Oven Baked Garlic Parmesan Fries

Baked instead of fried, and seasoned well, these Oven Baked Garlic Parmesan Fries are a fun twist on the traditional potato side dish.

When I began this blog in 2012, I did it mainly for myself and the handful of friends who read it. About a year ago, I met April of Uncookiecutter when she and her family moved to town. She’s a fellow blogger who is doing amazing work in decorating and renovating their home and, more importantly, she’s become a great friend. She pushed me to get more involved with social media, to switch blog platforms, and also to up my photo game. I started with the social media, joining all of them last summer. I finally gave in and switched blog platforms over the Christmas holidays, and started upgrading my pictures very soon afterwards. Switching the platform was by far the hardest. I liken it to doing a house renovation on your own, rather than calling “the guy”. It’s painful, but such a feeling of accomplishment in the end.  I had to switch and update nearly 300 posts, which was almost a full-time job because I was also adding new posts at the same time.

As I went through the switching process, I noticed 2 significant things: 1) my writing has improved dramatically, and b) some of my early pictures were horrible. I always took pictures of my food, but I never put enough care or focus into them. Heck, in some of the pictures look like I drank a bottle of tequila first. I always knew in the back of my mind that I needed better pictures, but it wasn’t until I got heavily into social media that I saw how much better other food blogger’s photos were. However, I did find a silver lining. I’m going back and making recipes, many of which I had forgotten about or not made in ages. And because I only started pushing my blog on social media last summer, the majority of my older posts are brand new to my followers. I’m also now obsessed with PicMonkey to do all the photo editing.

I love potatoes, but I often find myself getting into the rut of rotating a few of my favorites. Yes, that goes completely against the purpose of the blog. But when I do find those recipes that I love, it’s very easy to go back to them time and again. Besides, there are literally tons of potato recipes on Pinterest.

I first made these is Oven Baked Garlic Parmesan Fries within just a few weeks of starting the blog. You know that whole thing about bad pictures??

I don’t know what I was thinking, and why I remotely thought this was a good enough picture.

This was one of those recipes I totally forgot about until I started making upgrades back in December. And even then, I forgot again until about a month ago. I knew at that point it was time for a redo, with a couple of my own twists

These Oven Baked Garlic Parmesan Fries are wonderful! And the best part is, they are super easy to make. The outside is so nice and crispy, and the inside has this fantastic creamy texture. I bought a mandolin about a year ago, but I always forget about it. So I cut the potatoes by hand, and they weren’t completely uniform. But I used the sharpest knife I had, and I have to say I did a pretty good job. The original recipe uses a crimped knife to get ripples. I don’t have a crimped knife, but I will have to check my mandolin and see if I have one of those blades.

I really liked the flavor of the potatoes. The combination of Panko, parmesan, and herbs makes the potatoes pop. The potatoes are baked instead of fried, and use very little oil, so they are also low in calories. I added some dried herbs into the Panko mix, but I think fresh herbs would work equally well, and probably add a bigger punch of flavor. The parsley garnish on top brightened the entire dish.

I’m glad I rediscovered these Oven Baked Garlic Parmesan Fries. I’m keeping these near the top of the list, and they will definitely be on my regular rotation as a side dish or snack.