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Wendy's is putting an end to its soggy fries with new recipe

Wendy's is hoping you never have to sink your teeth into a soggy fry again.
Illustration of Wendy's fries on color background
Will Wendy's new fries be a cut above the rest?TODAY Illustration / Courtesy Wendy's
/ Source: TODAY

Sick of being disappointed by soggy fries in your takeout bag? Wendy's wants to help with that.

The burger chain is giving one of its most popular menu items a makeover to ensure they taste (and crunch) the same — whether you eat them in-restaurant or at home.

Wendy's will be unveiling the new fries in its restaurants across the nation in mid-September, as first reported by CNN, and the fast-food chain is excited for customers to enjoy the new recipe, which it claims stays hot and crispy longer than its current recipe.

“These fries are a cut above the rest – literally. One side is built for heat retention, and the other for crispiness," said Emily Kessler, Wendy's Senior Specialist, Culinary & Innovation, during a culinary spotlight meeting on Thursday.

Illustration of Wendy's fries on white background
Courtesy Wendy's

Sinking your teeth into a soggy fry can feel like a total letdown when you're expecting something salty and crunchy, and Wendy's President Kurt Kane told CNN Business his flavor team worked for four years to perfect the new recipe.

"What we've done is balance the cut of the fry and kept a little bit of the skin of the potato on the fry to be able to drive flavor," he said. "We used a batter system that allows us to be able to maintain crispiness, both when they're fresh and hot out of the fryer as well as several minutes later."

Kane also referenced the restaurant's new, shorter fry baskets that allow fries to soak more fully in oil.

"What those new fry baskets do is enable us to make sure that we fry the fries correctly each and every time," he said.

The new fries will look pretty similar to the previous recipe, but they'll have a slightly different taste and texture that will likely come as welcome news for drive-thru customers.

"A lot of the design characteristics are built around making sure that we can serve a hot and crispy fry every time, no matter how you choose to access Wendy's," Kane said.

This is the first time the fast-food chain — who recently opened a restaurant in an Ohio Walmart with exclusive menu items — has altered its fry recipe since 2010, so it'll be interesting to see how customers respond.

So far, early testers seem to be enjoying the new recipe. In a national preference test conducted by the company, Wendy's said consumers preferred its new Hot & Crispy Fries over McDonald’s fries by nearly 2-to-1.

The rest of us will just have to wait until next month to try the new fries when they hit Wendy's restaurants.

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