air fryer frozen french fries
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Your air fryer is the absolute best way to cook frozen french fries at home (and yes, that includes tater tots, too). Try it once, and you’ll never go back to oven-baked. Trust me.
It doesn’t matter whether you’ve got a bag of crinkle-cut, waffle, shoestring, steak, or even curly fries: Frozen fries in the air fryer cook up with the most irresistible crispy edges and soft centers. The crisp-factor is higher than you’ll ever achieve from baking fries in the oven. And frozen fries in the air fryer are the closest you’ll get to crispy restaurant-style deep-fried fries, without the hassle of deep-frying. Here’s what you need to know.
An air fryer is one of the best ways to cook frozen foods. Everything is so much faster and extra crispy.
Frozen french fries come out just as good as deep-fried french fries when cooked in the air fryer! Tender inside and crispy outside, perfect for dipping!
Serve alongside a burger or whip up a batch as a snack with your favorite dipping sauce!
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Why We Love Air Fryer Frozen Fries
Air fryers make the best French fries, right? While we love homemade air fryer fries (or even oven baked french fries) we also love that air fryer french fries are on the plate in about 15 minutes (without lots of oil and fat).
They always come out crispy on the outside and fluffy and tender on the inside. But wondering how long to cook the different types of fries can be confusing. Don’t worry, with this easy recipe anyone can become a French fry expert!
- Quick to make, go from frozen to fresh in minutes!
- Little to no clean-up.
- No oil means fewer calories without sacrificing that deep-fried texture.
- Easy to add flavor (eg. truffle oil, seasoned salt, ranch mix).
How Long to Cook Frozen Fries in an Air Fryer
Potatoes and salt, that’s all! Choose fries to match the entrees. For instance:
REGULAR OR CRINKLE CUT FRIES: 400°F. 12 to 14 minutes on high power. Try them with a Grilled Steak Sandwich or Mini Meatloaf Muffins.
SHOESTRING FRIES: 400°F. 7 to 9 minutes on high power. Try with Chili Cheese Fries, Homemade Mini Corn Dogs, or Homemade Poutine.
WAFFLE FRIES: 400°F. 10 to 12 minutes on high power. These go great with Chili Cheese Dogs or Philly Cheesesteaks.
SWEET POTATO FRIES: 400°F. 13 to 15 minutes on high power. Perfect with BLT Grilled Cheese, Broccoli Cheddar Soup, or Air Fryer Turkey Burgers.
Air Fryers are great for tater tots and homemade potato chips too.
How to Air Fry Frozen French Fries
There is no need to add extra oil to frozen fries. Simply place in the basket and cook.
- Fill the air fryer basket with frozen fries (option: sprinkle with onion powder, garlic powder or seasonings).
- Cook halfway (per recipe below) then remove the basket and toss the fries.
- Cook until the fries are crispy and golden brown. Toss with any of the following seasonings.
- Taco Seasoning Recipe, Ranch Seasoning, Cajun Seasoning, parmesan cheese, Lemon Pepper Seasoning, truffle oil or truffle salt
Tips for Crispy Fries
For best results, always preheat the air fryer. When any food is added to the basket, the hot air immediately seals the outside guaranteeing a crispy exterior.
Avoid overcrowding the air fryer so the hot air can circulate around all sides of the fries.
If cooking in batches, keep fries warm in the oven. Prior to serving, add all batches back to the air fryer for 2 minutes to crisp and heat.
Set out a tray of fries and add dipping sauces (and of course ketchup) for serving!
French Fry Dipping Sauces
- Onion Ring Sauce – ready in 5 minutes
- Fish Taco Sauce – so fresh & flavorful
- Chipotle Ranch Dressing – creamy with a kick
- Homemade Garlic Aioli – only 3 easy steps
- Creamy Garlic Dressing – loaded with garlic
Did you make these Air Fryer Frozen French Fries? Leave us a rating and a comment below!
REVIEW RECIPE
Air Fryer Frozen French Fries
PREP TIME2 minutes
SERVINGS4 servings
Equipment
-
Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 1 pound frozen french fries any style
- seasoned salt to taste
Instructions
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Preheat air fryer to 400°F.
-
Add frozen fries to the air fryer, fill the basket about ½ full.
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Cook 5 minutes and shake/toss the fries. Cook an additional 8-12 minutes or until crispy, see notes.
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Season with salt and serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
- Cook fries from frozen.
- Preheat the air fryer for best results.
- Do not overcrowd the air fryer.
- Keep batches warm in the oven at 200°F and place all batches back into the air fryer for 1-2 minutes before serving.
Total Cook Time
- Regular Frozen Fries: 12-14 minutes
- Frozen Shoe String Fries: 7-9 minutes
- Frozen Waffle Fries: 10-12 minutes
- Frozen Sweet Potato Fries: 13-15 minutes
Air Fryer Frozen French Fries
When I originally published this recipe showing you how to cook air fryer frozen French fries, I never expected the interest to be so huge for them.
From being the first to show you how to cook frozen French fries to the interest today, its nice to see that something as easy as frozen French fries, can become an air fryer trend.
I always remember back in the 90’s when you got fed for dinner frozen French fries. You either received them cooked in the oven, or they would be cooked in the deep fat fryer.
Have them from the deep fat fryer and you had the calories to worry about or cook them in the oven and they never had any crisp to them and were rather boring and soggy.
That is why I love the air fryer. You can have the delicious taste and texture of deep fried, but with the calories of oven baked fries.
A winner for any kid, or adult when you want to grab a bag of frozen French fries and cook them in the air fryer.
Can You Air Fry Frozen French Fries?
I know you are probably wondering; can you cook frozen French fries in an air fryer? Well the answer is a massive YES.
Air fryer frozen fries is one of the best things that you can cook in the air fryer. You can dump them in, there is no prep, they come out like crispy fries you have got from takeout and you wonder why something with little oil, can taste so good.
Frozen French Fries In Air Fryer
I am using McCains Frozen French Fries as an example, but you could use any brand of frozen French Fries.
It is just that McCains is one of those brands that is known around the world and many of you will relate to it from childhood.
I remember McCains because at the end of the 90’s I worked in one their factories. I was 17 and had a gap of a couple of months between college placements.
It was the perfect time to earn some easy money. I worked on their baked potatoes and it was fascinating to see the process that goes into the frozen food.
How To Cook Frozen Fries In Air Fryer?
Air fryer frozen French fries is so simple, I recommend it for air fryer beginners with brand new air fryers.
To make the frozen fries in the air fryer YOU:
- Load the air fryer with frozen French fries until it is up to ¾ full.
- No need to add oil and air fry your frozen French fries.
- When the air fryer beeps, shake the fries.
- Cook again at a higher temperature and then serve.
Air Fryer Frozen Fries Top Tips
So, you are probably wondering, if you have been using the air fryer since 2011, and teaching people how to cook frozen French fries for 2 years, that you must have some top tips.
Well I do and these tips will make your air fryer fries even better:
- Never cook frozen fries at 200c/400f for the duration. I get so many complaints from air fryer newbies telling me they followed a frozen fries recipe online and it called for 400f and their fries are terrible. This is way too hot for frozen fries and is only meant for finishing the food like a grill does and not for the whole cooking experience. Instead start at 160c/320f and increase the temperature just before the end to crisp them up.
- Spray just before the end of cooking. Even though when you use frozen fries they already come will oil, you want that little bit of oil on the top to crisp them up.
- Salt at the end. We found that with frozen fries brands wanting to go healthier. That a lot less salt is used. Then as they cook some of the salt also disappears. Add salt at the end before serving.
- Thickness of the frozen fries matter. Thick steak fries will take the longest and quick cooking French fries will be the fastest. Start your cook time at 8 minutes if in doubt and then keep checking on your fries.
- Cheesy Fries are fantastic. Two minutes before your frozen fries are done add grated cheese and then finish the cook time. You will have perfect air fryer cheesy fries.
How Long To Air Fry Frozen French Fries?
The air fryer frozen French fries time is JUST 12 minutes. This will produce perfectly cooked air fryer French fries and people will think you are a genius when you mention that no deep fat fryer was involved.
