Air-Fryer French Onion Potato Sticks

French onion soup mix — the powdered packet of dehydrated onion, beef stock, and seasoning that lives in every Australian and British pantry — is one of the great cheat-code ingredients. It seasons mince, flavours dips, and here, transforms grated potato into something that tastes way more interesting than its component parts.

The technique is borrowed from latkes and rösti but simplified. Grated potato (squeezed dry), grated cheese, beaten egg, French onion soup mix, a small handful of flour to bind. Shape into thick rectangular sticks about 3 inches long, air-fry until the outside crisps and the cheese inside the dough melts down. The salt and umami of the soup mix is what makes them taste like a $14 menu item rather than a homemade snack.

The photo shows them stacked on a white plate: golden-brown sticks with visible cheese pools at the cut faces, a small bowl of sour cream and chives behind. The kind of side dish people pick at while waiting for the rest of dinner.