Animal Style Fries
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Make Animal Style Fries, just like In N Out, from the comfort of your home! This copycat recipe is just as delicious as the french fries on the secret menu at the fast food chain, and they’re easy to make with just a few simple steps. Pair these fries with an Animal Style Burger for the full In-N-Out experience!
Table of contents
When I first visited California for college tours many years ago, my Mom and I made our first stop off the plane at In-N-Out. Up until recent years, In-N-Out was this mythical place, only found in California, and talked about everywhere else!
Now you can find In-N-Out locations in Arizona, Nevada and Texas, but there are still many states across the country missing out on these delicious animal style fries, and that’s where I come in today!
After eating about 500 orders of In-N-Out Animal Style Fries over the years of living in California, I can tell you for sure that this copycat recipe is the closest you’ll get to the taste of the real thing without visiting the drive thru of an actual In-N-Out burger restaurant.
The fries are topped with melted cheese, grilled onions and of course, the “secret sauce”. They’re so flavorful, easy to make and will give you the feeling of being inside a red and white tiled In-N-Out restaurant!
Pair the fries with an Animal Style Burger and chocolate milkshake, and you’ve got yourself my go-to order at In-N-Out!
Ingredients
- Frozen french fries – I recommend the “shoestring” variety as they’re the same cut of french fry that In-N-Out uses at their restaurants. You can also make homemade fries, if you want!
- American cheese slices – this is the type of cheese that they use at In-N-Out, and it melts perfectly over the fries. You can purchase the cheese sliced from the deli counter, or use prepackaged slices.
- Burger spread – basically thousand island dressing, this spread is easy to make at home with 4 ingredients. Simply combine mayonnaise, ketchup, finely chopped pickles and dijon mustard and you have yourself a delicious burger spread or “secret sauce”.
- Caramelized onions – while I will share how to make the diced caramelized onions for this recipe in the post. If you want more tips and tricks on caramelizing onions, click the link above for my step by step guide. You can always make the caramelized onions ahead of time, then it will only take a few minutes to whip up these Animal Style Fries!
Instructions
I’ve included step by step photos above to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Caramelize the onions. Dice 1/2 pound of yellow onions. Melt 1/2 tablespoon butter in a large cast iron skillet on the stove over medium-high heat. Once the butter is melted, add the diced onions and spread them out evenly in the skillet. Cook for 5 minutes, sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon salt, then turn the stove down to medium heat. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes, until the onions are caramelized. Set aside.
- Prepare the secret sauce. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, ketchup, finely chopped dill pickles (or dill relish) and dijon mustard. Set aside.
- Cook the fries. Follow the package instructions on the bag of frozen french fries and either air fry, pan fry, deep fry or bake the fries in the oven. You can also make homemade Air Fryer French Fries, cook them according to the recipe, then use them to make these Animal Style Fries.
- Assemble the animal style fries. Once the fries are cooked, spread them out evenly on a baking sheet. Top with 6 slices of American cheese, in an evenly layer over the fries. Place under the broiler in the oven on high for 1 minute, to melt the cheese. Remove from the oven. Spoon the caramelized onions and burger sauce evenly across the fries and serve immediately.
Pro tips
- The caramelized onions and secret sauce can be made up to 1 week in advance. Store them each in separate airtight containers in the fridge, until you’re ready to make the fries.
- You can make this recipe with homemade french fries made with russet potatoes, instead of frozen fries. Check out this recipe for french fries from my friend Stephanie at The Cozy Cook, or my recipe for air fryer french fries (that can also be made in the oven).
- Line the baking sheet with parchment paper or foil, before preparing the animal style fries, for easy clean up.
- The secret sauce can be found bottled at most major grocery stores. It might also be labeled as “special sauce” or “burger sauce”. Trader Joe’s is called “magnifisauce” and it’s the next best thing to a homemade sauce that I’ve tried!
- This recipe is vegetarian and gluten free. If using a premade sauce, always make sure it’s gluten free by checking the label.
- I do NOT recommend saving leftovers of this recipe, if you’ve already topped it with the sauce. The fries will become soggy and there’s really no way to reheat them, once they’ve been sauced. If you don’t think you’ll eat the entire recipe, feel free to cut it in half. Simply hover over the “servings” in the recipe card below and update it from 4 to 2. The ingredient amounts in the recipe card will automatically update to cut the recipe in half.
What to serve them with
While an Animal Style Burger is the perfect pairing for these Animal Style Fries, they’re also delicious served as a side dish with any burger, sandwich, or a variety of other meals. Try them with any of these tasty recipes!
Tools for this recipe
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If you love easy, cheesy recipes as much as I do, you have to check out these other blog favorites!
Animal Style Fries
Ingredients
Caramelized onions
- ½ tablespoon butter
- ½ pound yellow onion, small dice
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Secret sauce
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped dill pickles, or dill relish
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
Animal style fries
- 16 ounces frozen shoestring french fries
- 6 slices American cheese
Instructions
Caramelized onions
- Melt the butter in a large cast iron skillet on the stove over medium-high heat.
- Once the butter is melted, add the diced onions and spread them out evenly in the skillet.
- Cook for 5 minutes, sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon salt, then turn the heat on the stove down to medium.
- Cook for 30 minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes, until the onions are caramelized. Set aside.
Secret sauce
- In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, ketchup, finely chopped dill pickles and dijon mustard. Set aside.
Animal style fries
- Preheat the broiler on the oven to high (unless baking the fries in the oven, then switch from bake to broil after the fries come out of the oven).
- Follow the package directions on the bag of frozen french fries and either air fry, pan fry, deep fry or bake the fries in the oven.
- Place the cooked fries in an even layer on a baking sheet.
- Top with 6 slices of American cheese, in an evenly layer over the fries.
- Place under the broiler in the oven on high for 1 minute.
- Remove from the oven and distribute the caramelized onions and burger sauce evenly across the fries and serve immediately.
Notes
- The caramelized onions and secret sauce can be made up to 1 week in advance. Store them each in separate airtight containers in the fridge, until you’re ready to make the fries.
- This recipe is vegetarian and gluten free.
Nutrition Facts
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