Salt And Pepper On Fries Is Boring. Try Seasoning Fries The Australian Way

With their crisp exterior and pillowy, potato-packed interior, fries are a go-to comfort food, but if you've just been tossing salt and pepper on them and calling it a day, you're missing out. Sure, you could level up your fries with toppings like cheese or gravy, but the secret to truly incredible fries lies in perfectly seasoning the fries themselves. Whether you're upgrading homemade fries or adding a twist to frozen fries, consider sprinkling some chicken salt atop your next batch — that's what the Aussies do.

For those who haven't yet encountered it, chicken salt was created in the 1970s by an Australian named Peter Brinkworth. Brinkworth's family owned a wholesale warehouse with a small chicken shop attached, and he crafted the mouthwatering seasoning blend as a way to entice customers to snatch up the roasted, ready-to-eat chicken they were selling. While Brinkworth mixed up his own batches of the seasoning, it soon transcended chicken and became more of an all-purpose spice blend. The Aussie food manufacturer Mitani brought chicken salt to retail shelves in 1979, making it possible for anyone to recreate the Aussie comfort food staple at home.

Since both chicken and fries are naturally on the bland side, they each benefit from the punch of flavor chicken salt delivers. The seasoning is beloved because of how it adds not just saltiness, but a bit of umami flair and even a hint of sweetness.

While he didn't remember the exact proportions of all the spices and seasonings used in his memorable mixture, Brinkworth didn't gatekeep the ingredients within the original chicken salt. As he himself revealed, the blend included garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, MSG, celery salt, chicken bouillon, and curry powder.

Now, there are several retailers around the world that sell chicken salt as a ready-made seasoning blend, but it's not hard to mix up your own. A perk to making your own chicken salt is that you can adjust the ingredients specifically to your preferred flavor profile. The chicken stock powder/bouillon should be the largest quantity in your blend — about a tablespoon is a good place to start. Then, you can mix in roughly 1 teaspoon of onion powder, ½ teaspoon of garlic powder, and ½ teaspoon of sweet paprika. If your chicken stock is a salt-free variety, you may consider adding some salt to taste, but many chicken stock blends already contain a fair amount of salt, so check the packaging. The celery salt and curry powder found in the original mix are stronger flavors, so you may want to keep these quantities smaller, about ¼ teaspoon of each. 

If you're interested in trying a vegetarian version, simply swap out the chicken stock powder for a vegetable stock powder — it will have a different taste, but should still add some major flavor to your fries. For best results, liberally sprinkle the chicken salt on your fries when they are still piping hot, as it'll cling to the fries better.