These Air Fryer French Fries are fresh, crispy, cheesy and a healthy homemade alternative to traditional deep-fried restaurant appetizers. Not only will your kids love these, but you’ll also appreciate how little it takes to make fries in an air fryer.
There is a skip-to-recipe button in the top left corner along with a clickable table of contents list (just below) that will quickly take you to the part you are more interested in. Enjoy!
Table Of Contents
Why It's Yummy
- Make as little as you need with simple ingredients and enjoy a fresh batch of flavorful crispy french fries anytime.
- Easy, simple and delicious. Customizable with various seasonings and dipping sauces.
- One of my favorite way to enjoy these fries is with parmesan and truffle oil - just like in this popular Parmesan Truffle Fries recipe. Very addictive!
Ingredients
My few comments on the ingredients + don't forget to read the Tips section!
The full recipe and ingredients can be found in the recipe card below this post.
Potatoes, Oil, Parmesan Cheese and your favorite seasonings - is all you need for these air fryer french fries!
Instructions
Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees Fahrenheit according to your air fryer model (Mine was 400 F for 5 minutes). I used Cosori 5.8 quart.
Wash and dry the potatoes. With a sharp knife cut potatoes into ¼ inch strips lengthwise and each strip into ¼ inch wide strips.
In a large bowl, soak the fries in room temperature water for 15-30 minutes. (I found that there is not much of a difference whether it's hot or cold water you are using).
Rinse the potatoes with water again to remove any remaining starch and pat dry them properly.
Toss the fries in oil, and seasonings. Massage the potatoes to ensure they are coated entirely.
Place potatoes into preheated air fryer basket in a single even layer and fry for 20-25 minutes, shaking the basket halfway through a couple of times to ensure even frying.
Depending on the model, the air fryer should let you know when to shake the basket.
If the fries are not as crispy as you'd like, fry them for another 5 or more minutes until they are.
Homemade air fryer french fries will look slightly different than when deep frying. It is normal if they are more of a golden brown in some parts.
But please don't confuse this with burned fries that were cut too thin and over-fried.
Transfer the hot fries into a large bowl, add more seasoning if needed, parmesan, and toss/shake well. Enjoy with your favorite dipping sauces!
Tips
- Crispy fries. I haven’t seen much of a difference whether my fries are soaked for 30 minutes or 2 hours. The same goes for soaking in cold or warm water. The idea is to get the most starch out and both options work well.
- If fries are cut too thin the ends may burn or get charred quicker than the fries are cooked through.
- The beauty of an air fryer is that you can use a little oil as you want or even no oil (unlike with a deep fryer). I just find that adding at least 1 tablespoon of oil makes things more flavorful and fries crispier.
- Don’t add too much salt and seasoning before air frying. For best flavor add more salt right after frying sprinkling hot fries with extra seasoning and parmesan. Hot fries soak up that extra seasoning very well.
- Air fryer French Fries seasoning ideas. Fries are a simple dish that requires very little seasoning like salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powder (and these last two are totally optional). Want something different? Add extra seasonings such as onion or garlic powder, cajun, cayenne pepper, and sweet paprika.
- One of my favorite ways is to add parmesan and truffle oil to the fries. Once fries are cooked, add each batch to a shallow bowl and drizzle with truffle oil, and sprinkle plenty of grated parmesan. Serve right away.
- No soggy fries. Another tip for a crispy exterior: fries have to be cooked in batches. Leave plenty of space between them and use at least 1 spoonful of cooking oil.
- Oil for frying. Any neutral oil with high smoke points such as canola, peanut, or avocado oil. Using olive oil for frying is fine. However, if you are using olive oil make sure it is of a very good quality and is virgin.
- The whole cooking process in batches may require more time than you'd used to, especially when cooking for more than 2 people.
- This recipe can be made with frozen fries as well, cooking time will need to be adjusted.
- I have a similar recipe with sweet potatoes, try my Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes next!
- Homemade Celery salt makes a great seasoning for any potato dish.
Freezing And Storing Instructions
Store the air fryer french fries in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days max.
Reheat in the air fryer at the same temperature - 375 degrees Fahrenheit or in the oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Don’t add any more oil.
Overall fried foods don’t reheat well, even if made in the air fryer. Even though you're using way less oil than deep frying the flavor and texture are just not as crisp after reheating as they were once when freshly cooked.
I don’t recommend freezing these either.
FAQ
There can be multiple reasons why your air fryer fries are soggy. For best results arrange the fries in a single layer in an air fryer basket, separate from each other. This needs to be done in batches. Soak the raw potatoes before cooking to remove the excess starch, and make sure to rinse them properly and then dry them as well as you can. If fries are soggy you should air fry them for extra 5-10 minutes as stated in the recipe directions. And finally, choosing the wrong potato type for frying, Russets are the preferred choice.
I’d recommend giving your potato fries a cold water bath before frying. Potatoes have plenty of starch, and soaking them in cold water gives you perfectly crisp fries. Soak the fries in cold water for at least 30 minutes-1 hour.
Easy Potato Recipes
ALL SIDE DISH Recipes.
Crispy Air Fryer Recipes
The air fryer has become my new favorite way of enjoying food, in especially veggies! The cooking time is reduced in half, the texture crispy and flavor incredible. I use my Cosori a lot!
Want to explore more air fryer recipes? Please visit my Air Fryer recipe index right here.
I hope you'll enjoy this Air Fryer French Fries recipe, please leave a rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo of your food and tag me on Instagram @theyummy_bowl. I love seeing your creations!
Thank you for reading,
Love,
Julia
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Recipe
Air Fryer French Fries With Parmesan
INGREDIENTS
- 2 large russet potatoes (peeled or unpeeled (Or Yukon Golds, Idaho))
- 1-2 tablespoons high quality virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder (for deeper flavor, use 1 medium garlic clove, minced)
- 1 teaspoon onion powder (or other favorite seasonings)
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- black pepper to taste
- ¾ cup parmesan cheese
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees Fahrenheit according to air fryer model. (Mine was 400 F for 5 minutes) Cosori 5.8 quart
- Wash and dry the potatoes. With a sharp knife cut potatoes into ¼ inch strips lengthwise and each strip into ¼ inch wide strips.
- In a large bowl, soak the fries in room temperature water for 15-30 minutes. 9I found that there is not much of a difference if its hot or cold water).
- Rinse the potatoes with water again to remove any remaining starch and pat dry them properly.
- Toss the fries in oil, and seasonings. Massage the potatoes to ensure they are coated entirely.
- Place potatoes into preheated air fryer basket in a single even layer and fry for 20-25 minutes, shaking the basket halfway through a couple of times to ensure even frying. You'll have to do this in batches (3-4 batches depending on air fryer size). Depending on a model, air fryer should let you know when to shake the basket.
- If the fries are not as crispy as you'd like, fry them for another 5 or more minutes until they are. Homemade air fryer french fries will look slightly different than when deep frying. It is normal if they are more of a golden brown in some parts. But please don't confuse this with burned fries that were cut too thin and over-fried.
- Transfer the hot fries into a large bowl, add more seasoning if needed, parmesan and toss/shake well. Enjoy with your favorite dipping sauces!
- While you continue with the rest of the batches, keep the fries warm in the oven spreading them out on a baking sheet (set the temperature at the lowest, not more than 250 F).
PRIVATE NOTES
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
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