Chili Cheese Fries

Chili Cheese Fries, The name conjures up images of dripping cheese, loaded hearty chili, and golden French fries. Oh how I loved Chili Cheese Fries. Even now as I type this recipe out, I think my mouth is drooling.

This was one of those foods I had said goodbye to when we decided to really take responsibility for our own health. Every time I would look at the typical recipe and nutritional facts (even homemade versions) I would think there is just no way I can justify eating this.

It wasn’t just the calories and fat that bothered me; it was the saturated fat, low fiber and the cholesterol too. To make matter worse if I went out to eat there was no way for me to control the serving size or the sodium. I just thought it was a lost cause.

That was until I saw a Carls Jr commercial that had those sinfully good chili cheese fries on them. What was so funny to me is usually I flip to another station when those commercials come on for the obvious reasons but this one I didn’t. I sat there and started craving those Chili Cheese Fries. I decided right then and there I would make my “Amber version” of Chili Cheese Fries. This is the recipe I ended up with. I will put some notes at the bottom of the recipe on how this one compare to some of the typical recipes, but most of you just want the recipe so here it is.

Chili Cheese Fries-

You will need to make these two recipes below. I used my own recipes, so if you use your own the nutritional information will be very different.

Chili (just leave out the corn and use a little water to sauté your onions)

Mexican Cheese Dip

*The great thing about making these recipes is you will have leftovers for the next night or for lunch the next day.

I used a bag of French fries from the store for my fries. I baked them instead of frying them which made them healthier. Just make sure to pay attention to the serving size. They can be a little bit of a shocker, just know you can load up on chili and it will still feel you up.

Once you get the fries baked it is pretty easy. Just put your fries on a plate, on top of the fries pour 1 cup of chili, and then pour ½ cup of Mexican Cheese Dip on top of that.

I eat mine with a fork (which actually makes me eat slower so I get fuller quicker).

It may not replicate the taste perfectly but it came pretty close to me, and was a great way to satisfy my craving for Chili Cheese Fries!

Now on to the nutritional part, this is what got me really happy!

Go ahead and google the nutritional information for your favorite restaurant chili cheese fries. I used Carls Jrs information. I looked up a couple more and they all seemed to be around the same nutritionally, but I will include the ranges I found. This is just an estimate. Your amounts will vary depending on how close you stick to my recipes, and what kind of fries you use. This is just to give you an idea of how changing a few things can really make a huge impact. This doesn’t even start to touch the issue of preservatives and things like that will usually be found in things like canned chili or in the typical restaurant version.

Typical Recipe                     Mine

Calories-        810 (700+)                           498

Total Fat-      46g  (40+)                              8g

Sat Fat-          14g                                           1.5g

Cholesterol-  60g                                         0g

(Yes you read that right- 0! Cholesterol comes form animal products and these recipe have none)

*Fiber-          9g                                             17g

* Why is fiber important to me? How many times do you eat some fast food or even a normal meal and soon after you are hungry again? Fiber is what fills you up and keeps you full longer. Notice the difference in my recipe and the typical one. Which one is going to really fill you up longer?

I used Calorie Count to get the nutritional information for my recipe and Carls Jrs.

I also didn’t talk about sodium amounts. These can obviously vary but when you make your own homemade versions you can control the amounts by doing simple things like rinsing your canned beans (or making your own) and leaving out salt or using very little.

I know this isn’t an exact replication of those chili cheese fries that you may love so much just like I did. But for me it was a good replacement. Those old ones I was eating were not helping my health at all. They along with all the other stuff I used to eat as a treat were leading me towards diabetes, obesity, heart issues and a whole long list of diseases that would have robbed me of my quality of life. Ok I am done preaching, go and make this and skip that drive through or that recipe that uses all of that highly processed cheese. For my vegan friends or allergy issues friends- This is a dairy free chili cheese fries recipe and a vegan chili cheese fries recipe!

I shared with you my redo of chili cheese fries is there any meal or treat you would like to do a makeover on?

Sharing with Moonlight and Mason Jars link up, Tasty Tuesdays, 

Chili Cheese Fries