We both love these baked Polenta Fries so much! They’re crisp on the outside, creamy on the inside and best of all, they’re baked! We love serving them as a appetizers because they’re so snackable, but they also make a really delicious side dish for simple dinners like Oven Baked Chicken Thighs, Spatchcock Chicken and Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Brisket!
How to Make Baked Polenta Fries
Process
- Pour stock into a saucepan and simmer. Slowly whisk in cornmeal until fully incorporated, lower heat and continue to stir until mixture is thick and creamy.
- Stir in butter, some Parmesan and salt. Season with black pepper. Stir until no lumps remain.
- Pour mixture into a parchment lined 9”x13” baking sheet with a 1” lip.
- Evenly spread and cool mixture before placing into the refrigerator. Refrigerate until completely chilled.
- Remove polenta from refrigerator and invert onto a clean cutting board. Remove parchment and cut polenta into sticks.
- Preheat oven. Line a half sheet pan with parchment and spray with cooking spray. Line polenta fries onto prepared baking sheet. Spray polenta fries with cooking spray.
- Bake fries until golden brown and crisp. Remove from oven and top with remaining grated Parmesan.
- Transfer fries to a platter and serve fries with tarragon aioli and marinara sauce.
How To Make Tarragon Aioli
Process
- Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk together. Season with salt and pepper and set aside until ready to use.
Tools You Will Need for This Recipe
- cutting board
- knife
- pot
- whisk
- 9″x 13″ baking sheet
- half sheet pan (baking sheet)
- small offset spatula
- parchment paper
Making Polenta Fries in an Air Fryer
Once polenta fries have been cut, spray air fryer basket with cooking spray. Line basket with fries, 1/2 inch apart. Heat air fryer to 400˚F. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. Remove from basket and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan.
Make Ahead and Freezing our Baked Polenta Fries
Make Ahead
Polenta Fries can be made up to 2 days ahead of time. Once fries have baked, cool completely. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for 2 days.
To reheat, pat fries dry with a paper towel. Preheat oven to 400˚F. Line fries onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until heated through and fries crisp back up. Immediately top with grated Parmesan and serve.
Freezing
Unlike potato French fries, these baked polenta fries freeze and reheat very well. Once refrigerated polenta has been sliced into fries, transfer them to a parchment lined baking sheet, about 1/2 inch apart. Then transfer polenta fries to freezer and freeze until each fry is fully frozen, then transfer to a resealable, freezer safe bag. Remove as much air from the bag as possible and store in the freezer for up to 2 months.
To reheat, Preheat oven to 450˚F. Transfer frozen fries onto a parchment lined baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake fries for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Immediately top fries with grated Parmesan and serve.
What to Serve with our Polenta Fries?
We love serving our polenta fries as an appetizer, before the start of a meal, but we also like to serve our fries as a side dish with a meal. Some of our favorite dishes to serve our polenta fries with are:
- Oven Baked Chicken Thighs
- Summer Steak Salad
- Spatchcock Chicken
- Pork Tenderloin Sandwich
- Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Brisket
- Strawberry Cobb Salad
- Bacon Western Double Cheeseburger
- Grilled Tri Tip Sandwich
- Loaded BBQ Chicken Salad
Other French Fry Alternative Recipes You Will Love
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Polenta Fries
INGREDIENTS
tarragon aioli
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons minced tarragon
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
marinara
- 1/2 cup marinara sauce
polenta fries
- 3 1/2 cups unsalted chicken stock
- 1 ½ cups coarse ground yellow cornmeal
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 3 1/2 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Tarragon Aioli
- Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk together. Season with salt and pepper and set aside until ready to use.
Baked Polenta Fries
- Pour stock into a medium saucepan, place over medium heat and simmer. Slowly whisk in cornmeal until fully incorporated, lower heat to low and continue to stir for about 20 minutes, until mixture is thick and creamy.
- Stir in butter, 2 ounces Parmesan and salt. Season with black pepper.
- Stir until no lumps remain, then pour mixture into a parchment lined 9”x13” baking sheet with a 1” lip. Evenly spread and allow mixture to cool for about 20 minutes before placing into the refrigerator. Refrigerate for about 1 hour.
- Remove polenta from refrigerator and invert onto a clean cutting board. Remove parchment and cut polenta into 1”x 3” sticks.
- Preheat oven to 450˚F. Line a half sheet pan with parchment and spray with cooking spray. Line polenta fries onto prepared baking sheet, about 1/2 inch apart. Spray polenta fries with cooking spray.
- Bake fries for about 25 minutes or until fries are golden brown and crisp. Remove from oven and top with remaining grated Parmesan.
- Transfer fries to a platter and serve fries with tarragon aioli and marinara sauce (optional).
Did you make this recipe? We want to see!
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Hmmm mine didn’t set up like yours, actually “melted” into each other in the oven. I followed the recipe to the letter. However, I really love polenta so we made the most of it anyway!
Hi Crystal! Did you let the polenta set in the refrigerator on a sheet pan before cutting them into sticks? Polenta sets up pretty easily and quickly, but you do need to actually let it set up before cutting it into sticks, separating them and baking them
These never solidified when I made them. After the recommended hour in the fridge, they were still “slushy”, so I left them for another 3 hours and they remained soft. I had to throw them out.
Hm, that’s strange. Have never had that issue before. Polenta tends to seize up pretty quickly, so I’m not sure what could’ve happened to your batch.
I’m so excited to try these for my 4 yo daughter, she is on a low-oxalate diet and these are perfect! I wanted to bake them, but I can’t find the temperature for the oven, only the time. Help!
Hi! Thanks for pointing that out. We’ll add that info into our recipe notes! The oven should be set to 425F
Made these yesterday and they were a hit!
made these last night using coconut oil in the pan. delishhh. i’ve never tried using just milk when making polenta. such a fan!!!
i making these for my sea+star dinner tomorrow night (dinz with my 2 sisters) to munch on as we play Cards Against Humanity and sip vino. love polenta. love grits. i love mexi polenta for breakfast! poached egg on top of creamy polenta with mexi spices, cilantro, dollop of greek yogurt. avo, roasted tomato…hello. can it be morning already??!! thanks for this recipe! i am very stoked to give it a try.
Wow do these ever look good!
My 4 year old loves polenta. I will have to make these for him. I think it will be a big hit. Thanks for the recipe!
Those polenta fries look TOO good! I bet the goat cheese takes them over the top. The dips look amazing, too. What perfect party food. Can’t wait to make these – thanks for sharing this beautiful recipe!
I had these at a bar in Montreal years ago and completely forgot about how much I loved them until now. Thanks for the reminder – cocktail snack this weekend!
What a great idea! We’re going to have to try this with our line of Organic Polenta and see which one makes the best fries.
So happy to see the tarragon aioli. I think people tend to overlook this herb.
Oh I love polenta. I’ll be making these soon. Thank you!
Never made polenta fries but they look seriously yummy! On my list of things to make for 2014
I’ve never tried polenta, either in a restaurant or preparing it myself, but after reading this I’m really intrigued. Beautiful photos too!
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Yum! I wonder if you can bake this instead of frying it and still get the same crunch.
I’m with you, the crispier, the better! The aioli sounds amazing!
I’m always so pleased by polenta fries (even when they’re ridiculously hot and scald the roof of your mouth). They’re just so rich and creamy… and FREAKIN FRIED! Really, what’s not to love? Love the tarragon aioli too! Must try!
I love polenta fries, these are perfection!
I will most definitely be making these–possibly this week. I love polenta and the fries shape is perfect for my little ones. Thanks for the inspiration!
oh my goodness… how delightful!! I will be making these for sure… Simply genius!! <3
I LOVE Polenta Fries….more than normal fries! I am so glad I have a good recipe to follow now! Obesity here I come!
B x
outstanding! my dad would love this, will have to try these out in the fry daddy when I’m home this weekend!