Snacks & Sides

Our snacks and sides give you a taste of this or a bite of that.

Here are some answers so you can walk away satisfied.

Do you use real potatoes for your fries?

Yep. The most common ones we use include the Russet Burbank, Russet Ranger, Umatilla Russet and the Shepody—varieties known for producing a flavorful fry that's crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Learn more about how we make our fries.

How do you make your fries?

Our World Famous Fries® are made from quality potatoes, including Russet Burbank, Ranger Russet, Umatilla Russet and the Shepody. The suppliers we work with first peel, cut and blanche the potatoes. They then dry, partially fry and quickly freeze the fries for our restaurants. Once in our kitchens, we cook them in our canola-blend oil so you can have them crispy and hot—just the way you like them. Want to hear more about our fry ingredients? Get the down low on how we flavor our fries.

 

Do you add any type of flavor when preparing your fries?

Yes. When our suppliers partially fry our cut potatoes, they use an oil blend that contains beef flavoring. This ensures the great-tasting and recognizable flavor we all love from our World Famous Fries®. The fries are cooked in our kitchens, seasoned with salt, and served hot to you. Still curious? Find out everything you want to know about McDonald's Fries.

Why are your fries so good?

If we had a dime for every time someone asked us that! We stick to a gold standard that helps us ensure we deliver you a great tasting fry. It starts with the right potatoes, which we cut exactly right, and then use a canola-blend oil with just the right amount of flavoring. Get the full run down on how we make our World Famous Fries®.

How much salt do you add to your fries?

We add a small amount of salt to our fries after we've cooked them in our kitchen. Find all the information about sodium per serving for our fries on the fries nutrition page.

What are the ingredients in your fries?

Considering the popularity of our World Famous Fries®, there's a lot of care that goes into perfecting them.

It should come as no surprise the primary ingredient for our World Famous Fries® is a great-tasting potato, including a variety of Shepody, Ranger Russet, Umatilla Russet and Russet Burbank. For their signature golden look, we add dextrose—a natural form of sugar that helps give the fries their perfect golden color. Sodium acid pyrophosphate is also added to keep the potatoes from turning gray after freezing and before they are cooked at the restaurant. This is a natural occurrence in potatoes, similar to how an apple might turn brown after being cut. In order to maintain texture, our suppliers partially fry our fries in an oil blend containing canola, soybean and hydrogenated soybean oil. Our suppliers add natural beef flavor, which includes hydrolyzed wheat and hydrolyzed milk, to the par-fry oil to contribute to that World Famous Fry taste. Citric acid is also added to preserve the freshness of the oil, as well as dimethylpolysiloxane to reduce foaming and oil splattering.

In our restaurants, we finish frying with a canola oil blend.

Right after cooking, our crew adds salt before serving hot to you. We’re really proud of our fries. That's why we make sure they’re top notch before serving them to you. Check out more facts on our World Famous Fries®.

Can I order fries without added salt?

Sure. You can still enjoy the great taste of our World Famous Fries without salt. Just ask for no salt when placing your order, and we’ll be happy to prepare a batch for you. Please understand it's possible a small amount of salt may be transferred from the bin or the scoop. Curious about how our fries are made?

Do any McDonald's stores sell curly fries?

Nope. Not in the U.S., at least.

Why are your ingredients for your fries different in the U.S. from those in the U.K.?

Every country has a way of doing things a little differently, so there are a few reasons that can influence why our ingredients vary here at home. These can include customer preferences, local regulations and guidelines, and supply chain availability. While the ingredients we use in our fries in the U.S. may differ slightly from those served across the pond, taste and safety are never compromised. 

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