Calories in French Fries

French fries, the all popular fast food item on the American menu is an addictive dish. French fries are enjoyed all across the globe in various different ways. Although, they are featured as side dishes at nearly all fast food joints, the famous US sandwich chain; Pirmanti Brothers take pride in their sandwiches which serve fries within the two Italian pieces of bread, along with the meat, coleslaw and tomato slices. A recent article published in the Chicago Tribune stated that the best plate of fries in Los Angeles is available in a Lebanese restaurant called Hayat's kitchen. Apparently, the French fries prepared here are unique. It comprises the freshly fried American-style French fries in a pool of olive oil, sprinkled with sautéed cilantro, red pepper flakes and creamy paste of garlic. Fries are relished in different forms, however what about the French fries calories.

Calories in French Fries

One large serving of French fries that corresponds to 170g contains 539 calories. When we talk about French fries, how can we miss out McDonalds. Let's have a look at the calories in McDonald's fries.

Serving size	Calorie count
Small (71g)	230
Medium (117g)	380
Large (154 g)	500

Besides McDonalds, let's have a look at some other famous places from where we munch onto delicious fingers of fries.

Burger King

Serving size	Calorie count
Small	245
Medium	387
Large	530

Arby's - Homestyle

Serving size	Calorie count
Small	302
Medium	377
Large	566

Wendy's

Serving size	Calorie count
Small	290
Medium	453
Large	507

Dairy Queen

Serving size	Calorie count
Small	360
Medium	510
Large	730

Baked French Fries Recipe

Since deep-fried French fries are high in calories, try baking your fries. Here's the recipe for it:

Ingredients

• 2 large potatoes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ⅛ teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon salt

Procedure

Peel and slice the potatoes. Place in a bowl of iced water to become crisp. Preheat the oven to 450- degrees. When you want to cook, drain the water and pat the potato slices dry on a paper towel. In a shallow baking pan, spread the potato slices in one layer and pour in some olive oil. Tilt the pan, so that the oil spreads evenly over the potatoes. Bake for 30-40 minutes. By this time, the potatoes would have turned golden brown. Place them on paper towels and sprinkle some salt and paprika. These baked fries have a calorific value of 93.

We all wish that French fries nutritional information exhibited a more healthier data. However, the truth is they are not healthy. However, one way to make it less unhealthy is by frying the potatoes in soy, sunflower or canola oil instead of corn oil. Researchers from the University of Hawaii conducted a research, to find out which fries were healthier and found, that the 69% of the fast food restaurants use corn oil to fry their fries. Corn oil has higher cholesterol-raising saturated fat content as compared to other oils.

For those of you who are still adamant about finding about the health benefits of French fries to satiate your conscience, French fries are a good source of dietary fiber. A medium serving of McDonalds fries contains 21% of the daily requirement of dietary fiber. Oven-baked fries are also good sources of potassium. However, don't go clinging to these facts and pop even more French fries into your mouth. Though the types of frozen fries available are mind-boggling, try and maintain some control on your diet.