As someone who firmly believes French fries are one of the greatest foods ever invented, I don’t need much convincing to order them whenever they’re on a menu. Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and perfectly salty, they’re one of those comfort foods that’s nearly impossible to resist. The only downside is knowing just how much oil they soak up during the frying process. That’s why this new research from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign immediately caught my attention. If scientists have found a way to make fries just as crunchy while cutting down on the oil, sign me up because I want to try them as soon as possible.
A team of researchers led by Pawan Singh Takhar, a professor of food engineering, has been studying a new microwave-assisted frying technique that could make French fries healthier without sacrificing the crispy texture everyone loves. Instead of relying entirely on traditional deep frying, the method combines microwave energy with conventional frying to reduce oil absorption while still delivering that satisfying crunch.
According to Takhar, consumers often say they want healthier foods, but flavor and texture usually win when it’s time to order. His research aims to lower the fat content of fried foods without changing the taste people crave. Alongside doctoral student Yash Shah, the team recently published two studies exploring how microwave frying changes what happens inside a potato during cooking.
Working with researchers from Washington State University, the team used a specialized microwave fryer capable of operating at two different microwave frequencies. They prepared potatoes by peeling, cutting, blanching, salting, and frying them in hot soybean oil. Throughout the cooking process, they carefully measured temperature, pressure, moisture, texture, oil absorption, and other physical changes to better understand exactly why fries become greasy.
A Smarter Way to Fry French Fries
One of the biggest discoveries involved pressure inside the potato itself. During traditional frying, water trapped inside the potato eventually turns into steam and escapes. As that moisture leaves, tiny empty spaces form throughout the fry. Those empty spaces create negative pressure, almost like sucking through a straw, which pulls oil deep into the potato.
Microwaves change that process significantly. Instead of heating only from the outside inward, microwave energy heats water molecules throughout the entire potato at once. That creates additional steam and positive pressure inside the fry, making it much harder for oil to enter those tiny pores. The result is a fry that absorbs noticeably less oil while cooking faster.
The researchers also used advanced computer modeling to compare microwave frying with conventional frying. Their simulations confirmed what the laboratory experiments showed: microwave-assisted frying reduced cooking time, removed moisture more efficiently, and significantly limited oil uptake.
There was one catch though
Fries cooked only with microwave energy weren’t particularly appealing. They ended up soft and lacked the crispy exterior that makes French fries so addictive. That’s why the researchers believe the future isn’t replacing deep frying altogether but combining both methods into a single cooking system.
Traditional frying would still create the golden brown crust and crunch, while microwave heating would keep excess oil from soaking into the potato. It sounds like the best of both worlds.
Even better, the researchers believe existing commercial fryers could be modified with relatively inexpensive microwave generators, making this technology practical for large-scale food production.
As someone who absolutely loves French fries, this feels like one of those rare scientific breakthroughs where everyone wins. If I can enjoy fries that are just as crispy, cook faster, and contain less oil without sacrificing flavor, that’s something I’ll happily line up to taste. Sometimes science really does make life a little more delicious.
