The Reason Checkers Fries Taste So Good

If you've ever rolled through a Checkers drive-thru — or Rally's, there's no real difference anymore between Checkers and Rally's restaurants — and been handed that paper bag full of steaming-hot french fries, you know that they are something special. These aren't just your run-of-the-mill fried potato sticks, these are tender stalks of pure magic wrapped in a crisp, warm-hued crust that surely should have landed them at the top of the ranking of the best fast food french fries. Their absence from the competition is the only viable explanation. But what exactly is it that makes the standard fast food side dish from this chain so remarkable? The sorcery, it turns out, is in the chain's signature fry batter.

Ryan Joy, a senior director of research and development for Checker's restaurants spilled the beans over on Fast Casual, explaining exactly what makes the brand's fries so delicious. "Unlike most french fries, which are simply cut from potatoes and tossed in a deep fryer, Checkers & Rally's fries are coated in a seasoned fry batter," he explained. And while he didn't quite give away all of the secrets, he did give us some insight into how it's made, "The batter is created from a mixture of flours, starches and 15 different herbs and spices."

Finding the right mixture to perfectly replicate these "most-craveable" fries — that's the opinion of Restaurant Business, not just ours — is no small task, given the complexity of the recipe, but that hasn't stopped many recipe developers from trying. But there's an even easier solution out there: Just buy them frozen.

That's right, those same beloved fries are also in the freezer section of your local grocery store. Checkers and Rally's take their fries very seriously, and for the sake of consistency across the brand, that means that all of the fries in the restaurants are packaged pre-seasoned and frozen. "The freezing of the fries keeps them consistent and delicious at every restaurant," Ryan Joy said in the Fast Casual article, "ready to be served to hot, crispy perfection after a quick dip in the fryer."

Now, user results of the frozen potato product are a bit less universally wonderful than the fries one gets at the restaurant, so there is some room for doubt. For example, the pre-packaged frozen fries only came in seventh in our ranking of the best frozen french fry brands, with the reviewer noting that they were surprisingly bland. Does that mean that the fast food chain is saving the best for itself? Probably not. More likely, it is just down to user error.

You see, despite being a fairly standard burger joint, the fries really have become the flagship product of Checkers and Rally's restaurants. And it doesn't mess around. The menu is designed to highlight the fries, and all Checkers and Rally's employees receive specialized training to make sure that they prepare them just right. The fryer may be the big divergence here, as home cooks are much more likely to bake the frozen fries than toss them into a pot of oil. So, if your local Checkers or Rally's is too long a drive, the frozen fries are a perfect alternative. And if they don't quite hit the mark, you can always try one of these ways to add flavor to homemade fries.