If you’re looking for a fun air fryer fries recipe that yields the crispiest fries and is different from your typical lightly salted fries, you can’t miss this recipe!
I always like the classic French fries that are seasoned with a touch of salt. But when it comes to home cooking, I like to spice up my fries with a bit of extra additional seasoning to make them more flavorful. This recipe is inspired by the Chinese-style summer grilling spice mix – a mix that contains garlic, cumin, and a touch of chili powder for a balanced savory taste.
Since I’ve tried making air fryer fries, I’ll never go back to deep frying fries at home because these are SO EASY to make and taste perfect. Instead of several cups of oil, you only need 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil for a good batch of fries. If properly done, the fries will be crunchy and crispy on the outside and tender and fluffy on the inside.
How to make perfect air fryer fries
- Pat the sliced potatoes dry with paper towels to remove the excess moisture.
- Make sure to coat all the individual fries with oil. I like to mix everything in a bowl and toss it with my hands, to make sure it’s evenly coated. For extra crispy fries, you can drizzle a generous amount of oil to get an even better result.
- Leave space between the fries when cooking them in the air fryer. Cook in batches if needed.
- Always keep an eye on the fries and adjust your cooking time accordingly. Every air fryer is built slightly differently. You should use the recipe below as a guideline to start with. If the fries have not become crispy enough at the end of the cooking, simply cook them for a few minutes longer.
Cooking process
Making air fryer fries couldn’t be easier.
- Cut the potatoes and pat them dry. If making standard French fries, cut the potatoes into 1/2” (1 cm) thick sticks. Once done cooking, they will shrink and become smaller.
- Toss the potato pieces, oil and seasonings together in a big bowl.
- Place the potato pieces in the air fryer basket, making sure to leave space in between.
- Cook in batches until golden and crispy.
Adjust your cooking time according to your air fryer
I use a Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven currently. We upgraded to it when our old one from 5 years ago gave out.
I ended up getting an air fryer toaster oven because:
- It has more basket space so I can cook more food at one time.
- The basket is stainless steel. I’ve found that most air fryers use nonstick coatings which I try to avoid.
- The air fryer has a beautiful design that looks great on my kitchen counter.
Depending on the type of air fryer you use, you might find the cooking time needing to vary slightly. My air fryer is quite powerful and sometimes it needs less time. When you’re using an air fryer recipe, always check on your food a few times during cooking, and adjust the cooking time in small increments until you achieve the best result.
Serve air fryer fries with
- Instant Pot Pork Ribs (Chinese-Style)
- Chinese Dry Rub Ribs
- Cumin Lamb Burger
- Sichuan Roasted Whole Chicken
- Curry Salmon Salad
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Air Fryer Fries with Spice Mix
Ingredients
- 2 russet potatoes , sliced into 1/2” (1 cm) thick sticks (*Footnote 1)
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons cumin powder
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 to 2 tablespoons peanut oil , for coating (or avocado oil)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Dipping sauce options
- Mayo (or vegan mayo)
- Ketchup
- Lemon wedges
- Chili powder (or Japanese shichimi togarashi)
Instructions
- Preheat your air fryer to 380°F (190°C).
- Pat the cut potatoes dry thoroughly with paper towels, then transfer to a big bowl. Add the oil, garlic powder, cumin powder, chili powder and salt. Toss with your hands to coat everything evenly.
- Working in batches, place the potatoes in the air fryer basket in a single layer with space in between. Cook in the air fryer for 8 minutes, until the fries just start to turn golden. Take out the basket, flip the fries, then air fry for another 4 minutes, or until the fries turn golden brown and crispy. Taste a fry carefully. If it is not crispy, air fry for a few minutes more. Then cook the rest of the batches the same way.
- Once all batches are finished, and if there’s still previous batches left (I always snack on mine while cooking the rest of the batches!), add all the fries to the basket, air fry for 1 to 2 minutes to warm up any fries that got cold from the first few batches.
- To serve the fries, I like to squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the fries, then dip them in ketchup or mayonnaise with a bit of shichimi togarashi on top. You can also sprinkle with more salt if needed. Enjoy!
Notes
- The potato will shrink quite a bit once it is air fried. I like to cut the fries a bit thicker, about 1/2” (1 cm) thick, or a little thinner, so they shrink to standard-sized fries once cooked. Of course, you can slice them thin for skinny fries or thick for fatter fries.
Nutrition
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Claire
I love spiced home made fries. Maggie could you tell me a couple things about your Cuisinart air fryer? How is the clean up? I can imagine it’s pretty easy to wash the basket, but what about the inside of the oven? Also, do you ever make toast? How is it? Thank you for any info. I’ve not waded in because I don’t want a large device of limited usefulness.
Maggie Zhu
The clean up is definitely not as easy as the air fryer with basket that has nonstick coating. Actually I personally use the tray a lot, with parchment paper, which requires very little clean up. The air fryer is very powerful, so the food will turn out crispy even without using the basket. For the basket, it’s easy enough to clean up if you cook with vegetables. For frying meat, it definite requires a lot of scrubbing.
The inside doesn’t get very dirty because it has a lot of room. I wipe it down with detergent once in a while and it’s quite easy.
Yes I do make toast like open face sandwich etc in it. It’s super fast and easy. I do like the fact that it has other settings such as baking with air frying (pretty much a convection oven) and baking. So we use it a lot instead of turning on an oven, because it is way faster and cooks very well.
Claire
Thanks for this good information. I have only ever seen a dedicated air fryer. Not interested in that. But my toaster is on it’s last leg and I like the idea of a little oven. Good luck with your new book.
Brenda
I always feel like a french fry is kind of missing something if it doesn’t taste like deep-fried oil, but I’m prepared to be proven wrong! (That said, using previously oil from previous deep frying can deliver some of that flavour, so I’ll definitely be doing that when I try this!)