Skinny Chili Cheese Fries – Taco Style

Chili cheese fries are such a fun invention. They are a fast food favorite and are simply delicious. But, they are usually very fattening. No worries…Here’s my NEW skinny version to the rescue! Terrific to serve for dinner or for gathering around the TV while watching sports. Each hearty, skinny serving has 334 calories, 8 grams of fat and 8 Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS. 


Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook and Bake Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients for Chili:

1 cup onions, chopped

1 (1.25 pound) package 99% fat free ground turkey breast

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained

¾ cup water

1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning, I used Lawry’s

Ingredients for Fries:

12 ounces frozen french fries, I used Alexia 98% fat free frozen fries, see shopping tips

¾ cup (3 ounces) reduced-fat cheddar cheese

¼ cup salsa, I used Pace Medium Chunky

¼ cup skinny ranch dressing or fat-free sour cream for each serving

Instructions

1. To Make Chili: Cook onions in microwave for 1 minute to soften. In a large, nonstick pan, brown turkey. Stir often and break up turkey into a crumble. Stir in onions, tomatoes, beans, water and taco seasonings. Bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.  You will only use ½ of this chili recipe (3 cups chili) for the 4 servings.

2. To Bake Fries: While chili is cooking, bake the fries. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking pan with foil and coat all over with cooking spray. Spread the frozen fries evenly over the pan. Bake as directed.

3. To Assemble Each Serving: Line each plate with 12-15 baked fries. Pour ¾ cup chili on top of fries. Dollop a little salsa around the top of chili. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons cheese. Zap in microwave for 1 minute. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon skinny ranch dressing or fat-free sour cream and serve. Repeat for the 3 other servings,

Makes 4 serving. Each serving of chili cheese fries includes ¾ cup chili, 12-15 fries, cheese, salsa and ranch.
*This chili makes 6 cups total. You’ll only use 3 cups for this chili cheese fries recipe.

Food Fact
The origin of chili cheese fries is not really clear. Many want to take credit for creating this tasty dish so tracking down the actual origin is hard. There are a few different origin stories. What is known is that Chili Cheese Fries were being offered frozen as early as 1975.

Shopping Tips
I recently discovered Alexia 98% fat-free frozen fries and they are amazing. You can find them in most supermarkets in the freezer section with the other frozen fries. Heath food markets such as Whole Foods, sell them too. Nutrition Facts: for 3 ounce serving, 100 cal, 1.5g fat, 0mg chol, 2g prot, 20g carbs, 260mg sod, 2g fiber, 1g sugar

If you can’t find these, look for the lowest calorie and fat frozen fries available. Or, make my scratch recipe for Skinny Fries.

Storage and Serving Tip
Freeze the remaining 3 cups of chili, if desired. You could use the remaining chili to stuff a baked potato, create a taco salad, or enjoy in a bowl topped with chopped tomato, onions and little ranch dressing and salsa.

Weight Watchers (old points) 7
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 8

SKINNY FACTS: for 1 serving (¾ cup chili, 3 oz fries, cheese, salsa and ranch dressing)
334 calories, 8g fat, 2mg chol, 30g protein, 39g carbs, 7g fiber, 978mg sod, 5g sugar

FAT FACTS: for 1 serving of Johhny Rockets Chili Fries
710 calories, 40g fat, 45mg chol, 17g prot, 76g carbs, 7f fiber, 650mg sod, 1g sugar

Find more delicious recipes on Nancy Fox’s website, Skinny Kitchen