Animal Style Burger Fries (Copycat In-N-Out)
Fries loaded with beef, cheese, caramelized onions, special sauce, and peppers make these copycat In-N-Out animal style fries with meat a hit! They’re easy to make and taste even better than the fast-food version.
These copycat In-N-Out animal style fries with meat are loaded with beef, cheese, caramelized onions, special sauce, and pepperoncini peppers for a mouthwatering party snack. They’re easy to make and taste even better than the fast food version.
Pull Up A Chair
Rachel: Fries are the best snack food, and fries covered in onions, cheese, meat, AND tons of sauce? Yeah, okay. I’ll take the whole tray.
Emily: I’ll fight Rachel for the tray! Animal fries feel like home and make me think of coastal summers and road trips.
A not-so-secret secret: animal style fries from In-N-Out are one of the best fast food options out there. Unfortunately, not everyone lives near an In-N-Out location, and even if you do, the lines are always way too long. Our animal style fries recipe uses frozen fries for convenience, American cheese for classic fast food vibes, and a homemade special sauce. We’ve added cooked burger patties for a meaty twist and chopped pepperoncini peppers for slight heat. The result is a comforting indulgence for when you’re craving something super tasty and over-the-top.
What Are Animal Style Fries?
A not-so-secret secret: animal style fries from In-N-Out Burger are one of the best fast food options out there. They’re part of the burger chain’s “secret menu,” and feature fries covered in American cheese, caramelized diced onions (called “grilled onions” at In-N-Out), and In-N-Out “spread” (their special sauce). You can even order them with “chilies,” which means they’ll add some chopped pepperoncini on top.
Unfortunately, not everyone lives near an In-N-Out location, and even if you do, the lines are always way too long. Our copycat recipe version has the same basic ingredients as the animal style In-N-Out fries, but with burgers too for extra protein and flavor. These animal style fries with meat start with a base layer of seasoned fries (use frozen fries for convenience), then the cooked and cut up burger patties for a meaty twist, then a layer of American cheese for classic fast food notes, a generous sprinkle of caramelized onions for slightly sweet richness, and finally a drizzle of special sauce and pepperoncini peppers for balance and heat. The result is a comforting indulgence for when you’re craving something super tasty and over-the-top.
Ingredients in the Animal Style Burger Fries
- Frozen fries – use your favorite frozen French fries and season them with a little olive oil (to help them crisp), and seasoning salt. We don’t recommend using curly fries, waffle fries, steak cut fries, or wedge fries.
- Caramelized onions – sweet or yellow onions cooked in butter, a little water to deglaze the pan and help the caramelize faster, and salt.
- Burger patties – while not a traditional topping on In-N-Out animal fries, you can order an animal style burger from there. So we think cooked beef burger patties make an excellent topping for our recipe copycat version of these fries. If you don’t eat beef, feel free to substitute your preferred choice of patty or skip entirely.
- American cheese – if you want these fries to taste as close to the original as possible, you have to use American cheese. Cheddar cheese would also taste good, however.
- Animal style sauce (aka special sauce) – good quality mayonnaise (Best Foods/Hellmann’s or Duke’s), ketchup for sweetness and tomato flavor, yellow mustard for tang, and both dill and sweet relish for mild acidity and balanced sweetness.
- Sliced pepperoncini – we like the subtle heat and brine that these peppers provide, but you can leave them out if you don’t like spicy food.
How to Make Animal Style Fries With Meat
Bake up the fries and caramelize the onions. Preheat the oven according to package directions for fries (we cook ours at 425°F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easier cleanup. Bake the fries for 25 to 30 minutes or according to package directions, then season with seasoning salt.
While the fries are baking, heat butter in a frying pan over medium to medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook for a few minutes, then add some water and cook a few more minutes until the water evaporates and onions turn golden. Repeat adding water/cooking until the onions are soft and caramel in color, about 20-25 minutes total. Season with salt at the end.
Cook the burger patties. While the onions finish up, cook the burger patties on stove or grill until desired doneness (about 4 to 5 minutes per side or 8 to 10 minutes total). Cut the patties into bite-sized pieces. Once done, cut them into bite-sized pieces.
Make the special sauce and finish the fries. Mix the animal style sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Top the cooked fries with burger pieces, then lay the American cheese on top of the fries. Bake the topped for 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Top the fries with the caramelized onions (note: if the onions are looking too clumpy, you can mix them with an extra splash of water at this time). Spoon some special sauce on top of the fries and top with pepperoncini, if using.
Top the seasoned fries with chopped burgers.- Top with American cheese slices.
- Bake until the cheese melts.
Our Tips for the Best Animal Style Burger Fries
Serving and Storage Suggestions
Who are we kidding? You probably won’t have leftovers if you set these out at a party. But if you’re eating them yourself or with your partner, sibling, or roommate, it’s possible you’ll need to put away some leftovers. We recommend storing any non-eaten animal fries in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a couple of days. Reheat the leftovers in the oven at 350°F for a about 10 minutes or until they’re warm.
Serve these animal style burger fries at your next party or whenever you get the craving for loaded fries.
FAQs: Animal Style Burger Fries
Animal Style Burger Fries Recipe (Copycat In-N-Out)
Ingredients
Fries
- 1 bag frozen fries (24 oz)
- ¼ to ½ tsp seasoning salt like Lawry’s or other
Caramelized Onions
- 1 sweet onion diced
- 2 tbsp butter
- ¾ cup water divided
- Salt to taste
Special Sauce
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 2 tbsp yellow mustard
- 1 tbsp dill relish
- ½ tbsp sweet relish
Additional Toppings
- 2 beef burger patties (or you can use turkey, chicken, plant-based, etc.)
- 6 slices American cheese
- ¼ cup Sliced pepperoncini optional
Instructions
Bake the fries and caramelize the onions.
- Preheat oven according to package directions for fries (we cook ours at 425°F). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or according to package directions, then season with seasoning salt.1 bag frozen fries, ¼ to ½ tsp seasoning salt
- While the fries are baking, heat butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add onions and cook for 5 minutes, then add 2-3 tbsp water. Cook for 6-8 more minutes until the water evaporates and onions turn golden, then add more water. Repeat adding water and cooking until the onions are soft and caramel in color, about 25 minutes total. Season with salt at end.1 sweet onion, 2 tbsp butter, ¾ cup water, Salt to taste
Cook the burger patties.
- While the onions finish up, cook the burger patties on stove or grill until desired doneness, about 4 to 5 minutes per side or 8 to 10 minutes total. (Note: they will also be cooked more in the oven once the fries are assembled, so you could cook them slightly less at this stage so that they don’t overcook in the oven.) Cut the patties into bite-sized pieces.2 beef burger patties
Mix up the sauce and finish the fries.
- Mix the sauce ingredients together in a bowl.½ cup mayonnaise, ¼ cup ketchup, 2 tbsp yellow mustard, 1 tbsp dill relish, ½ tbsp sweet relish
- Top the cooked fries with burger pieces, then lay the American cheese on top of the fries. Bake the topped for 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted.6 slices American cheese
- Top the fries with the caramelized onions (note: if the onions are looking too clumpy, you can mix them with an extra splash of water at this time). Spoon some special sauce on top of the fries and top with pepperoncini, if using.¼ cup Sliced pepperoncini
Notes
Our Tips:
- Use frozen fries to save time and effort. This snack is rustic and doesn’t require you to make your own fries from scratch.
- Caramelize the onions while the frozen fries bake. The frozen fries need about 25 minutes to bake, which is the same amount of time as the onions need to caramelize.
- Add water to the onions to help them caramelize faster. Cooking the onions on a higher heat (medium-high), then deglazing the pan with water every few minutes lets them cook and brown faster without burning.
Did you make this recipe?
We’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment or rating below!
Final Thoughts
We always loved In-N-Out animal fries, but think these homemade animal style fries with burger patties are even better! They’re also a huge hit at parties and game day gatherings, so we highly recommend making a batch for your next shindig or whenever you get a craving for loaded fries. If you make these, we’d be thrilled if you’d leave a comment below and let us know how they turned out. You can also share a picture of your animal fries you make with this recipe and tag us in the post or story on Instagram!
If You Like This Recipe, We Think You’ll Love
- Our Homemade Ranch Snack Mix, made with our own ranch seasoning blend, Cheez-It crackers, Chex cereal, pretzels, and oyster crackers.
- Can’t decide between guacamole or chicken salad for a snack? Why not both? Our Guacamole Chicken Salad is a delicious and super fun blend of both foods.
- These Sweet and Spicy Nuts and Pretzels, which are crunchy, savory, a little sweet, and a touch spicy. A wonderfully snackable mix!
- For a fun sweet snack, whip up a batch of our Gingerbread Muddy Buddies. They’re a little spicy from the fresh ginger and earthy from molasses. Plus, they have cute little Teddy Grahams in them too!
I’ve never had in-n-out because the Midwest doesn’t have them 🙁
But now I want to try it EVEN more! These were FANTASTIC!
You should definitely try the In N Out version someday, if you can! But we like our version better!
These would be a great Game Day snack!
Absolutely!
These taste just like in N Out. Great sauce and I love that its a full meal with the burger too.