This truffle fries recipe uses simple ingredients and rich truffle flavor for an easy, restaurant-style appetizer everyone loves!
Ever ordered truffle fries at a restaurant and wanted to recreate them at home? My Parmesan truffle fries recipe is every bit as good as a restaurant…in many cases, better!
I am obsessed with truffles so I’ve ordered these a lot: and often they don’t have quite the right flavor. Turns out, making crispy truffle fries at home is really easy and just ass delicious! All you need is a good quality truffle oil and they come out crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and perfectly salted with a subtle hint of earthy truffle.
Why You’ll Love These Truffle Fries
Black truffle is one of my favorite flavors in the world. It’s so earthy and intoxicating, and gives me nostalgia reminding me of my travels to Italy. So of course I had to create a truffle fries recipe! Here’s why you’ll love it:
- Satisfying and delicious: I actually think these are better than many restaurants: they have that signature truffle aroma and rich Parmesan
- Simple ingredients: Just russet potatoes, olive oil, all-natural truffle oil, Parmesan cheese, and sea salt
- Healthier than deep fried: These truffle fries bake in the oven instead cooking in a deep fryer
5 Star Reader Review
“I ordered the truffle oil – these were FANTASTIC!!!” -Anonymous
What are Truffle Fries?
Truffle fries are French fries mixed with truffle flavoring. Typically the flavor comes from with truffle oil, though some restaurants may use shaved real truffle. Black and white truffles are a type of fungi; unlike mushrooms, they grow underground and don’t have a visible stem.
Truffles are earthy, intoxicating, and infuse an intriguing flavor to anything they touch. They’re very expensive because they’re difficult to harvest, making them all the more desirable! Hunters actually take specially trained dogs and pigs out to hunt for truffles to find their scent underground. So truffle-infused oil is the most accessible way to enjoy the flavor of truffles.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here’s what you’ll need for this recipe:
- Russet potatoes: I’ve found that russet potatoes create the best texture for fries: they’re crispy outside, fluffy inside. Yukon gold potatoes work but don’t get as crispy.
- Olive oil: For coating the cut potatoes before baking.
- All-natural truffle oil: The star ingredient! Black truffle oil or white truffle oil both work—see my brand recommendations below.
- Parmesan cheese: Freshly grated Parmesan cheese or Pecorino Romano add salty, nutty flavor
- Chunky sea salt: Flaky sea salt for finishing adds texture and an extra pop.
About Truffle Oil
You may have heard some controversy around using truffle oil: chefs have often turned up their noses at it. Why? Until recently, most truffle oils available to the everyday home cook were synthetic (in America, at least). Synthetic oils only mimic flavors found in real truffles, and are often extremely strong.
However, there are finally some great all-natural truffle oil options on the market! This type of truffle oil is made with pieces of actual truffles and is not synthetic. Use all natural truffle oil for these Parmesan truffle fries if at all possible! Here are some great brands (we’re not affiliated):
- TRUFF: Our favorite is TRUFF Truffle Oil: it has a rich black truffle flavor that is more intense than most all natural oils.
- Urbani: Another good option is Urbani’s white truffle oil. It’s made in Italy, all natural and with real truffle pieces inside and nothing synthetic. It has a fantastic, subtle truffle aroma.
Tips for Crispy, Flavorful Truffle Fries
Here are a few of my tips for the best truffle fries:
- Master hand-cutting your fries. Chopping fries requires a bit of technique, and it’s easiest to show rather than tell. Head to How to Cut Potatoes into Fries or watch the video below.
- Bake with the fries far apart on the baking sheet. Keeping fries them as far apart on the baking sheets allows for the best airflow, which makes for the crispiest fries. Pile the fries on top of each other and they turn soggy and steamed.
- Find a good all-natural truffle oil. An all natural truffle oil is much higher quality with better flavor than a synthetic oil. If all you can find is synthetic, you can still use it! Just drizzle a little less than stated in the recipe, because the flavor is much stronger.
Serving Ideas
These Parmesan truffle fries work as an appetizer or side dish. Of course, they’re great with burgers (like my salmon burger or portobello burgers).
For dipping sauces, try my garlic aioli or lemon aioli (I would recommend my truffle aioli, but that would probably be too much truffle!).
They’re great for a game day snack, dinner parties, or date night.
Storing Leftovers
Truffle fries are best served fresh and hot. If you do have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
To reheat, spread them on a baking sheet and warm in a 400°F oven for 8-10 minutes. This helps restore some of their crispiness; it also works well to reheat them in an air fryer.
Dietary Notes
This Parmesan truffle fries recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free. For plant-based, dairy-free and vegan, omit the Parmesan cheese.
Frequently Asked Questions
While truffle oil creates the signature flavor, you can approximate it by using truffle salt instead. Sprinkle truffle salt on your fries along with regular Parmesan for a similar effect.
Some specialty stores also sell truffle butter, which works beautifully melted over hot fries. If you’re feeling fancy, you could shave actual black truffle onto the fries! But for restaurant-style truffle fries, truffle oil is really the way to go.
The most popular choice is aioli, either plain garlic aioli or truffle aioli to enhance the truffle flavor. Other common options include lemon mayo, herb mayo, spicy mayo, or a tangy mustard sauce. Some restaurants serve them with ranch dressing or ketchup, though I find those flavors compete with the delicate truffle. My personal favorite is aioli.
It depends on what you’re after! Deep fried fries cooked in hot oil have delicious crispiness and that classic French fry texture. Baked fries and air fry methods use less oil, reducing calories, saturated fat, and cholesterol.
I find that properly baked truffle fries at high heat get crispy enough that most people love them, especially once you add the truffle oil and Parmesan. The air fryer is crispier than oven-baked but not quite as crispy as deep fried, with minimal oil needed.
Parmesan Truffle Fries
This truffle fries recipe uses simple ingredients and rich truffle flavor for an easy, restaurant-style appetizer everyone loves!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: French
Ingredients
- 2 pounds russet potatoes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons all-natural truffle oil or to taste with a synthetic truffle oil (Important! See Note)*
- Parmesan or Pecorino, freshly grated (omit for vegan)
- Chunky sea salt, for garnish
- Chopped chives, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- Cut the potatoes into fries (watch this video!): Wash the potatoes, leaving the skins on. Slice off the ends of each potato, then slice off part of the side to make a base. Place the potato half cut side down and cut off a ¼-inch slice, then lay the slice on its side and cut it into several long strips. Repeat until all potatoes have been cut into fries. The pieces can be uneven, but aim for as uniform of thickness as possible. See the video for full instructions.
- Place the fries in a large bowl with the olive oil and kosher salt. Mix thoroughly to combine.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Spread the fries on the paper, placing them as far apart as possible.
- Bake the fries for 15 minutes. Take them out of the oven and flip them. Reduce the heat to 400°F.
- Reverse the trays in the oven and bake another 10 minutes until the fries are crisp and golden brown, watching carefully as the cooking time can depend on the fry thickness and oven. (If the majority of the fries seem soft, continue to bake a few more minutes.)
- Remove the baking sheets from the oven. Drizzle with the truffle oil (note that if your bottle does not say “all natural,” drizzle to taste — it’s much stronger than all natural, so don’t use the quantity listed.) Add chunky sea salt, crushing it with your fingers as you sprinkle. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and chives. Serve immediately (fries become softer as they sit). If making in advance, omit Step 7, then reheat the fries in a 400°F oven and perform Step 7.
Notes
*If you use an all natural truffle oil like Urbani natural truffle oil, the flavor is more subtle, so you’ll need more than if you use a synthetic oil. If you buy a truffle oil that is not marked with “natural flavor” anywhere on the package, it will be stronger. Drizzle it on to taste.
