

"Americans love to eat. They are fatally attracted to the slow-death of fast food. Hot dogs, corn dogs, triple bacon cheeseburgers, deep-fried, butter-dipped in pork fat and cheese-whiz, mayonnaise, soaked barbecue, mozzarella patty melts. Americans will eat anything. Anything. ANYTHING. Shit, if you were selling fried raccoons assholes on a stick, Americans would buy them and eat them! Especially if you were to dip them in butter and put a little salsa on them!"
George Carlin (not a fan himself), Life Is Worth Losing

In the practice of deep-frying, your item of choice is submerged in hot oil or fat, where it cooks extremely quickly and gains a crispy, very tasty exterior. Soaking things in boiling-hot fat can make anything delicious. A common practice is to take something already delicious, loaded with fat and sugar, and deep-fry it FOR EXTRA FLAVOR. When this trope is pushed to absurd levels, it is always Played for Laughs.

In Real Life, deep-frying is popular in America (particularly in the Deep South), Scotland, and parts of Asia. A possible reason for its success is because deep-fying is so much faster than other methods of cooking. Once the oil is hot enough, the food cooks in minutes. And since the heat makes a seal in the outer-layer of the food, the inside is not as greasy as one might expect (if it is, someone did something wrong), as opposed to pan frying.

Examples of Deep-Fried Whatever include:


  • A parody: Jones' Good Ass BBQ and Foot Massage - "We'll fry anything you want for $5.99. And those that's friable or edible, we gonna make it deliciounable! We will fry parts of the chicken you didn't even know where friable! The beak! The feathers! We'll fry candy bars! And all that European stuff you don't normally eat (french bread, french fries, french onion dip), you can bring it down and we'll fry it for you!" Pk MUU 9 t Uqk&feature=related

Comic Books


  • Used in an unusual way in the Japanese movie The Machine Girl: Tempura is a deadly weapon. Several characters get their limbs fried off.
  • Similarly, in Scotland, PA, the McBeths threaten to kill Norm Duncan by shoving his face into the frying oil, then end up actually doing so by accident. Sort of. You really had to be there. This also serves as the source of Pat McBeth's Out, Damned Spot! scenes: When Duncan dies, a small splash of frying oil burns her hand; as she goes mad, she becomes convinced that the burn is getting worse, even though it's completely healed.
  • In an extra feature on the DVD of Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock visits a fish and chip shop that also experiments with deep-frying candy bars. Since Morgan is still on his McDonald's-only diet while they visit, he defers to his cameraman.
  • In the Irish movie The Van, the main characters renovate a chipper (a food service truck) and go into business selling fried food. Although the battered and deep-fried used diaper may be presumed to be an inversion of this trope.
  • In Shrek 2, this appears to be the Fairy Godmother's standard way of dealing with stress.

  Fairy Godmother: I don't care whose fault this was, just get it sorted! And could someone please bring me something deep fat fried and smothered in chocolate...

  • Bill Forsyth's Comfort and Joy, set in Glasgow, ends with protagonist Alan creating a truce between rival ice cream vendors (from the same family) by getting them to collaborate on selling ice cream fritters. Since only he knows the secret ingredient essential to making them, he gets to call the shots on the deal.
  • Doomsday brings us deep-fried Sean Pertwee, courtesy of the Glaswegian punk cannibals.


  • In I Shall Wear Midnight, both Tiffany and the Nac Mac Feegle themselves list one of their good points as the invention of the deep-fried stoat. Although the Feegles acknowledge that it's mostly a good point because it saved some other poor devil from inventing it. It's still probably better than a non-deep-fried stoat.

Live Action TV

  • On a Christmas episode of Men Behaving Badly, Tony gets given a deep-fat fryer for Christmas. Over the course of the episode he deep-fries an array of unlikely foodstuffs, culminating in him deep-frying the telephone.
  • Arrested Development featured the Cornballer, one of the Bluth family's more unfortunate business ventures. A deep-fat fryer for making fried corn balls in the home, it was discontinued in the US because the device was scalding hot to the touch. It was still being sold in Mexico, where angry citizens imprisoned an escaped George Sr. after recognizing him from the Infomercial for it.
  • Used brilliantly on Gilmore Girls in the episode with four thanksgivings. Sookie's husband Jackson deep-fried the turkey, then got drunk and began deep frying other things. As Sookie lamented that the only reason the mattresses were intact was that they wouldn't fit, a yell was heard in the background of: 'Deep-fried Shoe!' At which point she buried her face in her hands.
  • In an episode of Farscape, Crichton doesn't even have the standard food cubes to eat, and so he decides to fry the little creatures that are used for brushing teeth. When told they aren't edible, Crichton says "You can eat anything if it's fried!" Unfortunately for him, he's wrong.
  • During one Myth Busters test, Grant announced that he would eat his multitool pouch if anything went wrong with his R/C rig. You can guess what happened. We don't get to see Grant chowing down, but he does announce that he gets to pick the recipe, and he's thinking deep fried with powdered sugar.
  • Kenan and Kel: In one episode, Kenan and Kel are asked by a famous celebrity to hold on to her shirt that her grandmother knitted for her before she died. Three guesses as to what happens next.
  • On "The Gunslinger" episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Crow and Servo decided to deep fry the fan mail. When asked why, Servo responded with, "I'm not sure I understand the question..."
    • Dr. Forrester deep fried Frank as a punishment.

 TV's Frank: There, I'm deep fried. Can we be friends now?

  • Naturally, Good Eats has done several episodes on the subject of frying. In the first dedicated episode, Fry Hard, Alton makes fish and chips in an attempt to silence his busybody sister Marsha, who is (at the moment) on an anti-fat crusade, by pointing out that frying is only unhealthy if you do it wrong.
  • In the Doctor Who episode "The Eleventh Hour", the newly-regenerated Eleventh Doctor finds almost everything in young Amelia Pond's fridge revolting to his new taste buds. He retorts to her "You're Scottish! Fry something!"
  • In a Mad TV parody of Aaron Spelling Action Girl shows, a trio of fast-food workers find a bomb in their restaurant. So one of the girls dunks the bomb in batter and deep-fries it, and it explodes harmlessly within the breading shell. The audience cheers.


  • Osamu Tezuka's Ode to Kirihito has a character who is a sideshow freak, 'the human tempura'. She covers herself in batter and is deep-fried, then with split-second timing is brought out again and bursts through the dough, alive. Her training was hell and normal circuses won't take her because her act is too depraved. She ultimately tragically dies doing this with an improvised spoon to make money. Apparently she didn't realize that her basic tumbling talents were much safer and easier and just as likely to net some dough performing on the street.


  • The Danielson song "Lil Norge" briefly contrasts the culinary preferences of Norway and the US:

 We prefer fresh bread over things that are fried.

There's no limit to what you fry,

or my oil money buy.

Newspaper Comics

Standup Comedy

  • George Carlin's disgust with Fat America, as seen in the Trope quote above.

Video Games

  • The 3rd episode of Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures features a deep-frying machine. Sadly, Gromit won't put anything in there besides a puzzle-solving item.
  • .Lufia2RiseOfTheSinistrals, Selan's deep-fried jelly in olive oil.

Web Animation

  • Even being shoved into his own donut fryer doesn't stop Homestar Runner from singing its praises.

Web Comics

Web Original

Western Animation

  • In an American Dad episode, the Smiths own a deep fryer and have a conversation at the beginning of the episode about how good the food they cook with it is. Then Francine drops her ink pen in the fryer, takes a bite out of it and remarks that "it even makes this pen taste good".
    • Francine developed something of an obsession with frying stuff in that episode to the point that she appeared borderline insane. She was planning on deep frying a live chick, and later she takes Steve's new bunny right out of his hands and cheerily declares that "I'm gonna pop you right in the fryer!"
  • In The Simpsons, when Moe's becomes a family-friendly TGI Friday's-type restaurant, he purchases a deep-fryer which deep fries everything, including champagne bottles.

 Moe: The deep fryer's here. Heh heh, I got it used from the navy. You can flash-fry a buffalo in forty seconds.

Homer: Forty seconds? But I want it now!

    • In another Simpsons episode, Homer ordered from a fast food drive-thru and got everything deep fried - including the bag and a diet Coke.
    • Another had Homer deep-fry his shirt. Even clothing's better deep fried!

 Homer: And you said they couldn't deep-fry my shirt!


  • In The Replacements, when Todd and Riely run off and join the carnival, Riely ends up running the deep fry anything stands. The things she gets handed to deep fry includes roadkill and a football.
  • In one King of the Hill episode, Bill and Boomhauer get a deep fryer, and use it on lots of things, including an already deep-fried chicken leg.

 Bill: If everyone deep-fried their food, there would be no war.

  • Ren and Stimpy had a cartoon about "Billy the Beef Tallow Boy," who deep-fried everything that was brought before him, even inedible objects like a car and a pair of shoes.
  • SpongeBob SquarePants - Squeaky Boots: When Spongebob's new squeaky boots began to drive Mr. Crabs crazy, he steals them, dumps them in frying oil, and eats them in a bout of insanity.
    • And a more recent episode features an escalating grease-war between Krabs and Plankton.
  • Aqua Teen Hunger Force - during a barbecue, Shake and Carl deepfry an ENTIRE cow injected with cheese in its udders and force fed bacon and ranch dressing before it died.

Real Life

  • French fries.
  • Fried ice cream. For those wondering how it's possible: first you bread a ball of ice cream, and then there's two ways to fry it. There's the "fry it very quickly" method or the "freeze rock-solid, then fry almost as quickly" method. Generally not recommended for the inexperienced chef.
  • 25 foods you didn't know could be deep fried! Includes chocolate chip cookie dough, pop tarts, and the cheeseburger in the picture above.
  • Deep-fried Twinkies. Yes.
  • Fried Oreos. Oh my goodness, yes.
    • This troper sees your fried Oreos and raises you fried Reese cups.
  • There was a candy/concession store in London or something that not only did Twinkies, but everything else.
  • Deep fried turkey for Thanksgiving! (Profoundly dangerous, but incredibly good. Alton Brown once built a derrick to make the entire procedure somewhat safe.)
    • It's not that dangerous if you cook it outside, follow all the safety tips (Alton Brown's method may seem extreme, but it isn't that much work considering what that oil can do), and keep a fire extinguisher on hand. And unlike most of the examples here, Fried Turkey is as healthy as it is delicious (it's not battered, so little to no grease is absorbed during cooking)!
    • William Shatner and State Farm presents a PSA on safe turky frying.
  • Scotland brings us the fried Mars Bar as well as deep-fried pizza. Scotland also has fast food venues which offer to deep fry anything you want.
  • Deep-fried Coca-cola?
    • This has been topped. Among the offerings at the 2011 California State Fair: deep-fried KoolAid.
  • The Deep South is (in)famous for its use of fried foods, ranging from international popularity (Kentucky Fried Chicken) to the obscure (okra, green tomatoes). Deep frying is a quick and effective means to cook food, and coupled with the warm climate, saved preparation time in an infernally hot kitchen. In the south, it is not preferable to slave over a hot oven or stove, since it is consistently hot for most of the year. Thus, faster methods of cooking, including frying, are more often practiced.
    • This has developed to the point where many people own equipment capable of deep-frying whole turkeys.
  • County fairs are good places to find fried foods, and often they will have something different every year, such as deep-fried snickers bars or pickles.
    • From Dave Barry's Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need, describing the advantages of vacationing in the US:

 Often there will be local fairs and festivals, where the kids can ride on the Whirl-'n'-Puke while Mom and Dad enjoy tasty local cuisine such as french fried potatoes, fried chicken, fried onion rings, fried dough, and fried frying oil fried with fried sugar.

      • "Fried dough" likely refers to funnel cake-- cake batter dripped through a funnel into the fryer-- a staple fair food typically served with powdered sugar on top.
        • Fried dough is basically funnel cake without the funnel. A slight difference, but a difference nonetheless, and some individuals in New England will proceed to Gannon Ban you if you mistake their fried dough for funnel cake or vice versa.
    • Seen at a state fair: Deep-Fried Key Lime Pie. On A Stick. What.
  • Chimichangas, i.e. deep fried burritos.
  • To add insult to an injury, Chicken Kiev. If you discount the chicken, it's basically a deep-fried butter. With herbs, though. Everything's healthier with herbs.
  • While deep-fried Mars bar was a joke item that gained popularity, South East Asians are very familiar with fried bananas as a snack item.
    • Fried bananas are sometimes found in Brazilian restaurants, too.
    • And a variety of countries in Latin America have fried plantain.
      • Platanos with sour cream and refried beans is one of the more bizarre - not to mention delicious - aspects of Central American cuisine.
  • In the Dark Ages, there was a certain bishop that the townspeople were unhappy with. So one day when he crossed the line, they went and deep fried him. (No batter, though.)
  • A county fair in Texas introduced such wonderful foods as deep-fried butter. Literally, deep-fried butter. Also, chicken-fried bacon. The only way to top this is with deep-fried bacon-wrapped bacon wrapped in deep-fried bacon.
    • That would be the State Fair of Texas, and it's been done. At this same fair.
  • While the whole dish wasn't deep-fried, a local fair vendor sold a doughnut chicken sandwich. Yes, a deep-fried chicken breast (and cheese!) sandwiched between a deep-fried doughnut of your choice (jelly-filled if you so desire).
  • The (now defunct) website This is Why You're Fat (examples include: Double Bypass Burger - burger topped with five slices of bacon, four slices of cheese, two fried eggs, mayo, lettuce, tomato, and onion between two buns made up of two grilled-cheese sandwhiches, deep fried ravioli, and deep fried corn flake twinkies). So good yet soooooo bad!
  • This is not just an American trope -- in Taiwan they have little carts called xiansuji, which offer a variety of items to be deep fried, including bread, pork blood, chicken feet, and corn dogs, not to mention more regular fare such as chicken, hot dogs, green beans, etc.
  • Tempura makes EVERYTHING delicious. For those unable to track down authentic tempura flour, instant pancake mix makes for a decent enough substitute.
  • A restaurant in Brooklyn owned by a Brit called the Chip Shop will fry up anything you want. No, seriously. The takeout menu includes deep-fried pizza.
  • Can we fry this page?
    • Dear, of course you can. Now let's go!
    • Print the page out first, deep frying your computer might void its warranty.
  • The panzarotti, which is essentially a deep-fried calzone, and a perennial favorite in South Jersey.
  • Pretty much every culture has some variant of deep fried fat as a way to make use of the stuff they'd usually throw away. The south is the only place where people who don't have to still eat the stuff.
  • Indian Fry Bread. Essentially a flat, plate sized donut. It can be served as a dinner with chili or stew on top, or a desert with powdered sugar and/or honey. Mexican Sopapilla is similar, but puffy so you put the topping on the inside.
    • Outside the American Southwest, this is known as an elephant ear.
    • In several Canadian reserves you can encounter fried bannock (a flat bread similar to scones that's made primarily of lard) Bannock Pops (Bannock stuffed with seasoned ground beef and sometimes potatoes and deep fried) and hound dogs (hot dogs wrapped in bannock and deep fried). All of these are delicious and they're all created by people who have some of the worst rates of diabetes and heart disease in the world.
  • On the Cooking Network program "David Rocco's La Dolce Vita", David Rocco explains that a common Italian snack is a "fried pizza" which involves taking individual-sized portions of pizza dough and frying them in a skillet until they're crispy, sauteeing a tomato sauce (with garlic and basil) in a separate skillet, then topping the fried pizza dough with the tomato sauce and some parmesan. He also made a sweet variant where the fried pizza dough is topped with honey.
    • It's actually rather more popular in Scotland, which makes sense (the Deep South's obsession with frying everything comes from the Scottish origins of many if not most ancestral Southerners).
  • Deep Fried BEER. Unquestionably this is humankind's Crowning Moment of Awesome.
    • Even better: It's Guinness!
  • The restaurant chain Tijuana Flats carries cookie dough flautas: tortillas filled with cookie dough, fried, topped with powdered sugar, and served with chocolate syrup for dipping.
  • A restaurant in Memphis called Dyer's brings us the deep fried burger, where they deep fried their burger patties in the same grease they have been using for 100 years.
  • In the epitome of cool, Scotch Eggs. Take a hard boiled egg, wrap it in sausage, bread it, then deep fry the thing.
    • Traditionally, a scotch egg is actually soft-boiled (aka coddled) instead, which provides a better mix of textures (crunchy coating, meaty sausage, chewy albumen, creamy yolk). The best part, though, is that pretty much any egg can be coddled... while the lunatic hasn't yet been found that would try this with a Cadbury Creme Egg, it's really only a matter of time.
      • Already done in the "25 foods you didn't know could be deep-fried" link above.
  • A restaurant in Cleveland called The Towne Fryer serves pretty much all of the above. And the owner/head cook totally plays her Deep South roots for all it's worth.
  • A classic that combines this with Blessed Are the Cheesemakers, Satiating Sandwich, and Bacon Addiction is the Monte Cristo. There are a few different preparations, but in general, it involves a sandwich piled with turkey, bacon, and Swiss cheese, dipped in batter, then deep-fried. To serve, top it with a generous sprinkling of powdered sugar and some jam or preserves. There are variations on the theme (including only batter-dipping/frying the bread, using ham instead of bacon, various types of cheese, not to mention the specific topping), but all of them combine some variety of the three previously mentioned tropes with this one as well as being tremendously unhealthy.
  • Natto is a famously Japanese dish consisting of partially fermented soybeans, which even many Japanese dislike strongly. If you claim to dislike it, proponents will suggest you try it deep fried; when fried it loses its potentially offensive texture but retains its cheesy flavor and nutritious properties.
  • Deep fried waffles. With butter and maple syrup just like you'd have if it they weren't fried. They are the most delicious thing in the entire history of the universe.
  • In a probable aversion, a woman reported finding a fried chicken head in a box of McDonald's wings.
    • Hey, if you're gonna eat a chicken head at all, it may as well be a deep-fried one.
  • Deep fried cheesecake, which may or may not be coated in chocolate and come with whip cream.
  • This troper's college had a habit of enticing college kids to eat vegetables by deep-frying them in batter. Usually zuchinni, but they were also known to deep-fry brocolli and summer squash.

