National French Fry Day 2027 is on Friday

About National French Fry Day

National French Fry Day celebrates fries in every cut and style: thin shoestrings, thick steak fries, crinkle cuts, waffle fries and Belgian-style frites served in a paper cone with mayonnaise. Its original founder is not documented, and the day has no government status.

For years the day was kept on July 13. In July 2022, after a petition campaign by the burger chains Checkers and Rally's, Marlo Anderson, founder of the National Day Calendar, a private registry of food and fun days, announced that it would move to the second Friday in July so it always falls on a Friday. Local news reports said the petition gathered more than 33,000 signatures. Anderson later said fans had asked for the change for years. Because the switch is recent, some calendars and promotions still use July 13.

The origin of the fry itself is a long-running argument between Belgium and France. A popular Belgian story says villagers near Namur fried potatoes when the frozen Meuse River cut off their supply of small fish, based on a manuscript a Belgian historian said dated to 1781. Belgian food historian Pierre Leclercq disputes it, noting that potatoes probably reached Namur only around 1735 and that frying fat was a luxury. His research traces fried potatoes to street sellers in Paris in the 1780s, with the stick shape catching on in France by the 1840s and reaching Brussels soon after, according to a 2024 report in The Brussels Times.

Whatever the birthplace, Belgium has made fries part of its national identity, and its frietkot, or fry shack, tradition has been recognized as cultural heritage in the country's regions.

Sources: QSR Web: Checkers & Rally's gets National French Fry Day moved to Friday (July 14, 2022), FOX 17 West Michigan: July 14 is National French Fry Day, The Brussels Times: The sizzling debate on the origin of (Belgian) fries (2024). How we check dates.

How to mark National French Fry Day

• Make fries at home with the double-fry method: cook once at a lower temperature, rest, then fry again hot until crisp.
• Try an oven or air-fryer version with sweet potatoes, or toss fries with garlic and herbs.
• Set up a dipping-sauce tasting with mayonnaise, aioli, malt vinegar and a homemade curry ketchup.
• Look for a local fry shop or food truck that cuts its potatoes fresh.
• Read up on the Belgium-versus-France debate and decide where you stand.

National French Fry Day dates