Loaded Chips With a Proper Cheese Sauce: Why It Beats Melted Cheese

Pile cheese on chips and melt it and you get a greasy layer that slides off. Make a cheese sauce first and everything changes. It is creamy, it clings, and it turns a tray of wedges into something you would be happy to see in a restaurant. That is the idea behind our ultimate loaded chips.

As Mac says after the first bite: “Just the difference of not just putting cheese over the top and melting it. Having that béchamel, that cheese sauce, to give the creaminess… and to stick to the wedges.”

What’s the best seasoning for chips?

For us it is our Ultimate Chip Seasoning: paprika and smoked paprika with garlic, onion, oregano, thyme, basil and black pepper, with celery salt (contains celery). It is savoury and herby with no heat. Oil the wedges, coat them in the seasoning and roast. It also works over chips straight from the oven or fryer while they are still hot, which helps it cling.

You do not have to stick to one blend. Mac’s point is that you can flavour the wedges however you like: try our Taco Spice, or one of the Ultimate blends such as the Ultimate Pork Seasoning. “They’ll all do a job and they’ll all flavour it in a different way.”

How it comes together

The wedges take the longest, but there is very little hands-on work, and the cooking order is what makes it easy. While the wedges roast, you make everything else.

1. Pickle the red onion. Slice a red onion thinly and put it in white wine vinegar with some sugar (red wine vinegar works too). Leave it for about 20 minutes. It keeps in the fridge for up to five days, so make extra for other meals.
2. Roast the wedges. Cut the potatoes into wedges, coat them in oil and the seasoning, and spread them out flat on a tray. They go in at 200°C fan (about 220°C without the fan) for 25 to 35 minutes, turned halfway so they crisp on the outside and not just underneath. In an air fryer, they take about 12 to 13 minutes.
3. Make the cheese sauce. Melt butter in a pan, add the same weight of flour, and cook for about two minutes without letting it brown. Add the milk a little at a time, letting each addition absorb into the roux before the next. Keep the heat gentle, because the milk and starch can catch and burn on the bottom of the pan. If it goes lumpy, a hand blender brings it back. Stir in English mustard (Dijon works if you have it) and most of the cheese, keeping some back for topping.
4. Get the consistency right. You want a sauce thick enough to draw a line across the back of your spoon, but still pourable enough to drizzle over the wedges. How much milk you need depends on the flour you use, so go by the texture rather than the number.
5. Cook the black beans. In a medium-hot pan, warm tinned black beans with smoked paprika and cumin. Add a splash of vegetable stock to protect the spices as they cook out, and cook for six or seven minutes until most of the stock has gone. Finish with a squeeze of lemon.
6. Load and bake. Put the wedges on a tray or serving dish, then add the beans, the rest of the cheese and the sauce. Back in the oven for five minutes lets the sauce bubble and start to brown. The sauce can be made ahead and only needs to be warm, because the oven reheats it.
7. Top it. Finish with the pickled onions, sour cream, coriander (or parsley if you are not a fan), spring onions and a few jalapeños, which you can leave out.

Serve it in the middle of the table as a sharing plate and let everyone dig in.

Make it your own

• Short on time: The cheese sauce also goes over jacket potatoes. Add some crispy fried bacon if you like. It is a popular one in our family when we are short on time.
• Just the wedges: The seasoned wedges are good as a side on their own.
• Cheese sauce nerves: It can feel daunting if you have never made one. Take your time, keep the heat low, and you will get there.

Get the full recipe

The full ingredients and quantities are in our Loaded Ultimate Chips recipe. If you want the wedges on their own, see our Oven-Baked Potato Wedges.