Also on Recipezaar: www.recipezaar.com/recipe/in-n-out-animal-style-fries-baked-421393

This is something I’ve been working on for the past couple of days and I thought I’d share.

Most West Coasters are familiar with the popular burger chain In-N-Out and most of that crowd is familiar with their secret menu. My favourite item on that menu are the absolutely delicious animal style fries. I’ve grown a habit of making my favourite fast food items at home as of late but I couldn’t find a recipe for these anywhere online. They didn’t seem that difficult to make so I decided to give it a shot.

Mmmmm….

Here’s how to do it:

Special Sauce

You’re going to want to make this first, probably the night before. It’s easily scalable so you can make as much or as little as you want. I made a bunch and reclaimed a ketchup bottle when I made mine. It’s almost analogous to McDonald’s secret sauce they use on Big Macs though a bit less sweet. I grabbed the Big Mac sauce recipe from here but I’ll be adjusting the amounts slightly for In-N-Out style.

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp French dressing
• 3 tsp sweet pickle relish
• 1 tbsp finely minced white onion
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 3/4 tsp sugar
• 1/8 salt
• small bowl

Mix them all together in a small bowl, stir well. Leave it refrigerated overnight. Stir a couple times as it chills.

Fries

Using my deep fryer is a bit of an ordeal and I’m out of oil as of the time of writing this so I decided to bake them instead.

• 1 large Russet potato
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1-2 tsp ground black pepper (optional, to taste)
• 1-2 slices of American cheese
• 1 slice of white onion
• sealable sandwich bag
• baking sheet
• small pan
• a roll of parchment paper

Preheat your oven to 400º.
Get a small pot, fill it about halfway with water (enough for a sliced potato) and heat it up to a boil.
While you’re waiting for that, cut the potato lengthwise into 1/4″ slices (I’m a fry fiend so I bought a slicer for this very purpose).
Once the water reaches a rolling boil, put the fresh potato slices in, leaving them for 2 1/2 minutes.
After your timer goes off drain the water with a strainer and put the slices on some paper towels to soak up some of the water. This whole process is to get rid of excess starch.

After they’re cooled down, mix the olive oil, the salt and pepper (if you choose) in the plastic bag. Put the potato slices in the bag, seal it and give it a good shake.
Once they’re all coated get a baking pan out and cover it with parchment paper. Place the coated slices on the parchment paper and try your best to make sure they don’t quite touch. In the oven they go.

Your oven may vary but I’ve found they get all golden brown and crispylike after about 30-35 minutes. After about 15 you’re going to want to check them and give them a good flipping. If you do end up using parchment paper this is easy, just lift it up one side at a time, making your very neat presentation descend into chaos, and then make them all flat again.

Once your fries are just about to the level of doneness as you want them, its time for onions!
Get a nice white onion and cut a reasonable slice off of it, about as much as you think would cover the amount of fries you’re going to have.
Chop it into small pieces but not too small, not talking mincing here.
Heat up a pan coated with a bit of olive oil to about medium heat and put your chopped onions in.
Cook them until they’re dark brown but not quite blackened. Once they start to turn brown they’ll get brown pretty quickly so watch out, it will only take a few minutes.

If you time this right the fries will be done a bit before the onions will be.
After you’re satisfied with the crispyness of the fries, take them out and place them on whatever you choose, plate, bowl, basket, whatever.
Once you’ve done that put a slice or two of the American cheese on top (I like to almost completely cover them but not overlap) and put it in the microwave for roughly 30 seconds or until the cheese melts, whichever comes first.
Its onion time! Spread the onions you just finished cooking on top of the almost complete fries.
And now, the final moment. Take the special sauce you made yesterday out of the fridge and pour however much you want all over the fries.

Stand back for a second and take in the absurd amount of awesome you just created with your own two hands before you savour the few minutes that it will take you to devour this culinary masterpiece.

When I get more oil, I’d like to give frying these a shot. If you get to that before I do, let me know. I’d love to hear how they turned out.

Enjoy!