Bacon cheese fries are probably one of the best appetizers, sides or munchies out there. Truth be told, I eat them for a whole meal. But do you know what makes them better? Ranch! Queue the Ranch Bacon Cheese Fries!
Cheesy bacon fries are perfect for game day, party food, as an appetizer, a side dish or just a quick snack. Crispy French fries topped with a gooey cheese, fresh crunchy onions and salty bacon.
This sounds like a simple concept, but making cheese fries is partially an art, but also personal preference. Here me out…
I don’t like the fake cheese sauce. You know, the liquid cheese sauce that comes in a plastic bag, doesn’t need to be refrigerated and never solidifies. Nope, I would an awesome cheese pull because freshly shredded cheese is heated up perfectly.
This recipe also uses double ranch. Dry ranch seasoning on the frozen fries to season while baking and then actual ranch dressing for dipping or drizzling.
Ranch Bacon Cheese Fries Ingredients
The ingredient list is fairly short and easily varied, so don’t feel like you need to stick to
- Frozen French fries- I like using a classic fry, but you can also do showstring, steak fries crinkle cut. Waffle fries, even hash brown, really anything. Whatever you do, make sure you have crispy fries.
- Dry ranch seasoning- make your own or grab a packet of seasoning at the grocery store.
- Freshly shredded cheese– sharp cheddar, mozzarella and feta cheeses. Swap any of your favorite cheeses out, but using a variety is what makes this cheese fry recipe the best. Try to use freshly shredded cheese instead of bagged shredded cheese which is often tossed in some sort of starch to prevent clumping.
- Green onions- also known as scallions, also feel free to use chives.
- Crispy Bacon- cooked and crumbled or grab bacon bits at the store.
- Ranch dressing- for topping or dipping. If your whole crew loves ranch, feel free to drizzle, but if they are going sit the ranch will make them a little soggy.
Other variations of these loaded fries include shredded chicken, sour cream, jalapeno peppers and hot sauce.
How to Make Ranch Bacon Cheese Fries
Easy to make, but there are a couple of things to keep in mind to make sure you get the best cheese fries.
- Prepare oven and pan. Go ahead and preheat the oven according to the package directions of the fries you are using. This will vary by brand and type. Also prep a rimmed baking sheet with either cooking spray, parchment or aluminum foil. All that cheese baked onto a tray will be hard to clean up, so this prevents sticking and makes clean up easy. Also feel free to make then in the air fryer, but then you’ll need to transfer them to a baking sheet to melt the cheese at the end.
- Toss fries. Place the frozen fries in a large bowl and toss with dry ranch seasoning. The small amount of moisture on the frozen fries will be enough to hold the powder. Toss well to evenly coat.
- Bake fries. Place fries onto a baking sheet in a single layer. Cook the fries according to package directions, flipping at least once so they are golden brown.
- Sprinkle with toppings. When fully cooked, take your fries out of the oven and sprinkle with the cheeses, bacon crumbles and green onions. I love uses a variety of cheese for flavor, color and even texture. Adding a cheese like feta gives them more sophistication that is unexpected. Yep, I just called cheesy fries sophisticated.
- Drizzle with ranch. Choose to drizzle with ranch dressing or just serve it on the side for dipping. In all honesty, the dry ranch mix will give them plenty of flavor.
Dipping Sauce
While we suggest ranch as a side, there are plenty of other options for dipping, or none at all!
Make Ahead & Storage
Make Ahead: If I’m being honest- fries really aren’t great when made ahead of time. I highly suggest you make them when you are ready to eat them. But this is such as an easy recipe, it shouldn’t take you much time to whip up a fresh batch.
Storage: If you do happen to have leftovers, store them in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge. Reheat in the oven on 300°F for 5 minutes.
More French Fry Recipes
Cajun Fries Recipe
Air Fryer French Fries
Baked Zucchini Fries
Copycat In-N-Out Burger Animal Style Fries
Ranch Bacon Cheese Fries
Ingredients
- 32 ounces frozen French fries
- 1 tablespoon dry ranch seasoning
- ½ cup sharp cheddar cheese , shredded
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese , shredded
- ½ cup feta cheese , crumbled
- ¼ cup green onion (scallion) , chopped
- ¼ cup cooked bacon , roughly chopped
- Ranch dressing for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven according to package directions. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.
- Place the fries in a large bowl and sprinkle with the ranch seasoning (you can add more to taste) and toss until the fries are coated in the seasoning.
- Place the fries in an even layer on a baking sheet and cook according to package instructions.
- Remove from the oven and evenly distribute the cheeses, onion, and bacon and broil on high for about 5 minutes until the cheese is melted.
- Remove from the oven and drizzle and serve ranch dressing on the side.
- If you’ve tried this recipe, please leave a comment or rating!
Why does it take 20 hours to heat up frozen fries in the oven?
Clearly a typo.
There is a pizza place down the road that makes these and they are amazing! I always order them when I go there. I’ve thought about making them at home, but didn’t have the right ratio of ingredients. I’m excited to try this!
This looks and sounds fabulous! Love this recipe. It’s a perfect dish for my family.
These fries are everything! With all the toppings and the ranch sauce, I don’t even think you need a dipping sauce. Yummy cheesy and filling! My new favorite french fry!
Made these as a side dish to go with some chicken and the whole family loved them!
These are perfect for our movie night tonight and looks so delicious! Can’t wait to make thes with my daughter tonight!
These fries are so LOADED with all the good stuff! These are going to be fantastic to serve for football season snacks.
These were so delicious. My whole family loved them. Thank you for the recipe!
What ISN’T better with ranch seasoning?! These fries do sound like an entire meal and I am here for it 🙂
These cheese fries are like comfort food at its best!! So delicious and easy to make!