How To Reheat Fries In The Microwave

There is no denying the fact the fries are one of the most loved foods around, especially in the states. Many takeout options come with fries, and cooking up some at home is easy and delicious.

Many people don’t bother with day-old fries, as they never seem to warm them up properly. But leftover fries can be the perfect snack for any time of the day, but you just need to know how to reheat them properly.

When you get the sudden craving for fries and have some leftover in your fridge, you don’t want to have to wait for ages for the oven to heat up, or dirty more dishes on the stove than you need to.

If you want to keep it quick and easy, you can always give your leftover fries a quick “zap.”

How do you reheat fries in the microwave? To reheat fries in the microwave, let them reach room temperature first, then layer the fries on paper towels and reheat them in 20-second intervals. Add some extra moisture to ensure they do not dry out. You can also use a microwave crisper tray to bring back their crispiness and crunch.

Whether or not you have a crisper tray, you can reheat fries in the microwave in next to no time at all!

Reheating Fries In The Microwave

You will need to follow a few steps to ensure that the fries still taste great when reheated in the microwave, and not be too soggy, or too dry.

When reheating fries in the microwave, you need to add a little extra moisture. For fries, you should do this with olive oil.

By drizzling some olive oil over the fries before placing them in the microwave, there will be a better chance that they turn out crispy rather than soggy.

Olive oil is the key to ensuring that you don’t have soggy, wet fries out of the microwave. You can also use vegetable oil if you don’t have olive oil.

Here is how to reheat fries in the microwave:

1. Remove the fries from the refrigerator and let them sit out at room temperature for 15 minutes.
2. Place down two or three paper towels onto a microwave-safe plate.
3. Place the fries onto the paper towels, but make sure to spread them out so that they aren’t touching or overlapping. 
4. Drizzle some olive oil or vegetable oil over the fries, just enough to give them a light coating.
5. Place the plate with the fries into the microwave and microwave them on high for 20-seconds at a time until they have reached the right temperature.
6. Once heated to the right temperature, remove the fries from the microwave, remove the paper towels, and let the fries cool before eating.

Using a microwave to reheat fries is the quickest way to get it done. You don’t have to wait for anything to pre-heat, and you can leave your fries in the microwave for mere seconds for them to be heated up.

The only problem with using the microwave is that the fries might turn soggy if you do not prepare them properly.

However, you just need to drizzle some olive oil and place the fries flat on a paper-towel-lined plate to ensure they turn out as delicious as possible!

Microwave Crisper Trays

The answer to properly crisping up fries in a microwave is by using microwave crisper trays.

Microwave crisper trays are specifically designed to help crisp the outside of foods when the food is being cooked or reheated in the microwave.

This works to prevent the usual soft and mushy food you get as a result of using a microwave.

Using a microwave crisper tray will allow your fries to have a crispy crunch, which just makes them taste so much better. The trays heat the food from the bottom, which helps with the crispiness.

Different microwave crisper trays have their own instructions on how to use them to achieve the best results, but most work the same.

With a few variations unique to the crisper tray you use, you can follow the below steps to have crispy reheated fries in the microwave in no time at all:

1. Remove the fries from the fridge.
2. Preheat the crisper tray in the microwave according to the instructions, but this usually involves preheating for around 3-4 minutes. Preheating the crisper tray helps to transfer heat directly towards the outside of the fries, which crisps it up while the rest of the fries heat up throughout.
3. Place the fries in a single layer on the crisper tray, leaving space between each fry if possible. You might have to do two or more batches depending on how many fries you are heating up, and the size of your microwave and crisper tray.
4. Drizzle some olive oil or vegetable oil onto the fries, but only a little bit, you don’t want to soak them in oil.
5. Heat the fries in the microwave for around 30 seconds before checking. If they have started to crisp up, flip them over, and repeat. The side of the fries which touch the crisper tray will brown and turn crispy, so you might have to flip the fries a few times to get them crispy all around.
6. Use the crisper tray attachable handle or an oven mitt to remove the crisper tray from the microwave once the fries are ready. Leave them to cool a little and then transfer them to a plate to enjoy them.

Crisper trays are the easy answer to reheating fries in the microwave, without worrying about the fries becoming too soft.

Most of us prefer not to eat soggy, soft fries, but do not have the right tools to quickly heat up fries without them becoming mushy.

The crisper tray works by being pre-heated so that once you place the fries onto the tray, the heat transfers to the fries to crisp them out, while the microwave still does the standard reheating throughout the fries.

Some crisper fries come with grooves, holes, or even in a grill shape.

The air pockets that form between the fries and the crisper tray create an effect similar to broiling, which focusses more intense heat to the surface of the food rather than an even heat that sinks to the center of the fries.

One other option you have with a crisper tray is to use one with a lid. This allows the fries to cook solely from the heat generated by the crisper, and without the microwave energy.

This is better suited for very thin fries that don’t need too much to heat throughout. The fries will still heat up quickly and easily, and be crispy and crunchy

How Long Can You Keep Fries Before Reheating Them?

Like all food, fries can only be kept in the fridge for so long before they become unsafe to eat.

When kept in the fridge, fries should be stored in a shallow, airtight container. Alternatively, they can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil.

If stored properly this way, the fries can be kept in the fridge for between 3 to 5 days.

Once you reheat fries, you should not reheat them again. This runs this risk of bacteria growth, no matter how hot you reheat them in the microwave.

To be safe, keep the fries in the fridge, stored properly for up to 5 days, and only reheat them once.

Related Questions

What is the best way to reheat fries?

The best way to reheat fries would be in the oven.

However, this takes considerably longer. You can have your fries warmed up and eaten with a microwave in the same time it would have taken to just preheat the oven.

Using a crisper tray allows you to get the fries just as crispy as they would be from reheating in the oven, and still heated throughout, but in a fraction of the time.

Why do cold fries taste different?

Temperature plays a big role when it comes to the taste of foods. The taste of fries change as the fries cool down, and when the fries are warmer, the flavors are heightened.

Can I reheat takeout fries?

Takeout fries can be reheated just like normal fries.

Add some olive oil to the fries if you are placing them in the microwave, but make sure to dab off any extra oil so they do not become too soggy, and lay paper towels down under the fries to absorb any oils.

Remember that you cannot be too sure about the age or handling of takeaway fries, so don’t keep them as long as you would keep fries you have cooked yourself.

Reheating Fries In The Microwave

Using a crisper tray, you can reheat fries in the microwave which still have that delicious crispiness. If you do not have a crisper tray, you can reheat fries using the microwave, some olive oil, and some paper towels.

Using this simple method allows you to quickly reheat fries without having to worry about pre-heating anything, and to have your fries ready to eat in under a minute!

Up Next: Can You Freeze Sweet Potato Fries? (And How To Do It)