buffalo Chicken Fries using sweet potato fries as the base but they’re super yummy with regular fries too. I like to use the meat leftover from Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches and top them with cheese sauce, crumbled bacon, and Greek Yogurt Ranch Dip or Greek Yogurt Blue Cheese.
Make It A Meal
- More appetizers & sides: These are wonderful as part of an appetizer spread at a party, next to other favorites like Baked Buffalo Wings, Air Fryer Fried Pickles, and Gluten Free Garlic Knots.
- Salad: To turn these loaded cheese fries into the main course, simply serve them with your favorite side salad. You’ll already have the ranch ready to drizzle on top!
- Protein: There’s a reason loaded fries are usually a side option at steakhouses. Try pairing a smaller serving of these fries with Grilled Steak Salad or Garlic Butter Steak Bites for a satisfying dinner.
More Gluten Free Fries To Try
Loaded French Fries
Ingredients
- 32 ounces frozen French fries
- ½ cup bacon , crispy and crumbled (you can also use bacon bits)
- ⅓ cup green onion , chopped
- homemade or store bought ranch sauce , for drizzling and dipping
- salt and pepper to taste
For the cheese sauce:
- 1 cup milk
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (4 ounces, from a block, not pre-shredded)
Instructions
- Follow the package instructions for the 32 ounces frozen French fries and bake as directed until crispy.
- While that is baking, make the cheese sauce following the instructions below and prepare the other toppings, like chopping the ½ cup bacon and ⅓ cup green onion.
- Once the fries have finished baking, assemble your loaded fries while they’re still hot. I like to scrape all the fries with a spatula into the middle of the tray.
- Top them with however much hot cheese sauce you desire. You may not need all of the sauce, so I like to reserve some on the side for dipping.
- Next, sprinkle on the bacon and green onions evenly over the top, then add your homemade or store bought ranch sauce drizzle. If the ranch isn’t loose enough, try adding a splash of milk to it before drizzling it over. Feel free to experiment with your own topping choices as well!
- Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve warm and on the tray you baked it on for ease. You can also add dipping bowls on the side with more cheese or ranch.
For the cheese sauce:
- In a small saucepan, whisk together 1 cup milk, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
- Turn on the stove to medium-low and bring to a simmer. Let it gently bubble, stirring frequently, for 5-6 minutes or until thickened.
- Reduce heat to low. Add 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese a little bit at a time, stirring in completely after each addition.
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