Golden crispy chips, cooked in the air fryer so they’ve got a nice bit of crunch, but they’re soft in the middle.
No need to soak the potatoes or par-boil. Just toss the potatoes in a little cornflour, oil and seasoning and they can go right in the air fryer.
Ready in 20 minutes!
Making homemade chips were one of the first things I tested when I finally got around to buying my air fryer.
I tried a number of different methods:
- Soaking the potatoes in water, then patting dry before air frying.
- Verdict: The outcome didn’t warrant the effort and time of washing and drying the potatoes. Yes, the idea is to remove excess starch so the potatoes don’t burn before they’re cooked. But I found I could cook them without soaking, and they were ALWAYs cooked in the middle before the outside got too brown.
- Steaming in a foil parcel in the air fryer to par-cook the potatoes before air frying. Yes, I could have par-cooked them in a pan of water, but honestly? I’m never going to do this, it’s too much effort, time and an extra pan to wash. So I thought I’d see if my air fryer could steam them for me.
- Verdict: Turns out if can’t. Even after 15 minutes air-frying in foil, the potatoes were hard and rather dry. Plus I was worried the foil could be a fire-risk. So that ruled this option out.
- Air frying the chips in just oil, salt and pepper (rather than using the addition of cornflour and paprika in the final recipe).
- Verdict: this worked just fine, and I’d recommend this if you didn’t have cornflour or paprika in. The cornflour adds just a little bit more crispness and the paprika adds just a little more gorgeous golden colour.
📋 What do we need?
- Potatoes – I like to use floury potatoes – such as Maris Piper or Rooster, as the edges go a little more crispy. I peel the potatoes first, but you can leave them skin-on for a more rustic feel.
- Cornflour (cornstarch) – to add a little extra crispness to the chips
- Oil – use your favourite neutral-tasting frying oil (such as rapeseed or sunflower).
- Seasoning – salt, pepper and paprika
👩🍳PRO TIP You can add extra flavourings to your chips before air-frying if you like. Cajun spice, garlic salt (reduce the regular salt accordingly) and curry powder make great additions for a different flavour.
You can also make these chips chunky, skinny or crinkle cut. Skinny chips will take a few minutes less, and chunky chips will take a few minutes more in the air fryer – just check on them and give them a shake an extra couple of times to ensure they don’t burn.
🍽️ What to serve them with
Since these are a side dish, they can be served with LOADS of things (I particularly like them with Lasagne or Steak Pie, but if you’re looking to serve them as a snack, how about:
- On some homemade bread or brioche buns for the ultimate chip butty (there’s the Northern girl coming out)
- Dipped in spicy bang bang sauce, BBQ sauce or classic burger sauce
- Smothered in homemade gravy, or upgrade further and make into poutine, salt and pepper chips or pizza fries!
And that’s it, perfect air fryer chips, we have these with dips, but they are a quick side to any meal, let me know how you serve yours?
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Air Fryer Chips
Ingredients
- 700 g (1 ½ lbs) of floury potatoes such as Maris Piper or Rooster – these will ensure a fluffier chip interior and a crispier exterior.
- 1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
- 2 tbsp frying oil use your favourite neutral tasting oil – such as rapeseed, sunflower or vegetable
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp paprika
To Serve:
- pinch salt and pepper
Instructions
- Peel and slice potatoes into chips (about 1cm thick)700 g (1 ½ lbs) of floury potatoes
- If they're a bit grubby, then rinse in cold water, drain and pat dry, if they're not grubby you don't need to do this step.
- Add the chips to a bowl and toss with the cornflour until coated1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
- Add oil, salt, pepper, and paprika and toss again so they're evenly coated2 tbsp frying oil, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper, ½ tsp paprika
- Place in the air fryer and cook 190C/375F for 20 mins, shaking every 5 minutes
- Serve with a sprinkling of salt and pepper if you like.pinch salt and pepper
Notes
- Use sweet potatoes, just check them regularly so they don’t catch
- Add additional flavouring – such as Cajun spice, dried herbs (rosemary is lovely), garlic salt, chilli flakes or curry powder.
- If you’re using chilli flakes or dried herbs, add them half way through cooking, so they don’t burn.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Hi, Nicky thanks so much for your fantastic Recipes, as someone who has needed to learn to cook (badly) from scratch they are a godsend to ‘non-cooking’ types like myself.
Used a Tefal actifry and turned out perfectly. Thanks Nicky
Made a batch of these, used a portion stored the rest in the fridge. The insides were black the next evening, a lot of ‘liquid’ also.
Is it possible to make a batch, without the leftovers turning black in the fridge?
Cheers
Delicious chips, grandchildren loved them.
Hi Nicky, sounds great. What thickness do you do your chips please
Hi Linda – about 1cm thick