Season’s Choice Spiral Fries

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In my high school working years, I spent a summer as a cashier at Hardee’s. I grew to like their mushroom and swiss burger, their Frisco melt, and even the occasional regular burger. I also became a big fan of their curly fries, which were cleverly made and delightfully seasoned. I don’t get back to Hardee’s much anymore, but when I do, you can bet that a mushroom and swiss burger with a side of curly fries will be on the menu.

Curly fries are a thing at a few fast food places, including Arby’s, and you can also find them at larger grocery stores. Aldi doesn’t currently sell curly fries as an everyday Regular Buy, but the German supermarket sometimes stocks them as a limited buy.

The last time they showed up at Aldi, we took them for a spin.

Season’s Choice Spiral Fries are an Aldi Find. They’re only in stores for a limited time, and once they’re gone, they’re gone, and you won’t be able to get them again until they come back, whenever that might be. Aldi does not offer online ordering for products that are not in stock at your local store.

At the time of this post, the fries come in a 28-ounce bag and cost $3.79, which comes out to 13 cents an ounce. For comparison, Arby’s fries at Walmart currently run 20 to 21 cents an ounce, depending on the package size.

These Aldi fries aren’t as processed as I would expect — there are just a handful of ingredients — which is a positive. They’re also relatively low in fat (5 grams per serving), although they have plenty of sodium (620 milligrams, or 27% of your daily value). As far as allergens go, they contain wheat.

Nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

The bag has instructions for deep frying, baking, and electric skillet preparation. To deep fry, preheat the cooking oil to 345 degrees. Fill the basket 1/2 full with frozen fries, deep frying for 3-5 minutes. When done, spread on absorbent paper towels, then serve immediately.

To cook in an oven or toaster oven, preheat the oven to 430 degrees. Spread the frozen fries in a single layer on a dark, nonstick baking sheet or shallow baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes, flip product over, and continue baking for an additional 15-20 minutes. Serve immediately.

To make in an electric skillet, heat 1/4 cup cooking oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Carefully add frozen fries to form a single layer. Fry 9-13 minutes, turning frequently. Cook until they reach a light golden color. Drain on paper towels. Season to taste.

We opted to use an air fryer, and we ended up cooking them at 400 degrees for around 14 minutes. Your mileage may vary.

The texture was good: crispy, just like I remember them. So was the color. They look and feel the part.

As for the taste? We found them to be bland. They certainly taste like French fried potatoes, but they don’t have much taste behind a base level of French fry flavor. I virtually never add salt or ketchup to my curly fries — in this case, I ended up doing both to doctor them up. The rest of our testers ate them, all of them with either additional seasoning or ketchup, but they didn’t light up the room.

The Verdict:

I had high hopes for Aldi curly fries, which have the look and texture of ones from fast-food restaurants. That didn’t extend to the taste, though, which, while true to French fries, lacked the unique seasoning of curly fries found elsewhere. You could doctor these up with, say, seasoned salt and get pretty close to the real thing, but out of the bag they’re not the same. We don’t plan on buying these again.