Give Your Fries A Pizza-Inspired Touch With One Simple Layering Move

If you love pizza, nachos, and french fries (who doesn't?), we have excellent news — there's a way to combine the flavors and experience of all three of these foods in one dazzlingly indulgent dish. Loaded pizza fries contain the tender, salty crispiness of french fries, the cheesy, tomatoey goodness of pizza, and the handheld interactive fun of smothered nachos. Not only is this dish dangerously delicious, it's also exceptionally easy to make, especially when you embrace the convenience of frozen french fries. 

As with traditional pizza, the best part of building these nacho-style fries (frachos?) is choosing your toppings. Cheese and sauce are a given, and pepperoni is a classic choice, but you can also get creative with your flavors or use your favorite style of pizza as inspiration. There are lots of underrated pizza toppings that deserve more love, from broccoli rabe and fried kale to anchovies and various Italian deli meats. Just be sure not to overload your fries, so the heat from the oven can still penetrate all the tasty layers.

The most crucial part of making this dish is ensuring your pizza toppings are evenly layered among the fries. The downfall of poorly constructed nachos is that only the top layer has all the good stuff — to avoid this, assemble your loaded fries kind of like a lasagna. Scatter a handful of fries onto a sheet pan followed by an even layer of your toppings, repeat until you run out of ingredients, bake, and serve. 

Though you can certainly make your pizza frachos with a batch of homemade baked garlic Parmesan fries as the base for this recipe, we encourage you to use leftovers or frozen fries instead of making them fresh. The idea behind this dish is that it's quick and convenient — something thrown together for a quick weekend meal or to serve as a tasty, creative appetizer for a casual dinner party.

That being said, even convenience foods deserve some love. In addition to the layering trick, the most crucial part of executing pizza-style nacho fries is cooking your frozen french fries correctly. Preheating your baking pan helps ensure the fries heat evenly, preventing cold or soggy pockets of food. It's also a good idea to par-bake the fries a bit while you prep your toppings, which helps them get crisp and sturdy enough to hold up to moisture-heavy toppings, like mozzarella cheese, sautéed bell peppers, and oily pepperoni.

This is especially important when adding sauce. Pizza sauce is crucial for achieving an authentic flavor, but more than a drizzle will make your fries mushy. Of course, you can always warm it separately on the stovetop, using it as a dipping sauce once you're ready to eat. Another alternative is seasoning your fries with Trader Joe's Pizza Sprinkle seasoning, or a combination of dried Italian herbs and powdered Parmesan cheese for big flavor. Garnish everything with fresh chopped tomatoes after heating for a hit of bright, fresh acidity.