One of the original things I learned to make in my air fryer were these air fryer frozen fries. With little to almost no oil, air fryers have made it possible for me to enjoy my all-time favorite snack without feeling guilty about it being super oily (compared to my favorite fast food fries). Plus, it's always a crowd pleaser and comes together in just 20 minutes!
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💭 Why you'll love this recipe
- Easy side dish that everyone will love. You just need two ingredients and less than 30 minutes!
- Oil-free but you can't tell the difference between these fries and deep fried French fries!
- Crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. Way healthier and in less time than a trip to the nearest fast food restaurant!
- Easy clean-up, no deep frying. This is my favorite part about using my air fryer: all I have to do is wash the tray or basket (compared to a deep fryer, which most of us don't have, or if we use a cast iron, we'll have to figure out how to get rid of the oil!) None of that here.
📋 Ingredients and notes
You'll literally need just two ingredients: frozen French fries and salt! That's it, the complete list of ingredients. You can add other seasonings, of course, or spray oil on the fries before air frying, but this is optional.
Notes and Variations
- Seasoning: I've only included salt here, but garlic powder, onion salt, or even ranch powder are great seasoning options to add to your fries!
- Type of French fries: I've used good old French fries here, but if you want air fryer crinkle fries, steak fries, or waffle fries, you might need to adjust the timing a wee bit. You can also go healthier and make air fryer frozen sweet potato fries instead!
- Dips: This might be the wrong thing to share here, but I really dislike ketchup with fries! There, I said it. Give me ranch dressing all day. Or this basil aioli. Or this chile de Arbol salsa. Or this spicy African pepper sauce dip. Or this Sriracha aioli. All not ketchup. All delicious. Sorry, ketchup.
📖 Make crispy, perfect air fryer frozen French fries!
- No need to thaw or defrost your bag of frozen French fries. Simply take it out and place the frozen fries in the air fryer tray or basket. Spread them out so they're evenly spread out in a single layer.
- Spray lightly with olive oil (if you wish).
- Air fry at 400°F for 10 minutes. Then, give the basket a good ol' shake and cook for another 6 to 8 minutes (or until they're the texture and consistency you like!) No wrong answers here.
- Sprinkle some salt but taste before you add too much: no one wants to end up with (overly) salty fries!
Devour those fries with your favorite dip! Pair with a delicious Korean street toast or a savory toast with egg-in-hole.
👩🏽🍳Top tips and FAQs
Homemade fries are the best, but if you're going the frozen fries route, I have a few tips to make sure you get perfect, crispy fries each time (and the healthier way at that!)
- Don’t overcrowd. I know it's tempting to load as many frozen fries into the air fryer basket or tray. But for best results, you don’t want to fill it more than ¾ of the way. Overfilling ends up undercooking your fries and they turn out soggy! While it's helpful to put them in a single layer, you don't have to do that (since hot air circulates within the air fryer).
- Shake halfway. Or more! The best way to ensure that all sides of your frozen fries are cooked is to toss them halfway through, or another time for good measure. If you're using a basket-style air fryer, this helps move the stuff top to bottom and rotate them around.
- Adjust to your crispy-preference. I like my fries to be crispy on the outside, but still fluffy on the inside. My husband likes them crispy all the way through, almost like a chip. So you'll want to check it out after 10 minutes, and then increase cooking time in 1 minute intervals. The longer you air fry, the more you'll get extra crispy fries.
- Adjust time to thickness and type of fries. Depending on how thick your fries are, and the type (e.g., regular vs. waffle vs. crinkle cut vs. curly fries, etc.) you might need to adjust the cook time. The longer you cook, the crispier they are.
Cook times for different types of fries
Here's a rough guide to help you figure out how long it might take to cook different types of frozen fries.
| Type of Fries (Frozen) | Timing (Mins) |
|---|---|
| Regular Fries | 15 |
| Crinkle Cut Fries | 18 |
| Waffle Fries | 18 |
| Lattice Cut Fries | 12 |
| Shoestring Fries | 12 |
| Curly Fries | 14 |
| Sweet Potato Fries | 15 |
Some FAQs
I use a Breville air fryer (which is toaster oven style) before I pop my fries in. If you use a basket air fryer, fries will be done in~ 15 minutes (vs. 20 mins for toaster air fryers). This will also depend on the size of your air fryer, so treat these tips as general guidelines.
Oh, the sky is the limit with these crispy French fries! Many times, I'll just use salt. But you can add ranch, garlic powder, onion powder, a spicy chili rub seasoning, Cajun seasoning, buffalo seasoning (like in this awesome air fryer buffalo cauliflower) and so many more! My favorite seasoning for air fryer fries has to be straight old salt.
No, you don't! But sometimes, depending on the shape and type of fries, this might increase the cook time based on your air fryer.
🍴 Serving and storage suggestions
These fries will last 1-2 days in the fridge in an airtight container. To store, let them first cool to room temperature. Then, transfer them to an airtight container or better yet, a zip top bag, and squeeze excess air out. To reheat, set the air fryer or oven to 400°F and then throw them in for 4-5 minutes. I find that air frying or reheating in the oven both produce the same crispiness while reheating. I don't recommend heating them in the microwave.
If you like this recipe, check out my other air fryer recipes:
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Please leave a comment and a star rating and let me know how it went! We love hearing from you, thank you so much
📖 Recipe
Air Fryer Frozen French Fries
Equipment
Ingredients
- 16 oz bag of frozen French fries
- ½ teaspoon fine salt, adjust to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your air fryer to 400°F
- Place the frozen fries in the air fryer basket or tray and make sure to distribute them evenly.
- Cook the fries for about 10 minutes, and then shake the tray at least once or twice to distribute the fries and make sure they brown evenly.
- Cook for another 5 minutes, and then keep checking every 2 minutes till they're done to your consistency. I typically cook mine for a total of 18-20 minutes and they're perfect!Note: I mainly use a Breville air fryer (which is toaster style!) If you use a basket air fryer, your fries will be done in~ 15 minutes (vs. 20 mins for toaster air fryers).
- Transfer fries to a bowl and then season with fine salt and other seasonings of your choice. Check the post for seasoning options!
Notes
- No need to defrost or thaw the fries before cooking!
- I prefer preheating your air fryer to get maximum crispiness - however, refer to the manual in case it recommends not to preheat your specific type of air fryer!
- Don't overcrowd the basket or tray and cook in batches whenever possible!
- Seasoning after frying typically distributes flavor more evenly - even better when you use fine salt and seasoning (sticks to the fries better!)
- Shake the tray or basket every 5 or so minutes to make sure it distributes and fries on all sides evenly.
- Make sure to adjust the timing to fit your type of air fryer as well as the type of fries you're cooking (refer to a handy cheat sheet in the post for a guide to cook times for different types of fries and common air fryer types!)
- I don't use extra oil when I make these fries, but you can spray oil or brush with some oil if you'd like. Not required though!
So easy! Made our fries in my Ninja air fryer and it worked perfectly. I brushed the frozen fries with a little oil before cooking. Seasoned with some salt and a little garlic powder after they cooked.
Not overcrowding was key!! That was what I have been doing wrong and why mine turn out mushy every time. These instructions were perfect
My sister and I made at least 3 batches of these last night!!
We were having a girls movie night and fries just seemed perfect.
After the first batch we needed a second batch. Then we had made too much garlic mayo so decided that we needed a third batch of fries.
But we didn't feel guilty as they are so much better than using the deep fryer. We didn't even spray them with oil and they were still perfect!
Thanks for the tips 🙂 🙂
This is always how it goes in my house!