Learn how to make real poutine at home with my Authentic Canadian Poutine Recipe. I will show you how to make it, as well as explaining exactly what exactly poutine is, for the uninitiated.
What kind of a Canadian food blogger would I be if I didn’t have a recipe for Canadian Poutine on this blog? Poutine is a wonderful and delicious concoction of fries, gravy and cheese curds and is one of the most quintessential Canadian dishes! So if you already know how great this dish is and are just looking for a great, authentic poutine recipe to make at home, skip on down to the recipe. I’ve got you covered! If you’d like to learn more about Poutine, read on!
What cheese to use for poutine?
When it comes to poutine, it’s really all about the cheese curds. Real cheese curds are what makes a poutine “authentic”. Cheese curds are simply solid pieces of curdled milk, that can be either eaten alone as a snack or, in Canada, added to fries and gravy to make poutine :) Cheese curds can be found in white or yellow colour. White cheese curds are the ones you want for poutine.
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). You want it in chunks so it doesn’t melt completely. Don’t be skimpy. Some cheese curds are the size of my baby finger. That’s part of the poutine experience – the chunks of warm, softened cheese and shredded just won’t cut it because it melts completely and mixes in with the gravy. (Cheddar is not the best substitute. Even though cheese curds are technically cheddar they don’t taste like it. The taste is much more mozzarella-like – soft, pliable, subtle taste, squeaky :)
How do you make poutine gravy?
I’ve included a perfect poutine gravy recipe below for you! If you’ve eaten a lot of poutine, you’ve probably experienced a wide range of gravy tastes. Some are clearly chicken, some are dark and beefy. I think the perfect one is somewhere in between. I looked to French-Canadian chef Ricardo for a reliable and authentic recipe. Let’s face it, the French-Canadians know poutine! His gravy is 2/3 beef stock and 1/3 chicken stock, for a lightened up beef gravy. I think it’s perfect.
How to pronounce Poutine:
If you are an English speaking Canadian, you’ll almost certainly pronounce it “poo-teen” (emphasis on the last syllable). French Canadians might suggest that it should be pronounced as “poo-tin” (again, with the emphasis on the last syllable). I say, if you find yourself in Quebec, you could try the latter – pretty much anywhere else in Canada and elsewhere, the former will serve you well.
How to eat poutine
Even if you are strictly a person who eats fries with your hands, when it comes to poutine, a fork is the only way to go! The combination of lots of gravy and melted cheese is a mess to eat any other way.
Cook’s Notes for Authentic Canadian Poutine
French-Canadians would probably recommend starting your poutine gravy with canned broth (vs. the boxed variety). I personally find it a little too salty for my taste, but that might be just the brand I use.
If you use canned, definitely taste before adding additional salt to your gravy. Don’t skimp on the freshly ground pepper in the gravy, though :)
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Get the Recipe: Authentic Canadian Poutine
Ingredients
Poutine Gravy:
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch
- 2 Tbsp water
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 20 oz beef broth
- 10 oz chicken broth
- Pepper, to taste
For Deep Fried Fries:
- 2 lbs Russet potatoes, (3-4 medium potatoes)
- Peanut or other frying oil
Toppings:
- 1 - 1 1/2 cups white cheddar cheese curds, (Or torn chunks of mozzarella cheese would be the closest substitution)
Instructions
- Prepare the gravy: In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the water and set aside.
- In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook, stirring regularly, for about 5 minutes, until the mixture turns golden brown.
- Add the beef and chicken broth and bring to a boil, stirring with a whisk. Stir in about HALF the cornstarch mixture and simmer for a minute or so. If you'd like your gravy thicker, add a more of the cornstarch mixture, in small increments, as needed, to thicken. Season with pepper. Taste and add additional salt, if necessary, to taste. Make ahead and re-warm or keep warm until your fries are ready.
- For Deep-Fried Fries: Prepare your potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch thick sticks. Place into a large bowl and cover completely with cold water. Allow to stand at least one hour or several hours. When ready to cook, heat your oil in your deep fryer or large, wide, heavy cooking pot to 300° F.
- Remove the potatoes from the water and place onto a sheet of paper towel. Blot to remove as much excess moisture as possible.
- Add your fries to the 300°F oil and cook for 5-8 minutes, just until potatoes are starting to cook but are not yet browned. Remove potatoes from oil and scatter on a wire rack. Increase oil temperature to 375°F Once oil is heated to that temperature, return the potatoes to the fryer and cook until potatoes are golden brown. Remove to a paper towel-lined bowl.
- To Prepare Poutine: Add your fried or baked fries to a large, clean bowl. Season lightly with salt while still warm. Add a ladle of hot poutine gravy to the bowl and using tongs, toss the fries in the gravy. Add more gravy, as needed to mostly coat the fries.
- Add the cheese curds and toss with the hot fries and gravy. Serve with freshly ground pepper. Serve immediately.
Notes
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Hello there, we just returned from Canada where we experienced poutine for the first time and are already craving it! We have an air fryer that doesn’t require any oil, so would you still take them out and turn it up and then cook them longer? Can’t wait to try this!!!!!
Hi Theresa! No, if you’re using an air fryer, just cook them until they are nice and golden brown :) Then you can toss them with the warm gravy and cheese curds. Enjoy :)
I love, love, love poutine. It is the best thing to have with so many of my favorite beer styles. Looks great!
Thanks Milena and me, too! It’s my go-to comfort food, bar none :)
HI Jennifer, can the gravy be made ahead of time and just heated up? thanks
Absolutely Katie :) Enjoy!
Made this with tater tots tonight… Used gf flour and gf tots. I LOVE this gravy, I will use it for other things!! I love following your recipes, thanks for the great meals ?
So glad you enjoyed it and yes, the gravy is great for all kinds of dishes :)
Thanks man. I am going to make it this evening.
I still cant forget the wonderful poutine i had last November at Alfa, Longueil-St hubert. Hope it tastes similar.
Hope you enjoyed it!
I was wondering if you needed both chicken and beef broth, or if you could just use one of either
Hi Laury, the combination of broths is important for flavour and so that the gravy is neither too light or too dark. If you use canned broth, there’s less waste/left-over.
I’m making a turkey dinner for my family mon 10/13/14 wich happens to be canadian thanksgiving(not planned) I’m making poutine instead of mashed potatoes, my best friend is coming,she grew up in canada, I’m going to use this recipe, thank you
Enjoy Christine. She will be thrilled to have a poutine fix :)
We have this in the UK, its called gravy and chips lol. That said this look so tasty I’ll be trying this as a matter of urgency.
Thanks for the recipe :-)
We call it fries and gravy in Canada, too. Poutine is all above the addition of cheese curds. That’s where the magic happens ;)
Cannot wait to give this a go, had Poutine at my State Fair here in Minnesota and I’ve had a craving for it since!
Enjoy! Poutine has a way of coming back in cravings ;)
This recipe for real imitation poutine is what I’ve been looking for! Thanks so much! I love that you described so well what the cheese curds were like– to a Californian who knows nothing about real cheese curds. I’ve been unable to try Poutine until now I couldn’t try poutine. Hooray!
Enjoy Suzanne!
I love poutine! There is this place in Cincinnati called “Senate” and they have a putine that is “amaze-balls”. It consists of the same ingredients you have and cheese curds and braised beef. I don’t go often because the food is too amazing and its kind of far. But now I have a recipe that I can turn to whenever I need a poutine fix! Thanks for this.
There are definitely times when only poutine will do. Enjoy!
Hello there. Thank you for posting this recipe so that other people may enjoy this great Quebec lunchtime favorite.
Someone had asked what is serve with this meal. A typical poutine lunch would be: poutine with a Pepsi and a Mae West for dessert (a Mae West is a brand name for a moon pie style cake. It’s a 2 layer white cake, the whole thing covered in white frosting).
Living in Indiana now. Can’t find a good cheese curd to make this for my boys. Your post made me sentimental for home…
Hi Marc. Thanks. I’ve never heard of a Mae West. It hasn’t spread to Ontario, anyway. Sounds like we’re really missing something though, because it sounds delicious!!
Jennifer. If they still make them, they were made ny the Vachon company, the same people that made the Joe Louis and the Caramello cakes.
I’ve eaten a few Joe Louis in my life ;) I’m going to look for them. Could be they’re on the shelf and I’ve just never noticed!
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I’ve been living in New Zealand for a few years now and one night while in a pub in a small town of 300 people found poutine on the menu! I GOT SO EXCITED, then a little skeptical.. to my surprise, the chef was from Montreal and brought me my mouth watering dish of what I craved.
Authentic Poutine, in a tiny town, in the southern hemisphere. :)
I now have a source for cheese curds and really have no reason to return to Canada. HEAVEN!
A taste of home is always a good thing! Enjoy :)
Okay so I have never even heard of this food until I searched a recipe to use my pulled pork on. It came up with poutine and here I am. My question is, I have sweet potatoes I need to use and obviously the pulled pork, do you think those would go well in this recipe. Substitute the fries for sweet potato fries and put pulled pork on top of them?
TIA
Ok Alexandra. I’m going to be completely honest. I love sweet potato fries. I love pulled pork. But honestly, when it comes to Pulled Pork Poutine, I’d use regular fries. That said, I don’t think it would be bad. Sweet potatoes are well … sweet, and the finished dish will be different than if using regular potatoes. They also don’t crisp up all that well, so you might end up with a bit of a mushy finished dish. Just my thoughts :)