When it comes to making Animal style French fries at home, I might have a slight advantage. My son worked at In-N-Out when he was in high school and possibly, just maybe he shared a few tips with me along the way.
The best tip I leaned to get that unique In-N-Out taste: add a little yellow mustard to the grill before tossing on the burgers. Or in this case, the skillet you saute your onions in.
Animal Style French Fries (In-N-Out Copy Cat)
When you can't get to In-N-Out Burger to satisfy your craving for Animal Style French Fries, this quick and easy copycat version will make your day. Be sure to make A LOT of extra.
Servings 4
Equipment
- Vegetable Spiralizer (optional)
Ingredients
- 3-4 organic Russet potatoes scrubbed clean and spiralized using thick setting
- ½ large brown onion finely chopped
- 1 cup Thousand Island dressing store bought (use your favorite brand)
- ⅛ cup yellow mustard
- 2 Tbsp neutral cooking oil canola or peanut
- 2 cups peanut oil or canola oil
- Fresh ground pepper to taste
- grated cheddar cheese for topping optional
Instructions
- Spiralize the potatoes using the thick setting on your spiralizer. (If you don't have a spiralizer, julienne slice the potatoes with a kitchen knife.)
- Heat 2 Tbsp oil in skillet and add chopped onions. Saute until soft but not too browned.
- Add yellow mustard to the onions and saute for another minute.
- Add Thousand Island dressing to the mix and saute for another minute. Turn heat off and set aside until potatoes are fried.
- Heat 2 cups of oil in a skillet until shimmering. Make sure oil is very hot or the potatoes will stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Add potatoes in batches, not over-crowding them so that they move about freely in the skillet.
- Once the potatoes are browned, remove from oil and set on a paper-towel lined plate or screen to drain.
- Once potatoes are fried, plate them and spoon the onion/Thousand Island mixture over the top. Sprinkle with fresh ground black pepper and grated cheddar cheese if you like that.
- Put on a bib and enjoy every single crunchy, gooey bite.
Notes
When talking through this recipe with a friend, she asked if she could make her own Thousand Island if she didn't have any on hand. The answer to that is YES!
For fresh Thousand Island Dressing from scratch mix all the ingredients below together in a bowl. Use immediately and store the rest in the fridge for up to 2 months.
1 cup good mayonnaise
3 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp sweet pickle relish
1 Tbsp finely minced onion
Salt and pepper to taste