Air Fryer Home Fries Recipe

Who doesn’t love french fries and who doesn’t love saving a couple of minutes with an appliance like an air fryer? Become a PRO and learn the tastiest air fryer home fries recipe. It is so easy and delicious it’s about to become your favorite one! 

How to Make the Perfect Air Fryer Home Fries

Making the perfect air fryer French fries comes down to five things:

  • The type of potato used
  • How the potato is cut
  • Soaking of the potatoes
  • The spacing and arrangement of potatoes in your air fryer
  • Total time used to cook your potatoes

Which Type of Potato Should I Use?

When it comes to which potato to use for air fryer fries recipe, the type of potato you use will yield different results. French fries are typically made with white potatoes. Here are a few options you can use.

  • Russet potatoes result in fries that are crispy outside, drier inside, and tasted closest to the fries you’ll find in most restaurants.
  • Yukon gold potatoes result in fries that are equally crispy outside but have a firmer and creamier inside. They have a butter taste and are great for French fries due to their rich flavor.
  • White potatoes are smaller in size but are great for frying and perfect for pan-fried smashed potatoes.

We found that while Russet potatoes made the best French fries, we also LOVED how small and flavorful white potatoes also were.

Feel free to test all three types of potatoes and choose your favorite to air fry.

Do I Peel My Potatoes?

We recommend leaving the skin on your potatoes when air frying. We love the texture and nutrients the potato skins add.

If the skin on potatoes is not your thing, you can peel them before cutting.

How to Cut Potatoes for Fries

In order for your fries to cook evenly, it’s important for them to be cut the same width.

To create fries that crisped but didn’t burn, I found that cutting the potatoes into matchsticks that were ¼-inch wide on each side and 3 to 4 inches in length worked best.

Soak Your Fries Prior to Cooking

Soaking the potatoes in hot water for 10 minutes prior to cooking them in the air fryer is necessary for crispy delicious fries.

The water removes excess starch and allows the fries to be their crispiest in the air fryer.

I like to use hot water to cook the potatoes slightly. This creates the “double-fried” effect that makes many restaurant fries so addictive.

Layering Your Potatoes in the Air Fryer

One of my biggest frustrations with most air fryers is that while the basket is deep enough to fry tons of potatoes, we still need to lay them out in a single layer to fry appropriately.

This means you’ll have to revisit your air fryer multiple times if you’re preparing food for a large family. Be prepared to make multiple batches of fries.

We found that while the single-layer method worked best, the double layer method was also a good option if you’re on a time crunch. We just had to cook the fries for an additional 2 minutes.

Air Fryer French Fries Cook Times

The amount of time you need to air fry French fries will vary based on your model and its power.

I tested my french fries in a Taotronics air fryer with basket.

Since models vary, I recommend you check a few minutes early, and then again towards the end of cooking time to make sure your fries do not overcook and burn.

How to Cook Air Fryer Home Fries Recipe

This recipe is intended to feed 2 to 3 persons.

The Ingredients

  • 3-4 Potatoes (sliced)
  • Olive Oil in a spray bottle
  • Salt and Pepper to season. Alternatively, you can use other seasonings like cajun, parmesan or steak seasoning.

The Steps

Step 1: Slice the potatoes into sticks.

Step 2: Soak the potatoes in hot water for 10 minutes. This removes the starch from the potatoes and will result in crispier potatoes.

Step 3: Drain and dry the potatoes. Rinse the bowl before returning the potatoes to it.

Step 4: Cover the potatoes with oil and seasonings in the bowl. Use tongs or a mixing spoon to disperse the oil and seasonings.

Step 5: Cook the potatoes in 2 layers in the air fryer basket at 400 degrees F for 5 minutes. Toss the fries in the basket, then cook for 3-7 minutes more.

Air Fryer French Fries in a basket

Step 6: Transfer the fries to a plate, and sprinkle them with more salt and pepper as needed. Repeat the cooking process with any remaining potatoes.Air Fryer French Fries Recipe

Finished Air Fryer Home French Fries!

Recommended Tools to Make this Recipe

  • Air Fryer. The air fryer I own and love.
  • Mixing Bowls. Perfect for soaking your fries and tossing them with the spices.

Let us know if you make this recipe!

For more recipes, we invite you to continue reading our blog posts. You can also follow us on Instagram and tag us so we can follow along.