How to Fry Oven Chips: The Ultimate Guide

Many people assume frozen chips have to be put in the oven, but you can deep fry frozen oven chips or any frozen french fries in your frying pan too. 

Cooking frozen chips in a frying pan is a simple cooking process and just requires you to have a quality fry pan that can hold at least an inch of oil for the frying process to cover a layer of chips and stop uneven cooking.

To help you achieve a perfectly deep-fried chip, we have put together a short guide below that will cover how to cook frozen chips in your frying pan at home and some tips for the perfect cook.

What Type Of Frying Pan Do You Need For Frozen Chips?

To fry frozen chips properly without a deep fryer you will need to have a deep frying pan that can hold at least an inch of oil, the pan should also be made out of material that can distribute heat evenly during the cooking process. 

The best type of frying pan to use is a deep stainless steel pan or a non-stick ceramic material pan. 

Our Step By Step Guide To Frying Frozen Chips

To achieve the best cooking process for the frozen oven chips you need to make sure the potatoes before cooking stay frozen and do not thaw, the oil you use like chip shops should also be odourless, some great oils to use for frying frozen food are standard vegetable oil or peanut oil.

We have taken you through a step by step guide below that will show you how to get the best-cooked chips from your frying pan. 

• Step one - Preheat an inch of oil in your pan until it becomes smoking, it is important to let your oil get to a very hot temperature as this ensures that your chips will come crispy like chip shops chips.
• Step two - Keep the frying pan on a medium flame and put your frozen frying chips in, make sure they are distributed in an even layer and covered with the oil, do not overcrowd the pan. 
• Step three - Allow the fried chips to crackle in the oil and turn them over halfway when they reach a golden colour (just dont feed your cat too many fries ). 
• Step four - Once your chips have around 4 minutes of frying time each time you then lift them with a slotted spoon out of the frying pan, hold them in the slotted spoon for a couple of seconds to allow excess oil to drain off and transfer them to a tray with paper towels.
• Step five - When the chips have cooled transfer them to a container and add your seasoning, which could be salt, black pepper or even paprika, shake to cover them evenly. 
• Step six - Strain the oil and save it for other deep frying purposes!
• Step seven - Serve with ketchup or mayo.

Frequently Asked Questions About Frying Frozen Chips

Why are my chips soggy after frying? 

There could be a couple of reasons as to why frozen chips are soggy, one could be that you didn't let your oil get hot enough before adding the chips or you let them thaw beforehand. You should also fry in batches and allow them to cook evenly.

How to cook frozen chips in an oven? 

To cook frozen chips in an oven you will need to preheat your oven to high then spread them out evenly on a baking tray, then allow them to bake for around 20-30 minutes until golden.

Should you thaw chips before frying them?

Frozen chips should never be thawed before frying, the added moisture will end up making them soggy and they will cause a large amount of oil splatter.

Final Words

Overall, you can cook frozen chips in a frying pan without a deep fryer, just make sure you have some odourless oil and a deep frying pan which has enough room to layer chips. You can fry oven chips as well as normal frozen fries, just make sure that you do not thaw them beforehand and always season them after frying, not during.