Air Fryer Potato Cubes Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What happens if you don t soak potatoes before air frying? ›

While it may seem like a pain, soaking the potatoes in hot water for 10 minutes prior to cooking them in the air fryer is essential. The water removes excess starch, allowing the fries to be their crispiest. Instead of soaking them in large bowl of cold water, I like to use hot water to cook the potatoes slightly.

Uses less oil than deep-frying: Cooking raw potatoes in an air fryer uses a fraction of the oil as deep frying, but they come out tasting amazing! Easy to make: Simply wash and cut your potatoes, toss them with oil and spices, and add them to your air fryer. They cook up fast and easy!

Preheat an air fryer to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Rub potatoes with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and parsley. Place potatoes in the air fryer basket. Cook in the preheated air fryer until potatoes are soft, 40 to 50 minutes, depending on potato size.

Soaking the potatoes does something magical with the starches—it helps achieve the coveted French fry crispiness and prevents the fries from sticking together. This is what I did for the air fryer, too. I soaked these potatoes for about an hour or so, but I've also soaked them for up to 24 hours with no ill effect.

As to the question, how long immersion is necessary? Only as long as you need to hold the potatoes until needed for the fry stage(s). This could be as little as a few minutes – to overnight storage in your walk-in cooler.

Soaking potatoes in water before air frying helps remove excess starch from the surface. This can result in crispier and more evenly cooked potatoes, as excess starch can cause them to stick together or become gummy during the cooking process.

Are Air-Fried Foods Better for You? By most measures, air frying is healthier than frying in oil. It cuts calories by 70% to 80% and has a lot less fat. This cooking method might also cut down on some of the other harmful effects of oil frying.

Use Yukon gold or Russet potatoes for the best texture. These two types of potatoes hold their shape well but become tender inside. These dense potatoes do not become mushy or soggy. These starchy and waxy potatoes are perfect for making air fryer potatoes.

Not preheating the air fryer

Air fryers might not serve quite the same function as a traditional oven, but they have a fair amount of crossover in how they operate. For instance, preheating your air fryer much the same way you'd preheat your oven might be the secret to ensuring a crispy, savory potato.

In theory, you can cook in the air fryer without using oil, but the resulting food could potentially be dry in texture. I like to use about a tablespoon of oil when cooking in the air fryer, so that these potatoes get nice and golden, with a melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Can you put aluminum foil in an air fryer? ›

Foil is safe to use in an air fryer so long as you follow three basic rules: never let foil touch the heating element; make sure the foil is weighted so it doesn't blow around the basket; and avoid contact with acidic ingredients, which can cause the foil to leach onto your food.

Season the fries with salt before air frying, but add more salt (preferably sea salt) after frying. The fries soak up the salt better after frying. Fried food generally doesn't reheat well. But with in air fryer, you can reheat them once if they get cold ( on the same day of making).

Soak the raw cut fries in cold water for 30 minutes and then dry well. Sprinkle about 1 Tbsp. of oil on the fries before putting in the air fryer and toss well to coat. Sprinkle with some salt before frying as well, to flavour fries as they cook.

Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.

Whether you're making french fries, home fries, or any other fried potato dish, parboiling can make a noticeable difference in the final product. Do NOT soak fries, it is against all rules of cooking potatoes in oil or fat.

If you skip the soaking stage, they don't get as crisp. It serves several purposes. If you've peeled them, there is often dirt on the peeled potatoes. Putting them in water is an opportunity to rinse them.

Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.

"Placing [peeled and cut] potatoes in water helps prevent oxidation, which turns their exposed flesh brown," says Ronna Welsh, the author of The Nimble Cook and the owner and chef instructor at Purple Kale Kitchenworks in Brooklyn, N.Y. While oxidation won't make the potatoes unsafe to eat, it does change their flavor.