Poutine
Poutine
Fries, cheese curds, brown gravy — Quebec's famous plate. The curds should squeak. The gravy should not be a packet if you can help it.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: Poutine.
0 people cooked this in the public kitchen yet. Kitchen-tested by I Want Some Food. Not a purchased rating.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 40 min
- Rest
- None
- Total
- 55 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Poutine is hot fries, fresh cheese curds, and a savoury brown gravy poured so the curds soften but do not vanish. It is Quebec snack-bar food that the rest of Canada claimed and the world put on gastropub menus. This is a home version: oven or fried potatoes, a quick beefy gravy, and the best curds you can find. No curds? It is fries with gravy. Say so. The fries need a real crust so they survive gravy. Fresh cheese curds should squeak; if yours are fridge-cold, warm them slightly so they soften without melting into a blanket. The gravy is brown, savoury, and pourable — beefy or chicken-based, not a peppercorn restaurant sauce. Assemble at the last second. No curds means you have fries with gravy. Say that out loud. Oven chips work; soggy steaming potatoes do not.
Ingredients
- Potato1 kg
- Melting cheese, cheese curds if you can, or torn fresh mozzarella250 g
- Butter30 g
- Wheat flour30 g
- Water, or unsalted beef stock400 ml
- Soy sauce (optional)4.9 ml
- Neutral oil44 ml
- Salt4.9 ml
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Cut fries, soak 20 minutes, dry, roast at 220°C in oil until crisp, 35 minutes — or fry in batches.
40 min220°CStep 2
Gravy: butter, flour, stock, soy, salt. Simmer until it coats a spoon.
8 minStep 3
Fries, curds, hot gravy immediately. The squeak is the quality control.
3 min
Adapt this recipe
The canonical recipe stays intact. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are maths, not AI.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 10 October.
Substitutions
Cheese curds → Torn fresh mozzarella
Less squeak, still poutine-adjacent.
Tips
- Curds from the fridge should sit out 20 minutes so they soften, not melt into a blanket.
- Maple in the gravy is a tourist move. We will not stop you.
History & culture
Rural Quebec snack bars, then a national identity fight. Toppings are a later sport. The classic three is enough. Rural Quebec snack bars made the three-part plate; the rest of Canada claimed it and gastropubs piled on toppings. The classic is enough. Curd quality is the local argument. Eating it standing at a counter is still more typical than a tasting-menu joke. Montreal and small-town casse-croûtes both have opinions. Listen, then pour the gravy.
Mid-20th-century Quebec. Several towns claim the first plate. The gravy-curd-fry trinity is the dish. The gravy-curd-fry trinity is mid-twentieth-century Quebec, with several towns still arguing over the first plate. It is snack-bar engineering, not a peasant heirloom. The global menu version arrived later, with pulled pork and foie gras as optional noise. The dish remains three ingredients in the right temperature order.
Traditional
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips — not a chatbot.
How long does Poutine take?
55 min all in — 15 min prep, 40 min cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 4 plates. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Easy.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Milk, Wheat. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Vegetarian, Nut-free.
What does it cost to cook?
Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Oven, Saucepan.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 1 tsp.
How much soy sauce?
1 tsp (optional) of Soy sauce.
What can I use instead?
Cheese curds → Torn fresh mozzarella. Less squeak, still poutine-adjacent.
Any tips from this recipe?
Curds from the fridge should sit out 20 minutes so they soften, not melt into a blanket. Maple in the gravy is a tourist move. We will not stop you.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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