How To Order Culver's DIY Poutine

Poutine is Canada's unofficial national food for a reason. The warm, salty, savory combination of fries, cheese curds, and gravy is hard to beat. If you don't live near a place that serves it, you could try your hand at making your own with our easy traditional Canadian poutine recipe. But some genius realized that fast food giant Culver's has all the elements on its menu. With a little ordering know-how and menu-finagling pizzazz, you too can have Culver-ized poutine.

Reddit user Big-Sheepherder-6134 laid out the steps to ordering your DIY Culver's poutine, ratios and all. Obviously, things like the sizes and the amount of gravy you pour on are customizable, but this is a great starting point. They wrote that you should order medium fries, medium cheese curds, two cups of beef gravy (or chicken, if beef isn't available), and make sure you ask for a boat and a fork in order to assemble your poutine. It's not exactly traditional. In true Canadian poutine, the cheese curds aren't fried, and the fries aren't crinkle cut. But those little variations no doubt make for a delicious dish.

First, you may be wondering where on the Culver's menu you can find gravy, and the answer isn't actually straightforward. It's not listed under sauces and dressings, but there is a side of mashed potatoes and gravy available. According to Redditors, the type of gravy available may depend on the day and/or the location. They'll most likely either have beef or chicken. The good news is that either work beautifully when poured over hot fries and cheese curds. 

Next, you may want to level-up your Culver's poutine by using a two-word ordering trick. Ask for your fries and/or cheese curds "well done" or "extra crispy." They'll be left in the fryer for just a little longer than standard, giving them even more of a crunch, which will make their texture hold up nicely to all that gravy. 

If you want to take it to a whole new protein-packed realm, add chopped chicken tenders, a burger patty, pot roast, or even corned beef, which are all on the menu in various value basket or sandwich forms. Traditional poutine doesn't have meat, but there are tons of varieties out there, even including duck poutine, so consider this your invitation to go wild. Your taste buds will thank you.