A cold water-hot water soaking technique is used in this air fryer recipe for French fries to make fries that are incredibly crispy. These fries are comparable to standard fries but utilize a small amount of oil because they only require four ingredients. Serve with something to dip them in, such as honey mustard, spicy ketchup, or garlic aioli, to go with the hamburgers, steaks, or poultry.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Additional Time: | 25 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr |
| Servings: | 4 |
Ingredients
- 1 pound russet potatoes, peeled
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Gather all ingredients.
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- Cut each potato lengthwise into 3/8-inch-thick slices, then slice sections into 3/8-inch-wide sticks. Place potatoes in a bowl of cold water. Let soak to release excess starches, about 5 minutes; drain.
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- Pour boiling water over the potatoes until they’re covered by a few inches. Let sit for 10 minutes. Drain potatoes and transfer onto some paper towels. Blot off excess water and let cool completely, at least 10 minutes.
- Place cooled potatoes in a mixing bowl. Drizzle with oil and season with cayenne; toss to coat.
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- Preheat an air fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Stack potatoes in a double layer in the fryer basket.
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- Cook for 15 minutes. Slide basket out and toss fries. Continue frying until golden brown, about 10 minutes more. Toss fries with salt in a mixing bowl. Serve immediately.
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- Go with russet potatoes for best results. Yellow/gold potatoes may work, but red potatoes would not work.
- Season these however you like, but I like to wait until the end to add salt.
Reviews
This makes air-fryer chips as great as you make with deep fat! When I poured over the boiling water, I added 1/4 tsp of baking soda—not enough to taste, but it adds crispness. Another Chef John fave in this house.
Made them per the recipe and wife and I really enjoyed them.
Will make this again with different spices. Crispy, but not too crispy.
I did not have the cayenne pepper so I used Penzeys Southwest seasoning. The results were quite good and I look forward to trying it with the cayenne.
I only added garlic powder, onion powder and parsley to mine. I had to cook it a little longer, but they were fantastic!
These were great fries, super easy to make and tasted amazing, I doubled the recipe, and it tasted really good, I would recommend this recipe as they are some of the best fries I have ever had.
GREAT…I love to cook Southern style, this one will be a repeat…
Followed recipe. Very tasty
They are pretty good!
These sound delish, but I’ll stick with my air fried frozen French fries, which are ready in 15 minutes and require only a quick spray of oil. Add the seasonings of your choice and you’re good to go. However, I’ve had the fries made from scratch and they are the best, just too time consuming for me.
Really good. Wasn’t sure about all the soaking (cold then hot) but obviously was the key.
I made both 1/4″ as well as 3/8″. Well, lets just say thin and thick in the same cook. 🙂 While they turned out to be very delicious, I will just buy the frozen ones going forward. Great recipe and method and I highly recommend it. I can always kick up the frozen ones quite easily. The ones by Great Value that indicate a level of spice. Those do very well in the toaster oven on convection mode.
Very easy and healthier than deep fried. Very tasty.
Great recipe.
It turned out good with a side of ranch
He was making up dinner/breakfast and lunch
This is the way I’ll make air fryer French fries from now on. The boiling water step made a HUGE difference because it slightly precooked the fries. Of all my air-fryer attempts at fries, the texture and doneness of these fries have been the best so far.
I cut the potatoes as shown on video, a bit larger than normal. Soaked in tap water 60 minuets and then patted dry. After tossing with olive oil and cayenne, air fried 20 mins. The best fries I have ever made, crispy on outside, fluffy inside, delicious!
This is a wonderful Way to make French fries in an air fryer.
Excellent but I took off 1 star because I didn’t do the whole soaking the potatoes part. Cut the potatoes up, tossed with 2 tsps oil and baked for 25 minutes, checking after the first 15 minutes to shake the fries around. These were delicious!
It made perfect fries. My wife is from Scotland so “chips” is something near to a religion to her. When she tasted these her eyes rolled back in her head and said something that sounded like, “Och aye, Mon! Tha’s a right wee chip straight from Sauchiehall Street, so it is!” Or maybe she burned her tongue and couldn’t speak properly. Either way, I was very happy. Thanks, Chef John.