I only need 3 key ingredients to make salty, golden brown air fryer French fries. But they rival fast food fries. Maybe that’s why they disappear so fast anytime I make a batch. My favorite part as a home cook: I only need a tiny bit of oil to get the perfect crispy, pillowy texture. And I can easily make a light batch – or a darker batch of fries depending on how caramelized I want them to be.
My S&P fries have a crunchy, yet pliant texture. Ben says they rival the fast food chains. But since I’m terrified of making fries in a huge pan of boiling oil, I use an air fryer instead. This allows me to use a tiny bit of oil but still nail the texture. I get a slight pop of heat from the black pepper that enhances the play of saltiness and understated sweetness from the potatoes themselves. And those caramelized bits are crunchy and full of rich, browned goodness.
Making fries in an air fryer is all about getting the timing right. Too long is a burnt mess. And not enough… well, I’m sure everyone has had an experience with a sad paper sleeve of underdone takeout fries. No bueno. Whether I’m air frying sweet potatoes, crispy teriyaki tofu, or ginger garlic salmon filets, I always keep an eye on the cooking basket.
Table of Contents
Why I Love This
I consider myself a French fry connoisseur. While I’m half Japanese, I’m also half French Canadian. Growing up in Quebec, poutine (fries topped with squeaky cheese curds and brown gravy) had an almost gravitational pull for me. And I got fairly particular about how I liked my fries. I like them browned on the outside, but pillowy and fluffy on the inside. What I love most about making these air fryer French fries is that the potatoes speak for themselves. I don’t have to go deep diving into my spice cabinet to create an exotic spice blend. The fries are perfect with just a little salt and pepper.
Ingredients
Scroll to the bottom of this page for the full recipe steps and measurements.
- Potatoes: I use Yukon gold or russet potatoes. Yukon golds have a slight sweetness that plays so nicely against the salt and pepper seasoning. They also get a nice charred, golden brown color in the air fryer, but don’t dry out internally when exposed to high heat.
- Olive Oil: Use a good first press olive oil. I only use a tablespoon for these air fryer French fries.
- Salt and Pepper: To taste.
- Flat Leaf Parsley: This is totally optional. But I find that the bright, grassy flavor of fresh parsley makes these fries just… extra.
Recipe Variations
Here are a few easy ingredient swaps.
- Change the spices. While I personally love salt and pepper, these fries would be delicious dusted with gochugaru, curry powder or a bold za’atar spice mix. Or keep the salt and pepper and use freshly cracked Cambodian peppercorns instead of the stuff from the shaker.
- Use different potatoes. Sometimes the best potato for fries is the one that’s currently sitting in the pantry, within arm’s reach.
- Make a dipping sauce. Ketchup is great. Korean ssamjang is better. And one of my easy favorites is just mixing equal parts mayonnaise and dijon mustard.
How To Make It
- Preheat the air fryer. Set to 360°F with the basket closed for 3-5 minutes.
- Season the raw potatoes with some salt and pepper and toss in olive oil.
- Air fry. Put the potatoes in the cooking basket and air fry until golden brown. See the recipe card at the bottom of this page for timing suggestions. Open and shake the basket every 5 minutes so the fries cook evenly. For darker fries, just cook longer.
- Season and serve. Dust the cooked fries with additional s&p and chopped flat-leaf parsley. Serve immediately.
Expert Tips
Use kosher salt if available. Kosher salt has larger, flatter salt crystals. This makes it less likely I’ll oversalt my fries – like I might with an equal amount of table salt. It’s the type of salt restaurant chefs use most. That said, use what’s handy. When it comes to fries, table salt is better than no salt. Also, when seasoning, I start slow and add more as needed – taste-testing until I’ve got it perfect. It’s way easier to add more salt than it is to try and remove it.
Optional: soak the potatoes before air frying. I soak my peeled and cut potato sticks in cold water for about 10-15 minutes (longer works too) before cooking. This step removes some of the excess starch from the spuds – which prevents the potatoes from sticking together during cooking, and results in crispier fries. After soaking, pour the water out and blot the potatoes with a paper towel to remove excess water.
There are a multiple methods for cooking french fries. Deep fat frying is the industry standard. It produces fries that are predictably delicious but, as the name suggests, full of fat. I’ve also oven baked French fries with delicious success. The air fryer method is kind of a hybrid of the preceding two methods.
What I Serve With Air Fryer French Fries
One of my favorite things to do at the end of a long week is have a movie and snack night. I make French fries alongside broccoli tots, spicy honey sriracha roasted chickpeas – or a batch of sweet and salty masala popcorn and fire up Netflix. But fries go with almost everything. When making fries as a side dish, here are a few of my favorite pairings.
- Tempeh Katsu Sandwich
- Nicoise Salad
- Watermelon, Strawberry and Tomatillo Salad
- Japanese Hamburger – Hambagu
- My Mom’s Tuna Salad Sandwich
Frequently Asked Questions
An air fryer uses a fan to circulate super hot air around food at a high rate of speed. This allows me to use very little oil and still obtain the browning I’d get from deep frying. The food goes in a cooking basket, set inside a drip tray. A heating element sits at the top – and a fan circulates that heated air around the food.
There is nothing inherently unhealthy about potatoes. And extra virgin olive oil is one of the healthier cooking oils. Plus there’s only 1/2 tablespoon of oil per serving. Therefore, from my very unscientific viewpoint, it stands to reason that eating a serving or two of air fried French fries is about as healthy as eating a baked potato drizzled in olive oil. I’d say it mainly comes down to portion control.
One of the biggest hurdles I faced when cooking with an air fryer the first couple of times was overloading the basket with too much food. The heated air can’t cook what it doesn’t touch. Therefore, I don’t recommend loading the cooking basket to the brim. Also, in the case of these fries, I open the basket every 5 minutes or so and shake it so everything cooks evenly.
Did you like this recipe? Are there changes you made that you would like to share? Share your tips and recommendations in the comments section below!
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Air Fryer Salt And Pepper French Fries
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Side
- Method: Air frying
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
It’s deceptively easy to make the best fries at home from scratch. No trickery. I just use quality ingredients and an air fryer.
Ingredients
- 1 pound Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch thick sticks
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat. Set air fryer to 360º and preheat the cooking basket for 3 minutes.
- Preseason potatoes. Toss the sliced potato sticks with olive oil until evenly coated. Season with salt and pepper.
- Air fry. Pull out the basket and add fries. Close the Air Fryer and set the timer to 15 minutes. Shake the basket every 5 minutes to help the fries cook evenly. If the fries are still gold and shiny, cook in additional increments of 3-5 minutes (and shake the basket each time you open it). The fries are ready when they are a rich golden brown.
- Season and serve. Season with more salt and pepper and top with chopped parsley.
Notes
Leftover fries can be stored covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days – but they will lose their crispness.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 239
- Sugar: 1.4g
- Sodium: 11.3mg
- Fat: 7.2g
- Saturated Fat: 1.1g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0.8g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 41g
- Fiber: 2.9g
- Protein: 4.9g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
crisp on the outside and soft on the inside Yum!
These are really good! However, my air fryer took 35 minutes at 400 degrees to cook them through. That is about the same time I usually make them in a regular oven. Difference is my house did not heat up with the oven on.
Can you fry these fries in a insta pot air fryer as well??!
Hi Susan! I’m pretty sure you could do that, however I don’t own an Insta Pot so I’m not 100% certain.