Here's Exactly How Many Ingredients Go Into In-N-Out's Famous Fries

If you know anything about how fast food is made on a large scale, you'll be aware that the ingredients are never as straightforward as they might seem, even for something as simple as fries. And while nutritional and allergy information is required, the exact ingredients aren't always made available. It was it was only in mid-2025 that In-N-Out published a full list of ingredients, which might lead you to think they have something to hide.

With the fries, there's really not much to it, with just six ingredients: potatoes, sunflower oil, dimethylpolysiloxane, and a seasoning made from salt, pepper, and canola oil. The ingredient that probably jumps out at you here is dimethylpolysiloxane. It's not added to the fries themselves, but to the cooking oil. It's a food-grade anti-foaming agent that helps to prevent splattering for the safety of staff.

You'll notice there are no preservatives on the list, as In-N-Out proudly joins the list of restaurants that make their fries from fresh-cut potatoes. Such a fresh and simple recipe might be one of the brand's claims to fame, but it unfortunately hasn't done much for the popularity of In-N-Out fries, which have mixed reviews at best. One critic for the LA Times ranked them dead last for fast-food fries, and restaurateur David Chang blamed out-of-season potatoes for the uninspiring taste at Vulture Festival in 2019.

The animal style fries are a different story, but this is undoubtedly less about the base and more about the toppings. The six-ingredient fries are embellished with grilled onions, cheese, and secret spread, which alone contains 24 ingredients.

A list of six ingredients might be considered minimal for fast food, but it does contradict the way In-N-Out markets its fries. An Instagram post from January 2024 promoting the freshness of the fries stated that they are cooked in 100% sunflower oil. This could lead you to assume that the anti-foaming agent is only a recent addition, but the main menu of the In-N-Out website still makes the same 100% sunflower oil claim. It's only by seeking out the ingredients list that you see all the details, along with the statement, "We are proud of the quality of our ingredients, but we are working on opportunities to make further improvements."

So how do these fries compare to other chains? Taking a look at our own ranking for the best fast food fries, it's interesting to see just how much can go into a seemingly simple side dish. Our top pick, Wendy's, uses only sea salt as a seasoning, but the fries themselves have added starches, leavening agents, and preservatives, as well as dimethylpolysiloxane. McDonald's famously adds beef flavoring to its fries to get that classic taste, but the recipe also involves a blend of four different cooking oils and the addition of dextrose, a type of sugar, to help browning. Another favorite, Burger King, has a similar ingredient list to Wendy's. These are seasoned simply with salt but have additives that help provide a better texture. So, while the most popular fries have a much longer list of ingredients, including the same anti-foaming agent, they also aren't making any contradictory claims.