I’ve been to one Super Bowl party in my life. I’ve watched my fair share of college football, but that was because I was in the marching band, so I wasn’t tailgating or watching the game with a spread of snack foods and beer and such. Consequently, I don’t have much experience with football food, but even so, I KNOW these polenta fries would fit right in at a football party! They’re cheesy, salty, a tad crispy, perfect for dipping in various sauces, and they’re even easy to make! Heck, forget football, I’d come to the party just for the fries.
I whipped up some homemade chili BBQ ranch dressing to go along with the polenta fries, but there are tons of other options for dipping – guacamole, salsa verde, queso dip (if you’re feeling particularly cheese-y)…even regular marinara sauce! Polenta has been one of my go-to quick comfort foods for a long time (a bowl of polenta, a fried egg or two, and some veggies is a simple but tasty dinner), and this is great a way to snazz things up a bit and make some crowd-pleasin’ polenta! Enjoy!
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup low-fat sour cream
- 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 cup chives, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce
- 2 tablespoons chili sauce
- 1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice + a scant 1/2 cup milk)
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/4 cups cornmeal
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
- 2/3 cup Fontina cheese, grated
- 1/3 cup cheddar cheese, grated
- olive oil
- With a fork, mix together minced garlic and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt. In a medium bowl, combine garlic and salt with remaining ingredients (except buttermilk). Stir until smooth.
- Add buttermilk, starting with just a few tablespoons. Stir and keep adding until the ranch dressing has attained the consistency you like. Refrigerate in an airtight container for at least 4 hours before serving, to allow the flavors to marinate.
- In a medium saucepan, bring chicken broth to a simmer. Add cornmeal slowly – be sure to whisk constantly, as this will prevent lumps from forming.
- Once the cornmeal has been incorporated, remove the saucepan from the stove. Add salt, butter/margarine, and cheese. Stir until smooth.
- Coat the surface of a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil. Pour the polenta onto the baking sheet, and use an offset spatula to smooth the polenta into a rectangle such that it is about 1/2-inch thick. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator to cool for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Transfer the polenta to a cutting board. Cut the polenta into fries, about 1/2-inch wide. Place fries back on the baking sheet and coat with a little bit of olive oil (I just dip my fingers in oil and lightly brush the fries).
- Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the fries from the oven and turn them over with a spatula 10 minutes into the baking time (or skip this, if you’re feeling lazy, like I sometimes do – you’ll get crispier sides if you flip them, though). Let cool for 4-5 minutes and serve with ranch dressing.
- The amounts listed for the ranch dressing will likely yield more than you need for dipping.
- For best results, you should refrigerate the ranch dressing for at least 4 hours before serving, but note that this is NOT factored into the total time as listed.
- Ranch dressing recipe adapted from Joy the Baker.
Interesting! I’ve only recently started cooked with polenta but have yet to make anything this ‘solid’. Love the idea of them though – and the dressing sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing with Cheese, Please! this month 🙂
Thanks! I’m just now beginning to realize how versatile polenta is: plain polenta, polenta cakes, polenta fries, etc. I look forward to finding out what February’s challenge will be!
Your polenta look so perfect. Baking is definitely the way forward. I have also tried pan frying the chips, but the oven baking is much cleaner, this is how I will cook mine fro now on
Thanks, I was really pleased with how they turned out! I too had considered frying them, but to be honest, I really dislike the process of frying things (I always end up getting burned with flecks of oil), plus baking them seemed a bit healthier.
I never thought to make polenta into fries. And I love fries. I can’t wait to try these. They look fried!
I highly recommend them! Let me know how they turn out if you make them 🙂