Lately, we’ve been tossing some air fryer home fries into our side items rotation. Things are just a bit healthier with the air fryer, you know? And there isn’t nearly as much clean up involved when dealing with a pan of used cooking oil. These home fries in the air fryer are tasty and easy! We prefer paprika for this recipe, but you can try these home fries air fryer style with any type of seasoning of your choice.
Why Soak the French Fries in Cold Water Before Cooking?
You will see in the recipe card below, we recommend soaking the peeled raw potatoes (after slicing into fries) in cold water before cooking. Many people ask why this step is necessary.
Soaking potatoes in cold water helps to pull the starches out of potatoes which in turn will help them to cook to a more crispy texture.
After soaking the peeled and sliced potatoes, you need to lay the slices out on paper towels or a towel to drain the water.
Adjusting Spices
If you like your side dishes a little spicier, you can certainly add more spices as you wish. You can add a little cayenne pepper and crushed red pepper. You may choose to go with cajun seasonings instead.
How Many Servings Are in This Recipe?
This recipe will make enough fries for four smaller servings. If you need more servings or plan to use the potatoes as an entree, you may want to double this recipe.
Do I Need To Use Any Oil for Air Fryer Home Fries?
Compared to traditional homemade French fries which are cooked in a skillet of oil, cooking home fries in air fryer machines calls for much less oil. You will need to spritz a bit of cooking spray – olive oil spray or Pam spray – onto the air fryer basket before you add in the raw potatoes. This helps prevent sticking.
Then, you will spritz just a touch more cooking spray to the top of the potatoes to help them evenly brown.
How Long To Cook Home Fries in the Air Fryer?
After you spritz the cooking oil onto the basket, add the sliced fries, being careful to not overlap them if possible. If some overlap a little, that is probably okay as long as the hot air can still circulate the fries. You may have to cook in batches. My air fryer is on the smaller side. It does not fit all of my potato slices at once. But some people have much larger air fryers that may fit one batch at once.
I cook my air fryer home fries at 400 degrees for 10 minutes and then flip them. Once flipped, I cook them 5-10 minutes longer until they seem soft in the middle but have crispy outer skins.
How Do you Serve Air Fryer Home Fries?
As soon as I pull the cooked potatoes out of the air fryer, I layer them on a large plate or serving dish. Then, I sprinkle a little more salt on them. I use course sea salt or table salt.
Additionally, I like to whip up a spicy dipping sauce. My favorite one is sriracha ketchup. That recipe is so simple to put together. You can even buy sriracha ketchup in a bottle at the stores, these days. But you can use any type of spicy sauce you like. And there’s nothing wrong with regular ketchup, of course!
Air Fryer Home Fries
Equipment
- 1 air fryer
Ingredients
- 4 Russet potatoes medium to large
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 tsp Paprika
- 1 tsp Garlic powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Black pepper
- ½ tsp Onion powder
Instructions
- Wash the potatoes well then peel and cut into ¼-inch thick fries.
- Place the fries in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Set aside to soak for 30 minutes.
- Remove the fries from the water and dry on paper towels or clean kitchen towels.
- In a large bowl, toss the fries with the olive oil.
- Add the paprika, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, and onion powder and toss to completely coat the fries.
- Lightly spray the inside basket of the air fryer with non-stick cooking spray, then pour inthe fries and arrange into a single layer (for smaller air fryers you will need to air fry in separate batches).
- Air fry the fries at 400F for 10 minutes. Then shake the basket to toss the fries to allow them to cook evenly, and continue air frying for another 5-10 minutes until fully cooked inside and crispy on the outside.
- Serve fries with dipping sauce of your choice.
Notes
- To make the fries spicy, add ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper and 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes. Smoked paprika is really good for a little different flavor. You can also use cajun seasoning.
- The fries are best eaten fresh, but leftovers can be refrigerated and reheated in the air fryer for a few minutes until hot.
- The instructions say to air fry in a single layer. Try not to overlap too much. You may have to air fry the fries in two batches for a small air fryer.
Nutrition
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