The Deep Fried Arby's Roast Beef Sandwich
Eating a normal lunch just isn't something I'm interesting in doing anymore, which is why I recently decided to bread an Arby's roast beef sandwich in some of their Curly Fries and deep fry it.
Now, the idea of breading something in fries and deep frying it definitely isn't anything new. I did it back in 2018 when I made a deep fried Big Mac that was breaded in McDonald's fries, and that idea itself was based on the French fry breaded corn dogs that have been around since way before then. With Arby's Curly Fries being some of the best fast food fries in existence though I figured that they finally deserved to be used in a similar fashion.
Maybe it's a product of shrinkflation like everything else in this world, or maybe my memory is just completely shot, but it seems like the Arby's Classic Roast Beef sandwich doesn't have anywhere near the amount of meat on it as it used to, so for this little experiment I used one of their Half Pound Roast Beef sandwiches because there's nothing worse than an uneven meat to bun and breading ratio.
The process to make this deep fried Arby's sandwich was super easy. I lined a bowl with plastic wrap, put the roast beef sandwich in the bowl, poured batter over the top and down the sides of the sandwich, coated it in Curly Fries and then wrapped in in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and put it in my freezer for a couple hours.
I ordered the XL sized Curly Fries and it was the perfect amount of fries to coat my sandwich completely while still having some fries leftover to snack on along the way because they're absolutely no way I can be around Arby's Curly Fries without eating at least some of them while waiting on the finished product.
Once you pour batter over the sandwich and coat it in fries you can pretty much freeze it for as long as you want within reason and then the amount of time you deep fry it for will just be determined based on how frozen it is. You don't even necessarily need to freeze it at all and could just fry it right away if you want to, but when I did that with my Big Mac some of the fries ended up separating from the batter the second the burger hit the hot oil.
Freezing my Arby's sandwich for two hours worked out perfectly though. It ensured that the fries stuck to the batter perfectly, but didn't freeze the sandwich completely through so it didn't have to stay in the fryer too long which would have ended up burning the already cooked Curly Fries.
After a quick five minute dunk in the deep fryer I squirted my sandwich with Arby's Sauce and sliced it open and it kind of reminded me of a Beef Wellington. When I posted the video on TikTok someone commented calling it a Beef Arbington and I think that's honestly the poerfect name for it.
As far as taste goes you know how sometimes you're eating something that's really good, but at the same time just tastes really unhealthy? That's the perfect way to describe this sandwich. I absolutely loved it, but at the same time I just felt disgusted with myself while eating it. That's not to say I wouldn't do it again, but it probably isn't something I'd do on a regular basis.
Deep Fried Arby's Roast Beef Sandwich
Ingredients
Method
- In a bowl or using a stand mixer combine flour and milk and stir to combine to make your batter.
- Line a bowl with plastic wrap and place the Arby's roast beef sandwich in the bowl.
- Lightly pour the batter over the roast beef sandwich until it's covered completely and press the Curly Fries into the batter surrounding the entire sandwich.
- Wrap the sandwich tightly in the plastic wrap and then again in aluminum foil and freeze for two hours.
- Heat oil in deep fryer or heavy skillet to 375°F.
- Remove the aluminum foil and plastic wrap from the sandwich and fry for 5 minutes or until golden brown. The cooking time will vary depending on how frozen it is, so just make sure you fry it until the sandwich is heated all the way through.
- Cool on a paper towel and serve with Arby's Sauce or your preferred dipping sauce.
