French fries, chips, finger chips, french-fried potatoes, or simply fries are batonnet or allumette-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium or France. They are prepared by cutting potatoes into even strips, drying them, and frying them, usually in a deep fryer. Pre-cut, blanched, and frozen russet potatoes are widely used, and sometimes baked in a regular or convection oven; air fryers are small convection ovens marketed for frying potatoes.

Deep frying is a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot fat, traditionally lard but today most commonly oil, as opposed to the shallow oil used in conventional frying done in a frying pan. Normally, a deep fryer or chip pan is used for this; industrially, a pressure fryer or vacuum fryer may be used. Deep frying may also be performed using oil that is heated in a pot. Deep frying is classified as a hot-fat cooking method. Typically, deep frying foods cook quickly since oil has a high rate of heat conduction and all sides of the food are cooked simultaneously.