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If you love deep fried french fries, you’ll love these healthier Air Fryer Frozen French Fries. They’re golden brown and crispy, with minimal oil and almost no prep time! Serve them up as an easy side dish or quick snack.
We have a serious love for fries in our house! While we sometimes go with homemade fries like these duck fat parmesan truffle fries or these baked parsnip fries, you just can’t beat the convenience of frozen french fries!
We used to deep fry or oven bake frozen french fries, but the air fryer is our new favorite way to prepare them. It’s less messy than deep frying (not to mention healthier!) and way crispier than oven fries.
We usually pair these french fries with goat cheese stuffed bison burgers, sous vide hanger steak or grilled flank steak, but we also love to load them up with toppings and serve them as a snack or appetizer!
Jump to:
Why this recipe works
- The air fryer gets crispy results without deep frying! You only need to lightly spray the fries with oil. The air fryer circulates hot air around the fries and creates a golden brown and crispy texture.
- They’re better than fast food french fries. I know, that’s a bold statement but these fries are salty and crispy just like your favorite drive thru fries, but they’re on the healthier side!
- You don’t need to turn on your oven (which is great on warm summer days) and you don’t have to worry about the messy oil splatters of deep frying.
- You need about two minutes of prep time to get these fries in the air fryer. Just open the bag, toss with salt, spray with oil and add to the air fryer basket. This super easy side dish can be on the dinner table in very little time!
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What is an Air Fryer?
The Air Fryer is a healthier alternative to frying foods. It's basically a small, powerful convection oven that sits on your countertop.
It circulates hot air around the food you're cooking, which is what gives it that crisp texture that mimics fried food (without all the grease).
Read more about the health benefits of using an air fryer.
I personally use this Ninja MAX XL Air Fryer because it hold 5.5 quarts, which is more than most. It has worked great so far and we just love how easy it is to use!
Other air fryer recipes
- Air Fryer Dehydrated Peaches
- Air Fryer Jalapeno Poppers
- Air Fryer Stuffed Mushrooms
- Air Fryer Artichokes
- Air Fryer Eggplant Parmesan
- Air Fryer Cornbread
- Air Fryer Cheesecake
Ingredients
This recipe is so easy. It just requires 3 ingredients!
You’ll need a 32 ounce bag of frozen french fries. You can use regular or seasoned fries. If you use seasoned, you may wish to leave out the added salt.
If your fries are unseasoned, I highly recommend adding 1 teaspoon of salt. I like to use fine salt (or table salt) as it will stick to the frozen french fries better than coarse salt like sea salt.
You’ll need some spray oil for the air fryer basket and the fries. I'm partial to canola oil and grapeseed oil for my air fryer. The oil will ensure the fries don’t stick to the basket and a light spritz of oil on the fries will help them get golden brown and crispy!
Step by step instructions
Spray the air fryer basket lightly with spray oil.
Toss the french fries with salt and spray lightly with oil. Add to the basket.
Use the air fry setting to cook at 400F degrees for 20-25 minutes, tossing every 5 minutes to ensure even browning.
Expert tips
- While I used regular frozen french fries, you can use curly fries, steak fries, waffle fries or shoestring fries. You’ll just need to adjust the time slightly for each one to ensure they get browned.
- For extra flavor, try adding Cajun seasoning, Italian seasoning or some ground black pepper.
- When spraying oil in the air fryer basket, be sure to use real cooking oil and not PAM as it's not ideal for your air fryer. I like to use this oil sprayer and fill it with my favorite oil.
- Don’t overdo it on the oil. The fries won’t necessarily get crispier and they may end up getting a little soggy.
- If your air fryer model requires preheating, you should do so before adding the french fries.
- Air fryers can vary so you may need to adjust the temperature and air frying time slightly.
- You don’t need to worry about the fries being in a single layer, but be careful not to overfill your air fryer.
- If you have a small air fryer, you may need to air fry the fries in two batches or just use half the bag.
- To ensure the fries brown evenly, shake the basket every 5 minutes so the fries on the bottom get rotated to the top of the air fryer basket.
- This recipe results in ultra crispy fries. If you like them less crispy, just reduce the air frying time by a few minutes.
Common questions
For the best golden brown and crispy results, you should air fry frozen french fries at 400F degrees. If your air fryer doesn’t go this high, just set it on the highest setting and air fry the fries until they are browned and crispy.
At 400F degrees, it will take about 20-25 minutes for regular cut frozen french fries to cook in the air fryer. Thicker cut steak fries will take a little longer, while crinkle cut, waffle fries, curly fries and shoestring fries will take less time.
The amount of time it takes also depends on the size of your air fryer and whether it is full. If you have a larger capacity air fryer, there is more room for hot air to circulate around the fries, so they will take a little less time to cook.
Since we’re using very little oil, they’re definitely healthier than deep fried french fries.
Frozen french fries are meant to be cooked from frozen, so there’s no need to defrost these fries before adding them to the air fryer.
To keep leftover air fryer frozen french fries crispy, just reheat them in the air fryer for about 3-4 minutes at 350F degrees or until crispy.
Serving options
While we love our fries with ketchup, if you want to change things up, try serving them with homemade barbecue sauce, avocado dip, remoulade sauce or gravy!
Honey mustard, ranch dressing or garlic sauce would also be amazing!
If your fries are a side dish, you can always enjoy them with sous vide fried chicken, crispy Cajun wings, sous vide beef ribs, milk steak, or Instant Pot pork ribs.
Other air fryer frozen food recipes
- Air Fryer Tater Tots
- Air Fryer Pierogies
- Air Fryer Pizza Rolls
- Air Fryer Potstickers
- Air Fryer Frozen Meatballs
If you love this recipe, please leave a star rating and a comment below and let us know your favorite thing about it. We'd also love to connect on Instagram! Follow us at @went_here_8_this for awesome recipes and all sorts of fun food stuff 🙂
Recipe
Air Fryer Frozen French Fries
Instructions
- Spray the air fryer lightly with spray oil.
- Toss the french fries with salt, spray lightly with oil and add to the air fryer basket.
- Use the air fry setting to cook at 400F degrees for 20-25 minutes, tossing every 5 minutes to ensure even browning.
Expert Tips:
- While I used regular frozen french fries, you can use curly fries, steak fries, waffle fries or shoestring fries. You’ll just need to adjust the time slightly for each one to ensure they get browned.
- For extra flavor, try adding Cajun seasoning, Italian seasoning or some ground black pepper.
- When spraying oil in the air fryer basket, be sure to use real cooking oil and not PAM as it's not ideal for your air fryer. I like to use this oil sprayer and fill it with my favorite oil.
- Don’t overdo it on the oil. The fries won’t necessarily get crispier and they may end up getting a little soggy.
- If your air fryer model requires preheating, you should do so before adding the french fries.
- Air fryers can vary so you may need to adjust the temperature and air frying time slightly.
- You don’t need to worry about the fries being in a single layer, but be careful not to overfill your air fryer.
- If you have a small air fryer, you may need to air fry the fries in two batches or just use half the bag.
- To ensure the fries brown evenly, shake the basket every 5 minutes so the fries on the bottom get rotated to the top of the air fryer basket.
- This recipe results in ultra crispy fries. If you like them less crispy, just reduce the air frying time by a few minutes.
Nutrition
Aimee Mars
I can never resist a French Fry and these look outstanding! I was just saying yesterday how I'm convinced I need an air fryer and this is the first recipe I'm going to make when it comes in!
Danielle
The air fryer makes these so easy, you're going to love it!
Dannii
I love my air fryer for frozen fries. They come out perfect every time!
Danielle
So glad to hear it!
Beth
Thanks for all the great tips. I don't think I was cooking ours long enough and possibly adding to much oil. Now they are amazing!
Danielle
Good, I'm so glad it worked out for you!
Kushigalu
This air fryer version of french fries looks so perfect. I wish I could grab a few right away. Thanks for sharing.
Danielle
Thanks 🙂
Kechi
These fries look scrumptious; definitely need to try making some in my Air Fryer!
Danielle
Thanks!