You need to make this easy air fryer potato recipe (2024)

Few things are as lovely as roasted potatoes. If done correctly, the exterior of the potato crisps and darkens and it crunches as you bite, while the interior remains fluffy and light. I'm here to tell you that making perfect roasted potatoes doesn't have to be difficult. Enter the air fryer.

With the air fryer and no more than 20 minutes, you can create really good roasted potatoes. Crispy exterior, fluffy interior, the whole kit and caboodle. Effectively a rebranded convection oven, the air fryer is tailor-made for high heat cooking that makes things crispy fast. In other words, it was invented to make something like roasted potatoes. Here's how to do it.

Ingredients

• 2 russet potatoes

• canola oil

• seasonings (I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried herbs, and smoked paprika.)

Directions

1. Cut the potatoes into small cubes, roughly 1/2 to 1/4 inch in size.

2. In a large bowl, coat the potatoes in oil. A glug or two is fine. Mix well.

3. Season heavily with salt — potatoes need lots of salt — pepper, and whatever else your heart desires. I used smoked paprika, garlic powder, and dried herbs.

4. Dump the potatoes into your air fryer and cook at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Do not touch the potatoes or shake the basket. For 10 minutes forget these potatoes ever existed.

5. After 10 minutes, check on your potatoes. Are the exteriors browned and crispy? Are the taters getting tender? Anyway, shake the basket a bit. Now you want to watch your potatoes carefully. They're close to being ready.

6. Cook for another 5-10 minutes. The exact time is going to depend on your air fryer and the thickness of your potatoes. But you want a crunchy exterior and fork-tender interior.

Here's how my potatoes looked when they were finished.

The details

I've long said the absolute best way to use your air fryer is to roast vegetables. The air fryer circulates very hot air very fast. That's fantastic for roasting.

There are only a few details to add here. You can cut your potatoes as large or as small as you like. I diced mine into hash brown-like cubes. You can go bigger. You could even roast whole fingerlings. But if your potatoes are a bit thicker than I suggested, they'll need to spend extra time in the air fryer. You'll want to make sure everything turns out tender and delicious.

When it comes to seasoning your potatoes, you can add as much or as little as you like. Just make sure you use salt — more salt than you probably think you need. Potatoes and salt are a match made in heaven. But from there, have fun. Cayenne, oregano, chili powder, paprika, onion powder, whatever. Potatoes will take just about any flavor you wish to impart and still taste great.

In short: This recipe is hard to mess up. Lots of air fryer recipes you'll encounter on platforms like TikTok are, let's say, novelties. They're fun little experiments with your air fryer. I think roasting potatoes in the air fryer is a staple recipe. It's simple but turns out a reliably delicious product.