Excuse me for a moment while I lick the parmesan cheese off my fingers and the lemony aioli from my knuckles. Once you make these, you'll understand why every little crispy morsel must be eaten and nothing should be wasted. Which isn't difficult at all considering how insanely delish these fries are.
I'm almost embarrassed to admit it but within 2.37 minutes of me putting the camera down my handsome man and I had polished off that entire plate. Yep, the whole thing. We called it dinner.
My favourite part about these fries is the lemony garlic mayo. It tastes so fresh and light and plain ol' YUM.
My other favourite part (I can have more than one favourite part, right?) is how each fry is both crispy and soft on different ends. You know how usually the outside of a French fry is crispy and the centre is soft? Well with these you get both, only on either ends. It's kinda awesome.
They're tricky little things to eat and probably not something you'd want to make if you're trying to impress someone with your impeccable table manners.
Remember Hickory Sticks? On the very rare occasion that I was allowed to have a treat from the vending machine when I was a kid I would always choose those salty, smoky and impossible to eat snacks. They would take me what felt like hours to eat, one little stick at at time. I'd try to eat more than one at a time but it always seemed absurdly difficult since the sticks would jut out in every direction from the fingers I picked them up with.
These fries are a little like that, only now I've figured out how to eat a bunch at once.
They are also a little tricky to cook. I won't lie. The tricky part is to make sure they are cooked without burning a bunch of them. Once they brown they will burn really easily as they're so small. You're going to want to keep a very close eye on them near the end and remove any from the pan that are brown and crispy, just to be safe.
Also, make sure you don't overload the pan you're cooking them on. If you have a small oven you will probably have to cook these in a few batches. If you pile them up on the pan they'll steam rather than crisp, which you definitely don't want.
I know these are French fries, or err, shoestring fries, but I think they would be great at breakfast too. With some eggs and bacon by their side they'd seem a lot like hash browns. ♥
You will need a mandolin to cut these fries, unless you have some super duper extra human knife skill. If you can cut a potato this thin with nothing but your knife you are my hero. I bow down to you. For the rest of us regular ol' humans a mandolin is where it's at.
If you make Baked Parmesan Rosemary Shoestring Fries with Lemony Garlic Mayo, make sure to snap a pic and tag @theendlessmeal on Instagram so I can like and comment on your photos. I love seeing TEM recipes you create.
- 1 ½ lb. Russet potatoes
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh rosemary
- ½ teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
- ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Chopped parsley, for garnish
- ½ cup mayonnaise (do NOT use Miracle Whip)
- Zest from 1 lemon - a Microplane works great here
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 medium garlic clove, grated with a Microplane or very finely minced
- A pinch of sea salt
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line 2 - 13"x18" baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scrub the potatoes and dry them well. There's no need to peel them. Using a ⅛" blade on your mandolin cut the potatoes into julienne strips. Place the strips into a large bowl, add the olive oil and rosemary and toss to coat well.
- Divide the fries between the two prepared baking sheets and place them in the oven. Cook for 20 minutes then remove the pans from the oven flip the fries with a pair of tongs. Return the fries to the oven and put the pans on opposite racks (the one that was on the top put it on the bottom).
- Cook the fries for another 10-15 minutes but check the fries every 5 minutes and remove any that are quite brown.
- The fries are done when about half of them are crispy and brown. Remove the fries from the oven, add any fries you had removed earlier and sprinkle them with the parmesan cheese.
- Whisk together all the ingredients for the mayo in a small bowl. Set it aside in your fridge until you are ready to serve it.
Kristen Stevens
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Hi, I’m Kristen! 
They’re my favourite too!! Thanks you!
I’m so happy you liked them!!
Cooking this right now! My family like it!
That makes me so happy to hear! Hooray!
STOP. These look INCREDIBLE. I’m not a huge fry person, but it’s only because I can never find any thin enough (that’s how I really love them). These, though. These are dangerous!
I totally agree with you about thin fries. They’re my favourite too!!
I didn’t make the aioli, but I loved the rest of the recipe. This is quick, tasty and would make for a great breakfast or dinner side dish.
Thank you so much for the feedback! So happy you liked the recipe. 🙂
Hi Kristen,
you made such a nice twist on a classic dish with that lemon mayo – I love it!
Thank you so much, Jasmin!
You had me at lemony garlic mayo! This looks soooo good. And you have such beautiful photos!
Thank you so much, Kara!
So excited about this recipe because getting my fries “shoestring” size has always eluded me. Can’t wait to try this out for myself!
Hope you love them as much as I do!!
I just stumbled upon this recipe and have to say that it looks wonderful. Your photos are lovely. Definitely giving them a try soon. If it weren’t so late, I’d bust out a pan now!
Thank you so much, Amanda!