How long to air fry fries frozen

PSA: Your air fryer is the absolute best way to cook frozen french fries at home.

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Credit: Kelli Foster

PSA: 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. 

How Long Do You Put Frozen French Fries in the Air Fryer?

The cook time for air fryer frozen french fries will vary depending on the type of fries.

• Shoestring fries: 9 to 10 minutes
• Curly fries: 10 to 12 minutes
• Steak fries: 10 to 12 minutes
• Waffle fries: 12 to 14 minutes
• Crinkle-cut fries: 18 to 20 minutes
• Straight-cut fries: 18 to 20 minutes

How to Make Frozen French Fries Extra Crispy

To make the absolute crispiest frozen fries in the air fryer, here are a few things to keep in mind. 

1. Keep the temperature high. 400ºF is the sweet spot for frozen french fries. 
2. Don’t overcrowd the basket. It’s important that the fries are in a single layer in the basket. It’s OK if some of them are touching, but they shouldn’t be overlapping. 
3. Cook in batches, if you have to. If your air fryer has a large basket (say, like in most toaster oven-air fryer combos) you’ll likely be able to cook the fries in a single batch. Otherwise, cook the fries in batches; it’ll take more time, but the crispier fries will make it worth it.

What to Serve with Frozen French Fries

Ketchup will always be my top pick for frozen french fries, but all dipping sauces are fair game here. Here are a few of our other favorites to serve with fries.

PSA: Your air fryer is the absolute best way to cook frozen french fries at home.

Home » Fries » Crispy Air Fryer Frozen French Fries

Oooh, air fried french fries are so easy and good! If you’re cooking frozen french fries, you must try making them in the air fryer! You don’t need any extra oil on top because the fries already have oil in them.

Easy Air Fried French Fries in the Air Fryer

The hot air frying circulating air will cook the fries just fine. Seriously, these are so crispy and crazy easy when cooked in the air fryer. Within minutes, we had a big batch of crispy hot french fries out of the air fryer. Once you know how to cook frozen french fries in this awesome appliance,  you’ll never look back. The results are aways quick and crispy. Add a bowl of ketchup or your favorite sauce to dip the air fried french fries in and you’ll be a happy camper!

Video Making Frozen French Fries in the Air Fryer

How to Cook Frozen French Fries in Air fryer

• Add frozen fries to air fryer basket. Air fry at 400°F for about 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fries.
• You don’t have to add any oil spray because there’s already oil in these pre-cooked fries. What you’ll get are still amazing crispy french fries with less oil!
• For 3-4 quart air fryers, 1 pound is about the max without overcrowding the air fryer. If you have a larger size air fryer, you can cook more so long as the basket isn’t filled more than 1/2 full. 
• The more you fill the basket the more frequently you’ll want to shake the basket to help them cook evenly. 
• Dip in your favorite dip like ketchup, mustard, bbq sauce, malt vinegar, or ranch.
• All recipe details are in the recipe box below.
• Pro-Tip: here’s our favorite tools to help make air frying easier:

We LOVE Evo Oil Sprayers. Not the prettiest, but they’re functional and spritz oil great! They don’t clog up like many others we’ve bought. There’s different styles, but all seem to have the same great spray head. Works great for grilling!

There are Square Mats & Round Mats. These perforated non-stick silicone mats are used to cook food in your air fryer or steamer to minimize sticking. Holes allow hot circulating air to cook the food & keeps the food from sticking.

Parchment sheets are great for your air fryer or bamboo steamer (food tends to stick most on wire basket or tray). Choose from different sizes, shapes, white and brown (unbleached). Holes allow air to cook food evenly.

Air Fryer Frozen French Fries

Yield: 4 Servings

Cook Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 15 mins

Frozen frizes have different thicknesses. Adjust cooking time for thicker or thinner fries. Some brands of Air Fryers will cook slower or faster than others, adjust accordingly.

We cooked the fries in a 3.4 qt. Air Fryer. For that size of air fryer, 1 pound is about the max without overcrowding the air fryer, and the more you fill the basket the more frequently you’ll want to shake the basket to help them cook evenly. If you have  larger size, you can cook more so long as the basket isn’t filled more than 1/2 full. 

• 1 pound (454 g) frozen french fries
• Kosher salt or sea salt , to taste
• ground black pepper , to taste optional

• Place the frozen fries in air fryer basket and spread them evenly over the basket. You don't need to spray extra oil.

• Air fry the frozen fries at 400°F for about 15 minutes (about 10 minutes for thin cut fries). About halfway through cooking, shake the basket and gently turn the fries. Try not to break them. For crisper, evenly cooked fries, turn them multiples times while cooking.

• Air Fry for additional 1-3 minutes to crisp to your preferred liking.

1. No Oil Necessary. Cook Fries Frozen – Do not thaw first.
2. Shake several times for even cooking & Don’t overcrowd fryer basket.
3. If cooking in multiple batches, the first batch will take longer to cook if Air Fryer is not already pre-heated.
4. Recipes were cooked in 3-4 qt air fryers. If using a larger air fryer, the recipe might require more time.
5. Remember to set a timer to shake/flip/toss the food as directed in recipe.

If your air fryer is preheated or if you are cooking multiple batches, you may need to reduce timing by a few minutes (unless preheating is called for in the recipe).

Calories: 294kcal, Carbohydrates: 34g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 16g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Sodium: 555mg, Potassium: 487mg, Fiber: 5g, Vitamin C: 7.2mg, Calcium: 10mg, Iron: 1.5mg

Course: Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine: American

Calories: 294

More–>  Air Fried Frozen Foods and All French Fries Recipes 

Hope you enjoy these fries! If you’ve made them let us know what you think in the comments! There’s so much to learn but when you figure it out, there’s a whole world of fresh foods to cook. It’s not always about cooking frozen foods. What is air frying? We discuss it all what is air frying.

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