Turn Frozen Fries Into A Seafood Appetizer With One Canned Ingredient

For comforting snacking with no fuss, it's helpful to keep a bag of frozen fries on hand. While there's nothing wrong with a classic ketchup-fry combo, you can also easily flesh out the potatoes into a full-blown appetizer. Craving a seafood spin, for example? Pair the spuds with canned clam chowder. Call it coastal poutine or New England loaded fries — either way, the flavors and textures pair to tremendous effect. Creamy, salty, crispy, and savory, it's an easy-going yet complex meal.

Plus, the duo comes together easy-peasy. Start by emptying your canned clam chowder into a stovetop pot and turn on low; you don't want to risk cold soup and ready fries. In a pinch, you could also warm up the soup in a microwave-safe bowl – just make sure to stir to avoid splatters. Meanwhile, grab your frozen fries: Both the waffle and classic stick shape work with this recipe. Bake the spuds, make the crispiest frozen fries of your life via a microwave and air-fryer, or deep-fry — it pays to prioritize crispiness. Serve the potatoes on a plate or bowl, and don't hold back with the soup, letting it drench the taters. Fit for both a cozy night in or an evening of entertaining, it's a delicious fork-in-hand fry appetizer to keep in mind.

French fries, melded with clam chowder, are a mouth-watering creamy canvas, ready for creative spins. For the easiest work-ins, consider adding ingredients during your assembly. Alliums like chopped chives or green onions, as well as a generous sprinkle of black pepper, add a pleasant bite. To lean further into poutine territory — and to thicken the consistency — incorporate cheese, whether as curds, a shredded cheddar, or even feta. Meanwhile, for a classic clam chowder flavor palate, sprinkle on the bacon bits, inflecting the dish with salty-savory crispy bites.

For a little more fuss, consider ingredients that upgrade canned clam chowder, working intricate flavors into the soup base itself. You could saute the bacon, and then sweat vegetables like carrots, corn, celery, garlic, and onions in the rendered bacon fat before pouring in the can, thereby upping the aromatics of the dish. Alternatively, add brightness – and a hit of spice — with a few dashes of hot sauce, or simply lemon for acidity. To best fine-tune the palate, consider even crafting a clam chowder recipe from scratch: Fresh shellfish will lend complex marine notes. Still, even with just a canned clam chowder on hand, it's a pairing that delights.