8 of the Best Frozen French Fries, Ranked

Is burger night a staple in your house? Maybe it's even become black bean burger night. No shame in that. Either way, there is but one side dish that a burger needs in order to survive: French fries. Unless you're getting ready to slice a ton of potatoes and fry them up yourself, you might just want to throw a bag of frozen fries in the oven — or far better yet, an air fryer. 

But which brand brand makes the best frozen fries? To help answer that, I grabbed eight types of fries and pitted them against each other in a taste test. Read on to discover the best frozen rench fries, ranked from best to worst. 

Prices and availability are subject to change.

$4.96 from Walmart

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I was pretty late to the party when I learned how good Arby's curly fries are, but luckily that didn't stop me from grabbing a bag of the frozen stuff. Throughout this whole thing, I got caught up in wondering whether the frozen version would be as good as the real deal, but I hadn't considered at any point that the frozen fries could actually be better. 

Arby's frozen curly fries are just that: They are hot, crispy, golden brown, and perfectly seasoned; they are in the best shape a fry can be. No fry out of the warmer at an actual Arby's restaurant can compete.

$4.98 from Walmart

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I have said many times out loud, and probably at least once on this very website, that Checker's/Rally's makes the best fast food fries. The frozen version is no exception, seasoned perfectly and steeped in a beautiful auburn color. Crank up your air fryer or oven a liiiiiittle longer than you think you need to. The crunch is heaven.

Available from Instacart

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There's a lot to love about the Steak 'n Shake frozen fries, and if not for Checker's having mastered this game a long time ago, it easily could have won. I love the way the fries are somewhat jagged along the sides, unevenly battered and crunchy in different places. Very good job here.

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Available in-store

These straight-cut fries have character. Leave it Big Joe to inject a little life into this thing, you know? These look and taste like real, hand-cut, authentic fries. Handsome, even. 

There's still some skin on them too, which for me is huge. Nice, skinny little sticks. Pair this with a bottle of TJ's Magnifisauce and you've got some wonderful dipping ahead.

Related: The Best (And Worst) French Fry Seasonings, According to Our Taste Test

$4.68 from Walmart

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Is Ore-Ida the brand that first comes to mind when you think of frozen rench fries? It definitely is for me. Ore-Ida's golden fries are about as average as it gets, though like everything else here, the air fryer boosts that crunch beautifully. These have nice ridges for a crinkle-cut fry, but they're really nothing to write home about.

Related: The Most Outrageous French Fries You Can Order

$4.99 from Albertson's

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It was harder to come by waffle fries than you'd expect; most of the fries lining the aisles of the frozen section are crinkles, shoestrings, or steak fries. McCain tastes like all the rest, with very little exception beyond the shape. 

I personally don't love how hard it is to dunk a waffle fry into a sauce container so I avoid them at fast food restaurants, but if you're in control of your sauce destiny, consider McCain. Though I find them to be a bit bland, the fun shape pushes them up to No. 7.

$4.32 from Walmart

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Yeah, these are fine. They taste like a french fry, which I guess is a victory. A bit of skin on the ends is nice, but at the end of the day, these are boring me straight into my grave. Trader Joe's hand-cut style fries handily defeats these.

$4.98 from Walmart

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When I left the grocery store with many varieties of frozen, seasoned fries, I was a little nervous that I was going to get Bojangles'd. That chain drowns their fries in a river of seasoning that I'm surprised any human being can withstand. 

Red Robin's are the opposite, bordering on under-seasoned. I suppose I'm OK with this, since I'm probably dipping them in something anyways, but this was disappointing. 

Dipapointing? Dipapointing.