To welcome you back from the weekend I am excited to share with you guys our recipe for Polenta Fries. We love to fry these, but I also have instructions for air frying and baking if you prefer! These little sticks are cut from a slab of polenta and then lightly fried. This recipe is pretty versatile, you can serve them as a side dish to something delicious and meaty, appetizers, or our favorite, as party food! With Super Bowl coming up soon these would be perfect. We served ours with sides of our marinara sauce and a simple tarragon aioli. I love the texture of the polenta, and I prefer to give them a real good pan fry, the crispier the better, just how I like my In and Out French fries well done. Enjoy and happy Monday!
♥ Teri
What are Polenta Fries?
We all know and love creamy polenta in a big bowl. Essentially, you are cooking polenta a big longer than you would normally. You will want the polenta to be thick, spreadable, and dough-like. Once you get the consistency right you just smooth out the polenta into a baking sheet and let it cool. This leaves you with a big slab of polenta. You then cut the polenta into long rectangles that resemble french fries. You fry up the polenta fries to get a crispy exterior, and bam! You have yourself some delicious fries! We love Anson Mills or King Arthur cornmeal the best.
What does Fried Polenta taste like?
Polenta fries are crispy and chewy on the outside, and creamy on the inside. We added some goat cheese to our polenta, so you will taste that, as well as the polenta itself, which has a mild taste and a coarse grain. After the polenta is fried, they have a crispy texture on the outside and remain creamy and soft on the inside.
What goes well with Polenta Fries?
We like to serve our fries on the side of a salad, or with anything you would normally serve with french fries. Like burgers, BBQ, chicken, fish. It goes so well with everything!
Dipping sauces for Polenta Fries:
There are so many! We like to serve ours with a variety of sauces, here are some that we LOVE:
– Sir Kensington’s Special Sauce
– Ketchup
– Homemade BBQ sauce
– Homemade Marinara sauce
– aioli (tarragon aioli recipe below!)
– Mayo
How to cook Polenta Fries in the oven
We know a lot of you hate frying things, so we got you! You can definitely bake them instead! Skip steps 8 and 9 in the recipe. Once you have your fries cut out, place them onto a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes. Flipping them throughout to ensure they get browned on all sides. Serve with your favorite sauces!
Air Fryer Polenta Fries
To make Polenta Fries in an air fryer, skip steps 8 and 9 in the recipe. Spray the air fryer basket with an oil of your choice. Fry for 20 – 25 minutes, until golden brown. Serve with your favorite sauces!
If you’re looking for alternative fry recipes, try our Baked Yucca Fries, or our Baked Asparagus Fries. Or if you are looking for other Polenta recipes, here is a list:
– Braised Beef Ragu over Cheesy Polenta
– Coconut Shrimp and Chorizo over Creamy Polenta
– Breakfast Polenta Bowls
– Baked Polenta Chips
– Creamy Polenta with Root Vegetables
Polenta Fries
Ingredients
basic 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 Our Best Ever Marinara Sauce or marinara sauce of your choice
polenta fries
- 4 cups low-fat milk
- 1 ½ cups coarse ground yellow cornmeal
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 2 ½ ounces goat cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- For Basic Tarragon Aioli: Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk together. Season with salt and pepper and set aside until ready to use.
- For polenta fries: Pour milk 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 5 minutes.
- Fold in butter and goat cheese and season with salt and pepper.
- Stir until no lumps remain, then pour mixture into a lightly greased 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. Cut polenta into ½”x 3” sticks.
- Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and add oil. Lightly fry polenta stick for 2-3 minutes on each side, in batches, making sure not to overcrowd the pan.
- Place finished sticks onto some paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Serve fries with basic tarragon aioli and marinara sauce.
Did you make this recipe? We want to see!
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outstanding! my dad would love this, will have to try these out in the fry daddy when I’m home this weekend!
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
oh my goodness… how delightful!! I will be making these for sure… Simply genius!! <3
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!
I love polenta fries, these are perfection!
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’m with you, the crispier, the better! The aioli sounds amazing!
Yum! I wonder if you can bake this instead of frying it and still get the same crunch.
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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Never made polenta fries but they look seriously yummy! On my list of things to make for 2014
Oh I love polenta. I’ll be making these soon. Thank you!
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.
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!
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!
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!
Wow do these ever look good!
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.
made these last night using coconut oil in the pan. delishhh. i’ve never tried using just milk when making polenta. such a fan!!!
Made these yesterday and they were a hit!