It’s fall time, and that means foods for watching le football and le hockey. Also hot, quick and dirty family dinners, and lazy day stuff. These SUPER fast Texas Hold’em Chili Cheese Fries cover all those bases, because you can make a meal in about 20 minutes with what you have in your freezer and pantry.
Once the winter hits, I like making huge batches of soups, stews, and chili. They make really great pre-packaged grab and go foods for school and work lunches. But the great thing about chili is that it freezes well. Really well. So why not triple (or quadruple) your favourite home cooked chili recipe? Package any of your leftovers up in 2 cup servings, toss in the freezer, and then you’ve got chili available to eat on demand or use to make chili cheese fries whenever you feel like it!
(Speaking of which, I’ve got my mom’s meat-and-beer-lovers Tex-Mex Man Chili recipe–which coincidentally assisted in naming this recipe–over here someplace. I mean, it’s got like 6 pounds of meat in it. No, I’m not kidding.)
Maybe you’re not a big-batch chili maker. That’s OK. A can of chili from the store is about 12 oz., and since this isn’t a super high precision gourmet recipe, feel free to use a can of chili from the pantry instead of leftovers from the freezer. I won’t judge.
I would love to pretend I am a snobby food blogger who makes every meal from scratch and plates my family dinners artistically with parsley and coulis (OK, I wouldn’t). However, the truth is that like many I am a busy working mom who struggles to find enough energy some nights to cook. And I have a 7 year old son who sometimes just wants to eat fries. And sometimes the two just happen to coincide.
So when McCain Foods Canada asked me if I would like to participate in #Modifry and make something a little more out of fries, I said, HECK YES. I LOVE YOU GUYS. And that’s the truth; McCain Superfries® Straight Cut has been a solid household brand since my son’s been diagnosed with food allergies. They are good fries, and you can’t get an easier label to read than this:
- Potatoes
- Canola oil
- Sea salt
- Sodium phosphate
- Natural colour
Canadians are already expert-level #Modifry-ers. I love poutine, I do, but I seldom keep gravy (instant or otherwise) around. Fortunately I’m from the states, and we also have some classics. Texas Hold’em Chili Cheese Fries is something that should be practically a staple. Everybody can do this. You don’t need a fancy cheese sauce. All you need is fries, chili, and shredded cheese.
All the prepwork is done by the time your oven finishes preheating for the fries: set your chili in a pot on medium low, grate a double handful of cheddar, and kick back. When the fries are crispy, and the chili is piping hot, the cheddar you put on top will melt to ooey gooey softness in short order.
- 1 bag (650g) of McCain Superfries® Straight Cut
- 2 cups homemade chili (or 1 can storebought)
- 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
- Olive Oil, Salt & Pepper
- Jalapeño and scallions for garnish (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 450F.
- On a nonstick cookie sheet, toss the fries with a little bit of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 15-20 minutes, turning once, or until fries reach desired crispness.
- While fries are baking, heat up the chili in a small saucepan till simmering and hot through.
- Transfer fries to plates; top with hot chili, cheddar, and jalapeño.
Check out some other great #Modifry recipes here!
Disclosure: This post was brought to you by McCain Foods Canada. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author (me) and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of McCain Foods Canada.
Yummy!
That is all. 😀
This is a Saturday afternoon snackfest recipe, if ever there was one!
guess who is having chili fries this weekend!