We call them French fries, the British call them crisps, regardless everyone loves crispy steaming hot French fries. The best French fries are crispy golden on the outside but soft and steamy on the inside, my mouth is watering just thinking about those delicious golden potato sticks of yummy goodness. Ok, enough fantasies, let’s get back to reality. How does one make delicious crispy fries in an air fryer? Many people struggle with this, usually they end up with half way cooked fries that are soggy and not that appealing. Well we spent time figuring out the best tips and tricks to quickly and easily make super crispy awesome fries in an air fryer. Let’s get on with it, shall we?

Frozen Fries to Crispy air fried French fries

Step 1 – Thaw your frozen fries (30min)

If you are starting with a store bought bag of frozen fries we recommend you take some time to allow them to thaw out before trying to air fry them. The thawing process is critical to bringing the fries to room temperature before air frying that way it takes less time to cook them. We suggest allowing the frozen fries to sit at room temperature for 30min prior to cooking, that should be enough time to thaw them out.

Step 2- Pre-heat your air fryer (400F for 10min)

Next step is pre-heating your air fryer before inserting the fries, set your air fryer to 400F and allow it to pre-heat for 10min, you want the air fryer already hot before putting your fries in. Once the air fryer is adequately pre-heated remove the basket and add a tea spoon of cooking oil or olive oil to the basket so that the fries don’t stick to it. Don’t add too much oil as that defeats the purpose of using an air fryer, just add a little to keep fries from sticking to the basket/pan. We advise against using a spray on type cooking oil as it can cause the non-stick coating to flake off.

Step 3 – Set temperature and time (400F for 20min) for your Air Fryer and place fries in cooking basket

Afterwards go ahead and add your thawed fries to the basket and insert it into the air fryer, set the temperature to 400F and 20min cook time. Once set, check on your fries every. 6 to 7 min, remove the basket and give it a nice shake so that the fries are re-distributed and cook evenly. You should only do the shake process 3 times during the 20min. After 20min, remove the fries and serve with your favorite condiments, most store bought frozen fries are already pre-seasoned but you can make it your own with extra pepper, or a little paprika for an extra kick.

Crispy Air Fryer Fries from Scratch

Step 1 – Wash and Cut your potatoes

If you want to make homemade fries from scratch, get a few Idaho potatoes and rinse them thoroughly prior to cutting to get rid of any dirt, fertilizer and other contaminants. You can leave the skin on if you like or you can peal it then start cutting them length wise into fingers. Once you cut the amount you plan on eating, put it in a strainer and wash away any excess starch.

Step 2 – Season your potatoes

Place your fries in a bowl and coat with a teaspoon of cooking oil or olive oil. Season to taste, we like ours with salt, pepper, and paprika, there is also plenty of store spice mix’s so that you can experiment with, find what you like and try them out. You can let the fries sit for a short period of time to allow the spices to be absorbed or you can fry them immediately after seasoning. We don’t recommend you let the seasoned fries to sit for longer than 5 to 10min before cooking as people tend to over season and you want the spices to flake off during cooking plus the seasoning adds a nice texture to the crispy fries.

Step 3 – Pre-heat your air fryer (400F for 10min) and Air Fry your Fries (400F for 25-30min)

As you are seasoning your fries you can pre-heat your air fryer to 400F for 10min. Once pre-heated put your fries in the basket and cook for 25-30min depending on how thick the fries are cut. We recommend removing and shaking the basket with the fries every 7-10min to get that ultimate crispiness.

What is the Best Air Fryer to Cook Delicious Crispy French Fries?

Uber Appliance offers one of the best air fryers on the market today, our Uber Air Fryer XL is perfect for any family with its roomy 5 quart basket you can air fry a whole chicken. The dishwasher safe basket and grease separator with non stick coating make cleaning a breeze just wipe it down with a damp soapy microfiber towel and toss it in the dish washer.

The Uber Air Fryer XL features an easy to use touch display for temperature and time setting with temperatures ranging from 150F to 400F, the digital display also has several pre-set cooking temperature and time to perfectly cook chicken, steak, fries, wings and so much more with a single press of a button. Every Uber Air Fryer XL Comes with a free recipe book so that you can explore tasty meals as soon as you get it with plenty more recipe’s on our site.

The Uber Air Fryer XL’s plastic is pre-vented from the factory which eliminates any plastic smell or taste in your foods from the first use. This is one of the biggest complaint from air fryer users and at Uber Appliance we listen to our customer’s feedback and strive to provide the best experience from the first use!

Last but not least buy from Uber Appliance with confidence, we guarantee the quality of our air fryers with our “love it or leave it” 30 day free returns and free exchanges warranty. Our Uber Air Fryer comes standard with a 1 year warranty against any manufacturers defects and we offer extended warranties for up to 2 years. We have been in business for the last 5 years and we have a reputation to protect which is why we place our customers first, our friendly Customer Service Rep Jennifer is available via email 24/7 to answer any questions you might have!