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It’s the most popular side dish out there and now you can make it in your air fryer with ease! These perfectly cooked Air Fryer French Fries are salty, crispy and delicious and prepared in a no-mess way that you are sure to appreciate!
Love your air fryer like we do? Try our other air fryer recipes like our Air Fryer Hamburgers, Air Fryer Hot Dogs or Air Fryer Corn Dogs!
Table of Contents
How to Make Air Fryer French Fries
To start, you’ll need a fry slicer. While we did have one, it’s wasn’t our favourite and I’ve since returned it for the fully stainless steel option. This one you see pictured here required ridiculous amounts of pressure (to the point I almost couldn’t use it) to push through the potato and slice it into fries. The new one (linked here *affiliate link*) is much better.
Cut your potatoes with a French Fry Slicer
Soak in Cold Water
Once you’ve sliced the potatoes into fries, you’ll want to soak them for a while in cold water. I recommend about 30 minutes or so. This helps remove some of the starch from the potatoes, which in turn will help them crisp up more.
Dry Fries on Paper Towels or a Clean Dish Towel
Drain the water and dry out your fries on some paper towels or a clean dish towel to get rid of as much water as possible.
Drizzle and Season the Fries
Now place your fries into a large bowl. You’ll want to drizzle a bit of olive oil over them and sprinkle them with seasoning salt (to your preference) before we begin air frying them.
Add Fries to Air Fryer Basket
Now it’s time to add the fries to the Air Fryer basket. Make sure they are evenly spaced and try not to stack them on top of one another.
Cook until golden brown
Insert the basket into the Air Fryer and cook according to the directions in the recipe card below. We’ve outlined the best temperatures and times according to what worked for us, you may need to adjust your times slightly depending on the type of air fryer you own but it should be close. Be sure to keep an eye on them and remove when you feel they are the done to your liking (some people like darker and crispier, some do not).
FAQ
You want to use Russet potatoes for the best French fries. Do not use white potatoes or any other kind as they will not taste the same or cook up as nicely. Russet are the best option, hands down.
We prefer to use seasoning salt and olive oil. Seasoning salt is commonplace for French fries but if you prefer, you can use sea salt or standard table salt as well. Seasoning salt gives them a nice flavour, however.
Soak the cut fries in cold water for 30 minutes or more. Ideally, an hour is best if you aren’t in a rush. The more starch that is removed, the crispier the fries will be.
You also want to ensure you dry them thoroughly to ensure they crisp up well. You do not want to insert soaking wet fries into the air fryer or they will not crisp up well, simply put, if they are wet, they will NOT crisp properly.
Do not use a mandolin, they are too finicky. Instead, use a fry slicer. Fry slicers were designed to quickly and efficiently slice potatoes in one shot rather than a mandolin, a lot of which will break or be much harder to use.
I recommend against this. You want proper air flow over the fries. We have an air fryer which supports multiple layers and in my attempts to use it, the result was mediocre and improperly cooked fries as opposed to cooking them in a single layer without stacking.
We use a Gourmia air fryer which we love. We purchased it from Costco.
How to Reheat Air Fryer French Fries
To reheat your fries, you can use your Air Fryer a second time! Just place your fries in a single layer in the air fryer and cook at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 3-5 minutes (depending on the level of crispiness you desire). This will quickly reheat them and you can enjoy them just a much as you did the first time!
I hope you enjoy these as much as we did! If you like this recipe, please rate it and share it on Pinterest so others can find it!
Happy Cooking!
Mike
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Air Fryer French Fries
- Prep Time
- 35 minutes
- Cook Time
- 15 minutes
- Course
- Side Dish
- Cuisine
- American
- Servings
- 2
- Calories
- 415
- Equipment
- air fryer
- Author
- Karlynn Johnston
Ingredients
- 2 large large russet potatoes washed. but not peeled
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- seasoning salt to taste
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Using a knife or a French fry slicer, slice the potatoes into evenly sized potatoes stick for fries. It works the best when they are all close in size to each other.
- Line a basket or plate with parchment paper.
- Place the potato sticks into a bowl of cold water and completely cover with water. Soak in the water for 30 minutes.
- If needed, preheat your air fryer to 375° (not all models require preheating)
- Drain the potato sticks and lay out on paper towels. Blot them dry with more paper towels.
- Place in a medium sized bowl and toss with olive oil and seasoning salt. (or salt and pepper but seasoning salt is my secret weapon for amazing friers!)
- Place the fries in the bottom of your air fryer basket in one even layer.
- Cook for 10-15 minutes until the fries are crispy and golden brown – start checking at the 10-minutemark then watch them closely until they are cooked to your preference.
- Remove and shake the fries into the parchment lined dish. (parchment helps keep them crispy, nothing absorbs the oil or makes the fries soggy like paper towels do)
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition Information
All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Made this recipe?
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Please rate this recipe in the comments below to help out your fellow cooks!
Donna says
Can you use potatoes other than russet?
Mel Heinrichs says
Can you stack the fries or do you have to do just a single layer?
Mike Johnston says
You can try stacking but you will find that you have to cook longer. It works best with a single layer
Denise M Glasgow says
Cook @375 for 10-15 minute
Heather McFadden says
Sorry. Never mind I just saw the preheat at 375F. All good
Heather McFadden says
What temp to cook the fries in the Air fryer ?
400?
Reheat you noted 350F but cooking I can’t find the temperature.