Making Smiley Fries From Scratch Is Easier Than You'd Think

Remember when dinosaur-shaped nuggets and smiley fries took up the space on your dinner plate next to the not-so fun broccoli? Well, I do. And it turns out recreating that nostalgic plate is pretty simple when you have a straw and spoon to help.

You could buy premade potato smiley fries, but we're adults now, so it's time to start cooking from scratch. With just a straw in one hand and a simple spoon in the other, you can make the happiest, maddest, or even saddest potato smiley fries you've ever had in your life.

On its face (pun intended), potato smiley fries seem like an easy dish to pull off in the kitchen. If you can make regular steak cut fries, or if you like to make cookies, it's pretty much the same process. However, as a less experienced cook, even this hack took some practice. So here's how to put your best potato smiley face forward using a straw and spoon.

In all honesty these potato smiley fries are the most effort I've put behind cooking in a while. Various recipes online will tell you how to season and fry up the little circles for the best flavor, but in this case it's all about presentation. You could also bake the smileys as I did, but they probably won't come out as perfectly golden as your childhood memories. 

To form the faces, you'll need to peel, cut, boil, and mash the potatoes. Adding in other ingredients like breadcrumbs and cornstarch will help turn the mashed potatoes into a dough-like format. Once you shape the mashed potatoes into circles, you're ready to bust out the spoon and straw.

Use the straw to poke two holes in the potato circles right next to each other; these will be the eyes. You can then use the edge and tip of the spoon to carve a mouth expression on the potato circles as well. Flipping the spoon downward will give you a well formed frown, but curving your hand a certain way can also leave your smileys smirking.

So, the aforementioned tools are definitely helpful in creating the cute smiley faces we're all familiar with. I have to admit though, my first smiley turned out looking a lot like Ike from "South Park" and a lot less like the happy faces I was served at school.

Pro tip: Use the very tip of the spoon and move it lightly in a semi-circle to make the mouth how you want it. But, don't press down too far or you'll wind up splitting the face from end to end like I did. Once you get the hang of it, you can start adding more facial features like maybe some eyebrows.

It's hard not to smile when your food has such a cheeky little grin, right? Just remember, everyone's smile is beautiful, and even if it's not, the ketchup dipping makes up for it.