Air Fryer Frozen French Fries
Posted: 03/24/20
Updated: 02/11/22
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Bye bye, fast food! You won’t need the drive-thru anymore if you have a bag of frozen french fries and an Air Fryer! The Air Fryer crisps up ready-made french fries better than anything, and they truly taste deep-fried. If you’re looking for homemade air fryer french fries, you’ll love our crispy fast-food style recipe!
What Makes This Recipe So Good
- We love the simplicity and ease of cooking frozen french fries in an air fryer! Plus, there’s no messy oil to deal with – SO much nicer and easier than deep frying! The fries also come out perfectly crispy, which is not always the case if you’re baking them in the oven.
- You can season your fries with different seasonings for a more gourmet snack. Try garlic or onion powder, seasoned salt (mmm, Milo’s salt), or chipotle powder for fries with a kick.
Key Ingredients
Frozen French Fries – You can cook any type, any flavor, any cut, and any number of frozen french fries in the air fryer. Seasoned fries? Check. Curly fries? YES, PLEASE. Steak fries? You bet! Shoestring fries? As long as they’re not so small they fall through the basket. You’ll just need to adjust a little as far as cook time and number of batches depending on the size, thickness, and number of fries you’re making.
Chef’s Tips
- You can adjust the cooking time depending on how crispy you like your fries or how thick they are. For softer or thinner fries, decrease time. For crispier or thicker fries, increase it.
- If you’re using an air fryer that doesn’t rotate, toss your fries very, very well midway through. Make sure the fries that are sitting on the bottom of the bowl are scooped up to the top. If your air fryer rotates, be sure to check on the fries halfway to judge how thoroughly cooked they are.
- Do not spray too much oil, or your fries will get mushy!
- Depending on the type of fries you’re cooking and your specific air fryer, the cook time will need to be adjusted. See the notes on the recipe card below for more specific details!
More Easy Recipes You’ll Love
- Air Fryer Chicken Breast
- Yuca Fries
- Air Fryer Tater Tots
- Sausage in the Air Fryer
- Instant Pot Frozen Chicken Breast
- Bean and Cheese Taquitos (4 Ingredients)
- Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Nuggets
- Rutabaga Fries (Low Carb, Gluten Free)
- Air Fryer Salmon with Brown Sugar Crust
- Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Wings in Buffalo Sauce
- Pizza Rolls in the Air Fryer
Perfectly Crispy Air Fryer Frozen French Fries
Bye bye, fast food! You won't need the drive-thru anymore if you have a bag of frozen french fries and an Air Fryer! The Air Fryer crisps up ready-made french fries better than anything, and they truly taste deep-fried. If you're looking for homemade air fryer french fries, you'll love our crispy fast-food style recipe!
servings
Ingredients
- 1 bag frozen french fries see Notes
- air-fryer-safe spray oil neutral oil, like avocado or olive
- salt optional
Equipment
- Air fryer
Instructions
- Preheat air fryer to 400º Fahrenheit. Lightly spray basket with oil and add frozen french fries. Spray fries with oil and sprinkle salt onto fries, if desired.
- Cook fries for 5 minutes, then remove basket and toss/shake well. Check doneness and return to air fryer for another 5 minutes. Repeat, adding 5 minutes as needed until desired doneness is reached, up to 25 minutes total. Be sure to shake basket every 5 minutes and check doneness to avoid overcooking. For softer fries, you'll want to keep the overall cook time low.
- Remove fries from air fryer and repeat with remaining batches if needed. Serve fries hot with desired condiments.
Notes
- Important: You MUST shake the basket every 5 minutes! Shaking it helps the fries cook evenly, which will also reduce the chance of them overcooking. That’s also a great opportunity for you to check the doneness of the fries to make sure they’re not getting crispier than you like!
- Time & Temperature: This method was tested and perfected using both a Chefman basket-style air fryer and a Cosori basket-style air fryer. In both, we cooked our fries at 400°F for 20 minutes total. Every air fryer behaves differently, though – even two of the exact same model! Be sure to keep an eye on the fries the first time or two you cook them this way and make any adjustments to the cook time or the temperature that you need to make based on your specific air fryer! Toaster-oven-style air fryers tend to take a little longer than basket-style. The age of your air fryer can affect the results, too. Newer air fryers can cook hotter and faster than older ones.
- Types of Fries: Different types of fries will also cook differently. Shoestring fries would not need the same cook time as steak fries since they’re much smaller and thinner. In general, start with the cook times below and adjust as needed. If cooking multiple batches, the earlier batches will need more time than the later batches.
- Shoestring Fries: 6-10 minutes
- Waffle Fries (a.k.a. Lattice Fries): 10-12 minutes
- Crinkle-cut Fries: 10-12 minutes
- Curly Fries: 10-12 minutes
- Steak Fries: 12-15 minutes
Video
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 393kcal, Carbohydrates: 46g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 23g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Sodium: 741mg, Potassium: 650mg, Fiber: 7g, Vitamin C: 10mg, Calcium: 14mg, Iron: 2mg, Net Carbs: 39g
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
I made this. It is really good.
Thanks for the awesome review!
I love these fries. I make them all the time. They are delicious.
I always follow your recipes. Made this last night. Really like it
Glad you liked it!
Just came across this recipe via Google and gave it a shot. Fries came out great. Thank you 😊
Thanks for sharing!
I had already preheated my air fryer (Crux AirPro Macy’s edition) before I found your page by Googling “frozen fries air fryer”. I followed your instructions for spraying the basket and the fries. I sprinkled salt on the fries. I only cooked one batch so 10 minutes was enough time. They turned out top notch.
So happy you liked them, Renée!
Do you NEED to spray them with oil (meaning I don’t have any spray oil)?
I like to so they cook well and don’t get too dried, but you can also brush them or toss them in a little oil.
The best frozen French fries! Why bother cutting the potatoes, rinsing them, drying them and waiting for them to cook. Takes to long and inferior results. I don’t play around with friescanymore just buy them at the frozen counter.
Right?? Sometimes I love homemade french fries, but these are so easy, especially for my kids!
Perfect! Made this for the first time today in my power air fryer 360, used krinkle cut Oreida fries straight from frezer to basket. Used spray canola oil, sprinkled salt, set air fryer for 30 mins. Fries turned out rated perfect by kids, teens and adults.
It’s amazing how much crunchier they are!!
The frozen fries cooked 400F/25 minutes will give you charcoal in my 1400Watt Fryer. I think 12 minutes cook time.
Yep, that’s why we say to check on them! Each air fryer is different. 🙂
Made these last night and they were perfect
YAY! I am so happy to hear that