Perfectly Crispy Air Fryer Frozen French Fries
Forget the drive-thru. All you need for perfectly crispy fries in no time at all is a bag of frozen french fries and your handy air fryer.
Yield: servings
Equipment
- air fryer basket-style or oven-style
- neutral spray oil must be safe for air fryers
Ingredients
- 1 bag frozen french fries
- salt or other seasonings, optional
Instructions
- Preheat air fryer to 400° Fahrenheit.
- Once air fryer is preheated, lightly spray basket with neutral oil. Add frozen french fries to basket and lightly spray tops of fries with additional oil. Sprinkle salt or other seasoning over fries if desired, then place basket in air fryer.
- Cook fries 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, remove basket from air fryer. Shake basket well to toss fries, and check doneness of fries. If desired doneness is not yet achieved, return basket to air fryer.
- Cook fries another 5 minutes, then remove basket from air fryer. Check doneness of fries. If desired doneness is not yet achieved, shake basket again to toss fries. Return basket to air fryer and cook another 2 to 5 minutes.
- Repeat steps 3 and 4 of cooking instructions as needed until desired doneness is achieved. Be sure to check doneness of fries and shake basket to toss fries every 3 to 5 minutes, or fries will overcook. See Notes below for suggested cook times.
- Once desired doneness is achieved, remove basket from air fryer. Transfer prepared french fries to plate or bowl. Repeat entire process with any remaining fries until desired number of fries has been cooked. Serve fries hot with desired condiments and/or toppings.
Notes
❗️Important: You MUST shake the basket every 5 minutes! This helps the fries cook evenly, which will also reduce the chances of them overcooking. Taking the basket out of the air fryer also gives you a great opportunity to check the doneness of the fries, so you can be sure they're not getting crispier than you like.
Regarding Cook Times & Temperatures
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.Suggested Cook Times
Different types of fries will cook differently. For example, 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 you're cooking multiple batches of fries, keep in mind that the later batches will need less time to cook than the earlier 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
Nutrition
Serving Size: 1serving | Calories: 393cal | Protein: 4g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Sodium: 741mg | Potassium: 650mg | Total Carbs: 46g | Fiber: 7g | Net Carbs: 39g | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 2mg