Yes, you CAN make loaded cheese fries on the griddle… and you should… as soon as possible! This easy loaded cheese fries recipe uses frozen french fries, a can of nacho cheese, and your favorite fry toppings for one awesome and flavorful meal or appetizer on the flat top grill.
My wife couldn’t stop eating them, and you all know that she tries to avoid carbs, so that tells you how good these griddle cheese fries actually were. And I do have to give her a little credit on this one… it was her idea to mix the Pit Boss Nashville Hot Rub with the ranch seasoning, and it turned out great!
Here’s how to make these epic loaded cheese fries on the outdoor griddle:
Loaded Cheese French Fries Ingredients
Here are the ingredients that we used to make these easy loaded cheese fries on the griddle:
- frozen steak fries
- peanut oil – or substitute your favorite frying oil like vegetable oil
- bacon
- canned cheese sauce – We found ours in the Hispanic aisle of the grocery store.
- Pit Boss Nashville Hot Rub – or substitute your favorite buffalo or Nashville hot seasoning
- Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning packet – the kind that says “Seasoning”
- banana peppers – optional but definitely recommended!
- ranch dressing
- green onions
Can you make frozen french fries on the griddle?
Dumping a large volume of frozen food on a hot griddle is generally not a good idea. The extremely cold temperature of the food, when combined with the heat of the griddle surface, can actually shock the metal and cause your flat top to warp… and that’s no good.
But here’s why this loaded cheese fries recipe works on the flat top grill… I was careful adding the fries on the griddle and I used these tips:
- I allowed the frozen fries to sit out on the counter for about 20 minutes to take some of the chill off of them before adding them to the griddle.
- I added the frozen french fries to the griddle as the griddle was heating up… That way the griddle and the frozen food heats up together. I would not recommend adding frozen food items to your griddle if it is already hot or, for instance, if you’ve already been cooking on it for 30 minutes.
- I added the french fries to the coolest part of my griddle first so that the temperature variance was not as drastic.
- I only used one bag of fries and there was not much moisture… adding a gallon sized pitcher of ice water would be much different.
Why we chose steak fries for the griddle…
Another thing to note when making french fries on the Blackstone griddle, Pit Boss griddle, or Camp Chef flat top grill is the type of french fries you choose.
We chose to go with steak fries because they basically have two larger flat sides, so they cook more evenly on the griddle. Remember, cooking fries on the griddle is not like cooking them in the oven where they get 360 degree heat. On the griddle or flat top grill, the french fries pretty much only get contact heat when they come in contact with the griddle surface.
With the frozen steak fries, just like making pancakes or country fried steak, you can flip the fries to the second side so that both sides develop a nice and crispy golden brown color.
How to Make Loaded Cheese Fries on a Griddle
These loaded french fries on the flat top grill were super easy to make, so they would be an awesome appetizer or meal to serve during football season when you want a good greasy snack while you’re watching the game. You could also easily make these cheese fries on site at your next tailgate or whip them up for a casual Tuesday lunch like we did!
Here’s how to make our loaded cheese fries on the Blackstone, Pit Boss, or Camp Chef griddle:
Step 1: Cook the bacon and heat up the cheese sauce for your loaded cheese fries.
Add your canned cheese sauce to a small saucepan and start heating it on the griddle. Depending on which cheese sauce you use, you may also need to add a bit of half and half to thin it out a bit.
I often get asked about the dangers of putting a metal saucepan on the ceramic coated surface of the Pit Boss Ultimate Griddle, but as long as you don’t move or slide the pan around on the griddle, you should be fine. Just set the pan down on the surface and let it do its thing, then when your cheese sauce is heated through, you can remove it from the griddle. You may need to heat the sauce briefly again right before serving so that your nacho cheese is nice and melty.
Step 2: Add the french fries to the griddle.
Next, add the bag of french fries to the griddle. If you watch the YouTube video for these griddle cheese fries, you’ll notice that I slowly add the fries to the flat top, instead of just dumping the entire bag out all at once… another precautionary measure to prevent my griddle from warping.
When all of the fries are on the griddle, arrange them so that they’re in an even flat layer, just like you would if you were baking them on a cookie sheet in the oven.
Step 3: While the fries are cooking on the griddle, make your french fry seasoning.
While the bacon is cooking on the griddle and the fries are starting to heat up, go ahead and make your french fry seasoning so that it’s ready for when your fries come off the griddle.
The Pit Boss Nashville Hot Rub definitely has a kick that’ll get you in the back of the throat, and since my wife doesn’t like her food too spicy, she had the idea to combine the hot seasoning with dry ranch seasoning to mellow out the heat a bit. Plus, we had already planned on adding ranch dressing as a topping for our loaded cheese fries, so adding the dry ranch seasoning also helped to marry the flavors together.
To make the french fry seasoning, just combine Nashville Hot Rub (or substitute your favorite buffalo seasoning) with some dry ranch seasoning and stir to mix well. We ended up using about 3 tablespoons of Nashville Hot Rub to about 2 tablespoons of dry Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning, but we didn’t add the entire batch of seasoning mix to the fries… we only used about 2 1/2 tablespoons. You can adjust the mix a bit based on your taste preferences.
Just remember, when you taste the seasoning it may seem overpowering if you’re just tasting it alone. My wife was very concerned that the cheese fries would be way too spicy for her to eat, even after adding the ranch seasoning to the mix, but the spice is spread out a bit after you add it to your food product… it ended up being the perfect blend for us!
Set your seasoning to the side so that it’s ready when your french fries are done cooking on the griddle.
Step 4: Add some frying oil to the griddle and continue to cook the french fries.
If you’ve seen my YouTube video for how to make crispy hash browns on the griddle, then you know that the secret is lots of patience and lots of oil… and the same thing goes for these french fries on the griddle.
As your bacon cooks, it will produce grease… and that grease is gold for flavoring and frying your french fries.
After my frozen steak fries had a chance to heat up a bit, I added a bit of peanut oil to the griddle surface directly in with the bacon grease. Then I used that oil and grease combo to lightly coat the fries. Gently toss the fries in the oil and then spread them back out in an even layer on the flat top grill.
Then, just continue to cook your french fries on the griddle until they’re done to your liking. If you’re using steak fries, you can also flip them between the two sides to get a nice, even golden color. The very, very light coating of oil will help them to get a bit crispy as well.
Step 5: Season the french fries with your Nashville Hot Rub and ranch mix.
Immediately when the french fries are done cooking, transfer them to a large bowl. Then add some of the french fry seasoning mix and toss. You want to work quickly so that the dry seasoning sticks to the residual hot oil on the outside of the fries.
We added about 2 1/2 tablespoons of the seasoning mix to our french fries… add more or less based on your spice tolerance.
Step 6: Assemble your loaded cheese fries and serve!
These awesome loaded cheese fries are almost ready to serve! Just pile them on a plate and top with your favorite toppings. We also sprinkled a bit more of the seasoning mix on top of the finished cheese fries. Here’s the finished product:
Other Toppings for Loaded Cheese Fries
The possibilities are endless when it comes to toppings for loaded cheese fries! Here are some other suggestions to get your imagination going:
- buffalo sauce
- blue cheese dressing
- blue cheese crumbles
- white queso cheese dip
- fresh or jarred jalapeno peppers
- sour cream
- barbecue sauce
- leftover pulled pork
Griddle Loaded Cheese Fries Recipe
Feel free to print this recipe card out and add it to your list of dang flavorful appetizers to make on the griddle:
Loaded Cheese Fries
Ingredients
- 28 oz. bag frozen steak fries
- 5 slices bacon
- 15 oz. can nacho cheese
- 2 tablespoons half and half or milk if needed to thin out cheese sauce
- 3 tablespoons Pit Boss Nashville Hot Rub
- 2 tablespoons dry Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning
- peanut oil or vegetable oil for frying
- ranch dressing for topping
- banana peppers for topping
- sliced green onions for topping
Instructions
- Set bag of frozen french fries out on the counter for about 20 minutes before adding to the griddle.
- Preheat griddle on low. As the griddle is heating, add can of cheese sauce to a small saucepan and heat on the griddle. If needed, add a few tablespoons of half and half or milk to the cheese sauce to thin to desired consistency. When cheese sauce is heated through, remove it from the griddle and set to the side.
- Before the griddle is too hot, add french fries to the coolest side of the griddle a few at a time, spreading them out into an even layer to begin cooking.
- Add bacon to the griddle and begin to cook.
- While french fries start to heat up, add Nashville Hot Rub and dry Ranch seasoning to a small bowl and stir to combine. Set seasoning to the side.
- Cook bacon until done. Then transfer cooked bacon to a cutting board to cool.
- Add about 1/2 – 3/4 cup peanut oil to the leftover bacon grease on the griddle. Spread french fries into the oil and mix to coat. You want the french fries to have a thin coat of oil on them.
- Spread french fries back out into an even layer and continue to cook, turning and moving them often until crispy. When french fries are almost done cooking, reheat cheese sauce in the saucepan on griddle if needed.
- When french fries are done, transfer them to a large bowl. Add about 2 – 3 tablespoons of the seasoning mix and toss to coat the fries. Add more seasoning mix if desired.
- Transfer seasoned french fries to a plate and top with cheese sauce, crumbled bacon, sliced green onions, ranch dressing, and banana peppers. Sprinkle a bit more seasoning mix on top of finished fries if you wish.
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