Dirty Fries, Six Ways: A Chef’s Loaded Chip Recipes for 2026

Six loaded fries recipes, from chilli chimichurri to Ogleshield and kimchi. Professional chip technique and trending toppings from 35+ years in hospitality.

The humble chip has been quietly having its moment. Walk past any decent street food van or gastropub right now and you will see it: proper chips, buried under something bold, sold as “dirty fries” or “loaded fries” and shifting faster than anything else on the board. It is one of the smartest things a kitchen can do, because chips are cheap, they scale, and people will happily pay premium money for a paper cone of them when the topping earns its keep.

I have spent 35+ years in hospitality watching trends come and go, and this one makes sense to me. It is comfort food with a bit of theatre. The trick, and it is the only trick that matters, is that the chip underneath has to be a genuinely good chip. No topping on earth saves a soggy one. So we start there, get the base right once, then run six toppings off it. Here is how I do it.

The base: a proper chip worth loading

Get this right and everything else is just assembly.

Serves: 4 as a sharing plate Prep time: 20 minutes, plus cooling Cook time: 25 minutes Best potato:Maris Piper or King Edward, floury and reliable

Ingredients

• 1.2kg Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and cut into 12mm chips
• 2 litres neutral oil for frying (rapeseed or sunflower)
• Fine salt

Method

1. Rinse the cut chips under cold water until it runs clear. This washes off surface starch and stops them sticking. Drain well and pat properly dry.

2. Bring a pan of salted water to a gentle simmer and blanch the chips for 6 to 8 minutes, until a knife slides in with no resistance but they still hold their shape. Lift out carefully and leave to steam dry on a tray. Let them cool fully. This stage is your fluffy middle.

3. Heat your oil to 130°C and fry the chips for around 5 minutes, no colour yet, just to set the outside. Drain and cool again. You can hold them here for hours, which is exactly what you want for a service.

4. To finish, crank the oil to 180°C and fry until deep gold and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain, salt straight away while hot, and load immediately. Cold chips do not carry a topping.

1. Chilli chimichurri

Chimichurri is the Argentine answer to gravy, a raw herb sauce sharp with vinegar and garlic. It is trending because people have worked out that fried food wants acidity, not just more richness. The heat and the freshness cut clean through the fat and leave you wanting the next forkful.

You need: a large bunch of flat parsley chopped fine, a good tablespoon of fresh oregano, 3 cloves garlic minced, 1 red chilli deseeded and chopped, 60ml red wine vinegar, 120ml olive oil, salt.

Do this: Combine everything and let it sit for at least 20 minutes so the garlic softens and the flavours marry. Spoon generously over the hot chips just before serving. Keep it loose and green, not a paste.

2. Ogleshield melt

This is my British reply to poutine. Ogleshield is a Somerset washed-rind cheese built for melting, all that raclette character without leaving the country. Home-grown cheese is having a real resurgence, and once you have poured this over a plate of chips at the table you will understand the appeal.

You need: 250g Ogleshield grated, a splash of dry cider, a handful of cornichons sliced, crispy fried shallots to finish.

Do this: Warm the cider gently in a small pan, add the cheese off the heat and stir to a smooth, glossy melt. Do not let it boil or it splits. Pour straight over the chips, scatter the cornichons for sharpness and the shallots for crunch.

3. Salsa verde, fresh oregano and parmesan

Salsa verde is the Italian green sauce, herby and salty with a proper anchovy backbone. Fresh oregano lifts it and a snow of parmesan pulls it together. It is the grown-up plate of the six, the one that reads as restaurant food rather than late-night food.

You need: a bunch of parsley, a tablespoon of fresh oregano, 1 tablespoon capers, 3 anchovy fillets, 1 clove garlic, 1 teaspoon Dijon, 40ml red wine vinegar, 100ml olive oil, a good wedge of parmesan.

Do this: Chop the herbs, capers, anchovy and garlic together fine, or pulse briefly. Stir through the mustard, vinegar and oil. Spoon over the chips and finish with parmesan grated straight on top so it melts slightly into the heat.

4. Chip-shop curry and crispy onion

Every one of us grew up with chips and curry sauce from the local chippy. This is that memory, tidied up. Nostalgia sells hard right now, and a proper curry sauce made from scratch beats anything from a tub.

You need: 1 onion diced, 1 tablespoon mild curry powder, 1 teaspoon turmeric, 1 tablespoon flour, 400ml chicken or vegetable stock, 1 teaspoon sugar, shop-bought crispy onions and fresh coriander to finish.

Do this: Soften the onion in a little oil, stir in the curry powder, turmeric and flour, and cook for a minute. Add the stock slowly, stirring to a smooth sauce, then simmer for 10 minutes with the sugar until it coats a spoon. Pour over, then pile on crispy onions and coriander.

5. Korean gochujang and kimchi

Korean flavour is not a trend any more, it has moved in and stayed. Sweet, funky heat from gochujang, sharp crunch from kimchi, and a cool drizzle to hold it together. This is the plate the younger crowd order first.

You need: 3 tablespoons mayonnaise mixed with 1 tablespoon gochujang, 1 teaspoon honey and a few drops of sesame oil; 100g kimchi chopped; 2 spring onions sliced; toasted sesame seeds.

Do this: Whisk the gochujang mayo smooth and loosen with a little water to a drizzle. Zigzag it over the hot chips, scatter the chopped kimchi, then the spring onion and sesame. Serve fast while the chips are still crisp against the cool sauce.

6. Nduja and honey with whipped ricotta

Nduja, the soft spicy Calabrian sausage, and hot honey are two of the most-used ingredients in kitchens right now, and together they are a knockout. Cool whipped ricotta underneath keeps the whole thing balanced rather than brutal.

You need: 100g nduja, 2 tablespoons runny honey, 200g ricotta, zest of half a lemon, olive oil, salt.

Do this: Beat the ricotta with the lemon zest, a splash of oil and a pinch of salt until light and spoonable. Warm the nduja gently in a pan until it loosens and turns oily and glossy. Spread the ricotta over the chips, dot the warm nduja across, then drizzle the honey over the top.

Chef’s notes

Do the chips once and build a topping station beside them, that is how you run this without losing your mind on a busy night. Every one of these sauces can be made ahead: the chimichurri and salsa verde keep two days, the curry sauce and gochujang mayo hold well, and the ricotta whips in seconds to order. Portion the toppings with a purpose, a plate of loaded fries should look generous but you still want to see chip. And salt the chips the second they leave the oil, every time. That is the difference between good and forgettable.

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