Air Fryer Fries Are Good. These Steps Make Them Other Worldly

French fries have a near-unanimous approval rating, but they’re not so easy to make at home — at least not ones that come out piping hot, crispy and glistening with oil.

Dropping a bag of frozen fries in the air fryer gets them close to that deep-fried taste and crunch, and amen for that. That said, air-fried fries can turn out drier, with a more uneven crisp than those submerged in hot fat. They’re more than edible and far better than oven-baked, but fall just short of perfection.

For fries that taste exactly like the ones at your favorite fast food joint or gastropub, a few easy extra steps are all you need.

To amplify your at-home air fryer fries, all you’ll need is a microwave, a bowl of water and some cooking fat. This technique, relayed to me by an air fryer expert, closes the gap between restaurant fries and the so-so versions you’ve been making at home. No boiling oil, no mess, no deep fryer babysitting — just heavenly fries that hit the plate in no more than 15 minutes.

Air fryer fries that taste exactly like deep-fried

In the age of TikTok, it can be hard to trace the origin of certain hacks, but the method was shared with me by Andreas Hansen, founder and CEO of Fritaire, whose tumbler-based model is especially ideal for this French fry preparation, since it both aids in the texturizing of the exterior of the fries and precludes the need to shake several times during air frying.

The Best Frozen Fries to Cook in an Air Fryer, Tested by CNET

A little investigation revealed that Chef Joshua Weissman is frequently credited with bringing attention to the method, but even in his video he gives a shoutout to Chris Young, whose video predates Weissman’s by over a year, and who credits Heston Blumenthal for inspiring the “triple-cooked” method, and so on, and so on.

Regardless of the actual origin of this hack, I’m taking their collective wisdom and applying it to french fries, since the method was specifically developed for thick-cut fries, which, I’m sorry, are steak fries, and not at all the same thing.

What you need for mind-blowing air fryer french fries

While a majority of what is needed here probably already exists among the various compartments of your kitchen, the supplies you’ll need to gather are:

• Frozen french fries (I’m using straight cut, not thick/steak fries)
• Large bowl with lid for shaking
• Microwave-safe bowl
• Microwave
• Air fryer
• Duck fat, goose fat or beef tallow for best flavor
• Salt

Step 1: A quick soak

Completely counterintuitive to the idea of crunchy fries is the notion that you must first make them soggy, but that is indeed what is recommended.

Straight from the freezer, soak the fries in warm water for 30 seconds to remove some of the starch on their exterior. (30 seconds to 1 minute is recommended for thicker-cut fries.) This is phase one of the “roughing up” process that will eventually create small micro-pockets of additional surface area on the fries, allowing the air fryer to really get a good crisp going.

The goal here is to keep the interior of the fries frozen, so set a timer to prevent over-soaking.

Step 2: Shake vigorously

Yep, now we’re really going to rough up the fries. After draining the soaking water, shake fries vigorously for another 30 seconds or so. The fries should be soft enough just on the exterior to add some texture, but not fall apart entirely. If they do, you’ve soaked too hard in the first step. 

The more little craters you can add to the surface of the fries, the more area there is for the air fryer’s air to circulate, giving an unparalleled crisp.

Step 3: Nuke for 5 minutes

Before we actually get crunchy, though, things are going to get even softer first. Using a microwave-safe dish with a lid, par-cook the fries for 5 minutes. Since I was using thinner fries, I hedged my bets and went with 50 percent power, but still cooked for the full 5 minutes.

Both Weissman’s and Young’s videos use a plastic container for both soaking and shaking, but we know better than to do that. So long as we’re being extra with this french fry preparation, let’s switch out for a glass or ceramic container, OK?

This par-cooking stage steams the interior of the fries. If you’ve ever found air-fried fries to be hollow, this is the antidote. The unexpected bonus of this step is that microwaving the fries releases a satisfying french-fry aroma.

Unsurprising step: Following the microwave par-cooking, proceed airfrying as normal by placing the fries in a shallow layer in the air fryer and cooking at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 12 to 15 minutes (longer for thicker fries), shaking once or twice during the process to ensure all surface areas have access to the circulating air. The goal is golden brown with edges just starting to brown, so that the fries are crispy but still pillowy soft on the inside.

Step 4: Season with cooking fat

While certain items get a little dousing in fat before being cooked in the air fryer, here we’re just using cooking fat as a seasoning, allowing the already-crisped fries to absorb the oil for both texture and flavor.

But not just any fat. For best results — since you’ve gone this far, why not go all the way — look to rendered animal fat such as duck fat, goose fat or beef tallow for a rich flavor boost. Salt to your liking, and voilà: air fryer french fries that are actually kind of fried.

Hungry for more? Learn how to deep-clean your air fryer in three easy steps and see how much less energy it uses than a wall oven.

Pamela Vachon

Contributor

Pamela is a freelance food and travel writer based in Astoria, Queens. While she writes about most things edible and potable (and accessories dedicated to those topics,) her real areas of expertise are cheese, chocolate, cooking and wine. She’s a culinary school grad, certified sommelier, former bartender and fine dining captain with 10 years in the industry. When not sitting at the keys, she leads in-home cheese classes, wine tastings and cocktail demonstrations.

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