Ok, so I fully intended to save these for the Super Bowl, but then I realized that 1. that is a long way off, 2. these are delicious, and 3. there is football this week! Right now! Not to be ignored! 
So I'm showing you these now. I actually made them a few weeks ago while I was still pregnant on a Saturday when we were organizing baby things and watching football as a family of 2, which is really weird to think about. Now there's a BABY in a swing next to me that I am supposed to take care of. Fo life.
I'm cool with it.
Anyway. These potatoes. I absolutely love buffalo anything, as has been displayed on this blog throughout the years. One of my fav dishes is a buffalo chicken wrap, the kind you can find at almost any sports bar, and dang if it's been awhile since I've had one. I'm more of a ranch + buffalo kind of girl, but blue cheese will work in a pinch for sure. The problem with 99% of buffalo stuff in restaurants is that it really doesn't work for vegetarians, so I try to make a few things here and there without meat so that Jay can have the buffalo flavor minus the meat. 
All THAT to say, if you have football-watching plans this weekend like we do Thursday at 4pm, you might want to shop for ingredients for this snack - they'll disappear in a heartbeat and are oh-so-buffaloey.
You need potatoes, obviously. Any kind will do, but I like yukon golds for the thin skin. Seriously, though, any potato is fine. Then you need seasoning salt, hot paprika or cayenne pepper, hot sauce, cooking spray, butter, and blue cheese crumbles. To serve, I do regular ranch made with a packet and sour cream, but any dipper you want is also advisable. 
So, to make these fries a great texture we cook them twice - once at a lower temperature, then once with the buffalo sauce at a higher temperature. So, preheat the oven to 375F and cut the potatoes into sticks - it doesn't matter if they're large or small as long as they're all a similar thickness so they'll cook evenly. 
Arrange the potatoes on a baking sheet and spray them with cooking spray then sprinkle them with the spices. I like to use parchment paper when I bake stuff for easier cleanup, but you can skip that step if you want to! When the potatoes are seasoned stick them in the oven for 15 minutes or so - to start to cook them but not brown them yet. 
While the potatoes are cooking, melt the butter with the hot sauce. 
Stir the sauce together, and taste - YUM and also if you'd like things spicier you can add more hot sauce! Up to you. 
Now, pull the potatoes out of the oven and pour the buffalo sauce all over them. Increase the oven temperature to 425F. 
Toss the potatoes with a spatula so they're evenly coated in the sauce, then spread them back out into one layer. 
Bake the potatoes for 15 minutes or so MORE to get them cooked through and crispy - they're done when they look like this!
Love this so much. We top with blue cheese, we dip in ranch, we're done. 
Look! All of our fav buffalo flavors in a nice handy vegetarian handheld option. What's not to like? 
I love these with a burger, obviously, but a big pile of them instead of chips for a big sporting event (or any tv watching you've got going on) are super fun and THE FLAVOR. 
Just add beer. 
And paper towels. Add paper towels.
Recipe
Buffalo Oven Fries
Ingredients
- 4 medium yukon gold potatoes cut into ¼ inch sticks
- ½ teaspoon seasoned salt
- ¼ teaspoon hot paprika or cayenne pepper
- cooking spray
- ¼ cup melted butter
- 2 tablespoons buffalo hot sauce such as Texas Pete or Frank's
- ¼ cup blue cheese crumbles
- ranch or blue cheese dressing optional, for dipping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F. Arrange the potatoes on a baking sheet in one layer. Spray the potatoes with the cooking spray, then sprinkle with the seasoned salt and hot paprika. Toss to coat, then spray the potatoes again.
- Bake the potatoes at 375F for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and increase the heat to 425F. Mix the hot sauce and the melted butter together and pour all over the potatoes. Use your hands or a spatula to toss the potatoes with the sauce, then spread into an even layer.
- Bake the potatoes a second time at 425F for 15 minutes until the potatoes are cooked through and the edges are crispy - add a few more minutes if you'd like crispier potatoes.
- Serve the potatoes with any sauce from the baking sheet topped with the blue cheese crumbles and your favorite dipping sauce.
- Enjoy!
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