DIY veggie fries

July 17, 2023 12:39 PM

I’m obsessed with these frozen veggie fries made from beets, carrots and parsnips. Would I be able to DIY a cheaper, healthier version myself by slicing and freezing vegetables? Could I freeze them raw, or cook them before freezing?

I am aware that it’s not too hard to slice and roast fresh vegetables; what I like about the veggie fries is the convenience of just being able to pop them from the freezer into the oven with some Gardein chicken strips when I’m tired, don’t have fresh veggies and/or don’t have the energy to think about dinner. So if I was able to prepare a big batch and have them in the freezer ready to go for the next couple months, that would be ideal.

These fries have a rice flour coating but I feel like they’d still be OK without it? Let me know what you suggest.

posted by vanitas to Food & Drink (6 answers total)

If you are looking for healthier, frozen veg is actually where it’s at! Vegetables lose nutritional value when picked and flash freezing (like for these veggies) retains those benefits a lot better than buying “fresh.” If it’s mainly cost savings you are concerned about, ignore this information! And coat with your favorite oil, season with your preferred seasonings and salt, and pop them in the oven at about 400° (oven temperature will depend on a lot of factors, your ideal temp may be anywhere from 350° to 450°.) I like to give them a stir once in the middle. I don’t think they have quite the same mouthfeel without a coating, but I am Lazy and don’t care enough to coat them.
posted by Bottlecap at 1:08 PM on July 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

I think you could get away without parcooking them if you cut the veggies thin enough that they could fully cook from frozen, but that might be too thin for tastiness. Try prepping a batch by boiling your cut veggies in salted water for just five minutes, draining really well and patting dry. Toss in oil and your chosen seasonings, and yes, some kind of starch. I think the rice flour coating is key to keeping the “fries” from clumping together irreparably in the freezer. You could do just a little cornstarch or potato starch and see how that works for you. Spread everything out on a big sheet and freeze, tossing and re-spreading every hour or so until frozen through, then bag up.

This is a lot of work for a simple dish, though. I agree with Bottlecap above. Unless you are absolutely committed to the fry shape and veggie combo, just roast regular frozen vegetables with your chicken strips! You can toss plain frozen broccoli, green beans, carrots, etc in a little oil and seasoning and spread them out on a sheet pan for roasting as-is. Frozen vegetables are often cheaper than fresh because of how they are produced and shipped, have more nutrients, and you can control whatever you put on them. Keep an eye out for sales on different frozen options and mix and match them together for cost savings and variety.
posted by Mizu at 1:18 PM on July 17, 2023

I haven't had these, but they have potato starch and rice flour, so I wonder how close they are to cooked vegetables rather than some kind of dough made from vegetables and these other ingredients. My question is whether they're more like veggie sticks, which are potato crisps with vegetable flavoring. I know you're looking for something more healthful, but I'm not sure if you're going to get the flavor you want by cooking vegetables.

I buy frozen vegetables like Bottlecap does. I especially like cooking frozen broccoli this way. It's easy, convenient, and delicious. It requires no prep, and the vegetables aren't going bad in my refrigerator.
posted by FencingGal at 1:28 PM on July 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

My guess is that the potato starch and rice flour are to keep the pieces from sticking together in the bag. The ingredient I noticed was the bicarbonate soda -- baking soda. I have a recipe for potatas bravas, where you parboil the potatoes in water and baking soda, then finish them in the oven. The baking soda makes the potatoes a bit crispy, sort of like they are when they've been fried (but to be clear, not exactly). If I wanted to make these from scratch, I'd clean and cut the veggies, then parboil in water with baking soda and finish them in the oven. However, I probably wouldn't actually do that. With the amount of effort the potatas bravas required, I just make home fries or a baked potato instead.
posted by OrangeDisk at 2:23 PM on July 17, 2023

Those fries are precooked, and to get something similar you would have to do something similar.

When you make potato fries, the best method is to cook them twice, and this recipe even recommends freezing them between the two frys. I'm pretty sure you could successfully oven roast them the second time, for convenience and also perhaps a bit less fat. But use the convection setting on your oven, and turn the vegetables a couple of times during roasting rather than just once. Don't add extra fat when roasting the pre-cooked fries in the oven. If you eat it, try doing the initial frying in duck fat.
I'm certain it will work just fine with other root vegetables, I haven't tried the freezing thing, but I have tried using other vegs for fries using this method without freezing.

I think that you could/should fry the vegs first in vegetable oil or duck fat, then cool them on a rack or paper till you can handle them, and then gently mix them in a bowl of rice flour, salt, pepper, paprika and turmeric before you freeze them. If you can, it's always best to do the initial freezing on a sheet pan, and only then transfer the individually frozen fries to portion sized bags.

Finally, I am sure doing it at home would be tastier, and a lot healthier.

If you try this out, I'd love to know the results.
posted by mumimor at 2:26 PM on July 17, 2023

Ingredients: Carrots, Parsnips, Beets, Sunflower oil, Modified potato starch, Rice flour, Corn starch, Dextrin, Salt, Citric acid, Sodium phosphate, Sodium bicarbonate, Xanthan gum, Paprika, Turmeric, Methylcellulose. Shelf stable - handy.
You want the veg to be pretty similar sizes for even cooking. Sunflower oil is nice for cooking. Potato starch, corn starch and rice flour are easy to find, sodium bicarb is baking soda to help the coating have crunch, salt & citric acid add flavor, xantham gum is for texture, can probably be omitted, not sure why methylcellulose, probably can omit. Add turmeric & paprika or other herbs & spices.

Toss veg in mixed starches/dry ingredients, then spray with sunflower oil. Proportions would require trial and error and these are partly cooked by processing/packaging, so times may vary, and pre-cooking makes fries crispy w/out burning. The ingredient list is generally healthy. I'd probably keep buying them ready to go.
posted by theora55 at 8:38 AM on July 18, 2023