These easy homemade Air Fryer French Fries are a super healthy way to enjoy this popular potato side dish. Use fresh russet potatoes or frozen french fries depending on what you have on hand, both will turn out wonderfully crisp and tasty.
Serve with burgers, hot dogs, or even a steak.
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This is one of those most basic of recipes, and a great start if you're new to using your air fryer. Or a must have if you have yet to make yourself up a batch of some crispy, homemade french fries.
These fantastic fries can be made with little to no oil in any air fryer brand machine you have. The fries shown here were made with no oil whatsoever, my preferred method for air fryer fries.
I have made this recipe many times in my older basket style air fryer (Farberware brand) and again recently in my newer Instant Pot Vortex Plus air fryer. Either way, these air fried French fries are a quick and easy healthy snack option!
🥘 Ingredients
I am using two large Idaho russet potatoes that weighed in at just shy of 1 ¼ lbs, combined. This amount, when prepared, was 4 very generous portions of French fries for all to enjoy.
- Olive Oil
- Russet Potatoes
- Salt & Pepper
Be sure to see the free printable recipe card below for ingredients, exact amounts & instructions with tips!
🔪 How To Make Air Fryer French Fries
Grab your taters and get ready to enjoy some crispy on the outside and tender inside fries.
Prepare And Cut Your Potatoes
- Your potatoes should be washed, with any eyes removed, and no green flesh in the potatoes. This green means that the potatoes are not suitable for eating, and should be discarded.
- Have a large bowl of cold water ready before slicing potatoes, use this bowl to place the cut potatoes in to prevent browning and to help remove excess starch. Your fries will cook up better and get crispier if well rinsed and soaked! *I recommend a minimum of 15 minutes soaking, then rinse and dry your cut potatoes.
- To begin, cut your potatoes in half lengthwise. I cut each half into ¼ - ½ inch strips, then cut each strip into ¼ - ½ inch cubed fries.
- Place your cut fries into the bowl of cold water, soaked them for 15 minutes and rinsed them before placing them on paper towels to pat dry.
Air Frying
- Once your potatoes have been cut, rinsed, and dried they are ready to prepare for air frying. Like I mentioned above, this batch is shown above with no oil used at all and a light dusting of salt.
- Use about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, if desired, to coat your fries. You can coat the potatoes on a baking sheet or working surface, or return them to a bowl and toss with the oil and seasoning.
- Heat your air fryer to 400ºF (205ºC) while prepping your fries. Spray or coat your air fryer basket or trays with spritz oil or cooking oil.
- BASKET STYLE - If you are using a basket air fryer or the trays in an oven style air fryer, place a portion of your fries on the basket or trays in a single layer without overcrowding them. The best crispy fries need the air to be able to circulate around them easily!
- ROTISSERIE STYLE - If you are using the rotisserie basket for an air fryer, fill the basket no more than ¾ or 75% full so that the fries have room to circulate while being rotated in the air fryer.
- Set your air fryer basket in your air fryer and set the timer for 10 minutes to rotate your air fryer fries that are in a basket style air fryer. Continue cooking for 10 more minutes, or until crispy.
- My oven style air fryer has a chime for the half way point in my cooking time. So set this style air fryer for 20 minutes, and check them at the 10 minute mark. Rotate as needed and adjust cooking time, if needed.
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💭 Angela's Pro Tips & Recipe Notes
- Because there are so many brands and styles of air fryers, check your food frequently. You want to prevent burning and make sure that your air fryer fries are cooked perfectly to your desired level of crispiness!
- Cook additional batches if needed, and serve the fries as quickly as possible after air frying them. Serving your air fryer French fries immediately keeps them from getting soft or losing that crisp texture you just worked so hard to get.
- When cooking air fryer frozen French fries, you may need to add 5 - 10 minutes additional cooking time when cooking from frozen. Note that I do not place frozen fries in my rotisserie basket as I have had several break with this method.
😋 More Yummy Recipes
- Cracker Barrel Meatloaf
- Air Fryer Pork Ribs
- Greek Salad
- Lemon Bars
- Cajun Fries
- Microwave Mac & Cheese
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📖 Recipe Card
Air Fryer Homemade French Fries
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (extra virgin, optional)
- 2 large russet potatoes (washed and cut)
- salt & pepper (to taste)
(Note: 2x or 3x only changes the ingredient list)
Instructions
- Wash and cut potatoes into lengthwise strips (fries) approximately ¼ - ½ inch in width. To prevent my fries from browning, I place my cut fries into a bowl of cold water. For best results, fries should be soaked for about 15 minutes, then rinsed, transferred to paper towels and dried.
- If desired, return the fries to a dry bowl. Add oil, salt and pepper, and toss the fries to coat evenly before cooking.
- Heat your air fryer to 400 degrees (205 degrees C), coat trays or basket with non-stick cooking spray or oil, and place half the fries in the air fryer basket or on the tray(s) of your air fryer. *If using a rotisserie basket, the fries should not fill the basket more than ¾ full. They need to have some space to move around in the basket. Fries placed on a tray or in a basket air fryer should have some space between them so they can crisp up evenly.
- Set the timer for 10 minutes, at this point check the fries in the rotisserie basket and determine if they will need another 5 or 10 minutes until crispy. With fries that are placed on a tray or in a basket air fryer, the fries should be flipped or turned at the 10 minute mark to cook evenly. Continue air frying for 10 more minutes. Add a few more minutes if needed, to get extra crispy fries.
- Cook additional batches, as necessary.
LisaD says
This was a great recipe for my first-time use of the air fryer rotating basket. I just need to refine the size of the fries and the cooking time for my air fryer model. Thanks for a great recipe.
shanon jeurissen says
J’ai bien suivi vos explications et les frites sans huile sont encore meilleures! Merci pour vos conseils
"I followed your explanations and the fries without oil are even better! thanks for your advices"
Magda says
Porqué a mí no me quedan las papas fritas crocantes aunque sigo las instrucciones?
"Why don't I get the crispy fries even though I follow the instructions?"
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Cada modelo de freidora de aire es diferente, especialmente los modelos internacionales. Intente ajustar el tiempo, agregue unos minutos hasta que las papas fritas estén crujientes a su gusto.
"Every air fryer model is different, especially international models. Please try adjusting the time, add a few minutes until the fries are crisped to your liking."
Celeste says
Are you rotating the fries the whole time or just the second half of time ?
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
I rotate the fries at that first 10-minute mark, then again whenever I check them for crispness. Enjoy!