Quick and Easy Poutine Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are the 3 things that poutine is made of? ›

The basic recipe only calls for three ingredients: french fries, cheese curds, and gravy. Unless you make your gravy from scratch you also don't need any kitchen equipment beyond a standard french fry cutter and commercial deep fryer.

Butter: Use unsalted butter so you can control the amount of salt in the gravy. All-purpose flour: Equal parts flour and butter are combined to create a roux. This is what makes the gravy so thick and creamy! Beef broth: Use reduced sodium beef broth to prevent an overly salty gravy.

The classic Canadian poutine Americanized by loading it up with sautéed shredded sirloin, chopped bacon and sautéed mushrooms.

If you can't get cheese curds for your poutine, then just use mozzarella cheese which is close to cheese curds. The only difference is that when you bite into cheese curbs it makes a squeaky sound. It won't be traditional Quebec poutine, but very close. Also if you can't find smoked meats, use pastrami as a topping.

What's a Good Substitute for Cheese Curds? Diced mozzarella is a good and readily available substitute for cheese curds; salted fresh mozzarella is probably closer in flavor, although commercial mozzarella has a bit more of the springy, rubbery texture of curds.

The Dictionnaire historique du français québécois lists 15 meanings of poutine in Québécois and Acadian French, most of which are for kinds of food; the word poutine in the meaning "fries with cheese and gravy" is dated to 1982 in English. Other senses of the word have been in use since at least 1810.

Substitute for Cheese Curds in Poutine:

If you can't get cheese curds, the closest possible substitution if you want the poutine experience, would be torn chunks (not shredded!) of a full-fat block mozzarella cheese (NOT fresh mozzarella – use the kind you'd shred to put on top of pizza).

Poutine sauce is another way Canadians say gravy. I kid, I kid – but really poutine sauce is essentially a brown gravy that's make from butter, flour, stock, and spices. Like gravy, it's rich and hearty, warm and full of flavor.

(Raw or unpasteurized milk is banned in the United States, but luckily, cheese curds are 100 percent legal!) Once added, good bacteria called starter cultures and an enzyme called rennet begin to curdle the milk, with no trace of the sneaky ingredient found in shredded cheese.

A variant of poutine called Disco Fries is considered a classic New Jersey diner dish, using shredded Cheddar cheese or mozzarella in place of cheese curds.

What kind of cheese is in poutine? ›

Often called "string cheese," cheese curds are a small piece of fresh or partially ripened cheddar that has not been pressed and therefore contains strong-flavored whey proteins.

It is better with cheese curds but you can use regular shredded mozzarella cheese if curds aren't available in your area. For something a little different use spaghetti sauce instead of gravy. Recipe calls for canned gravy but homemade leftover gravy is SO MUCH better.

Typically, these solids are processed repeatedly and then aged until they become the blocks of cheese you're familiar with. Cheese curds, though, stop after the separation; they're basically nugget-shaped milk solids that have been salted. Mozzarella sticks, by comparison, are made from fully processed cheese.

Tillamook Cheese Curds aren't available in grocery stores because they lose their freshness quickly.

poutine, a Canadian dish made of french fries topped with cheese curds and gravy. It first appeared in 1950s rural Québec snack bars and was widely popularized across Canada and beyond in the 1990s. Poutine may be found everywhere from fine dining menus at top restaurants to fast-food chains.

What Are Cheese Curds Made Of? The key ingredients for cheese curds are pasteurized milk, starter culture, and rennet. Milk serves as the base for curds, the starter culture contains the bacteria necessary for fermentation, and rennet helps the milk separate into curds.

The mild cheese curds are probably the most important part of the poutine - without this cheese, poutine is not real poutine! Characteristic is their special texture, which causes the curds to squeak while chewing.

Aside from Parmesan, chefs can use a number of shredded cheese varieties for poutine, like Cantonnier cheese. Its effervescent, buttery, and fruity taste is perfect for giving a kick to this comforting menu item.