Bye bye, fast food! You won’t need the drive-thru anymore if you have a bag of frozen french fries and an Air Fryer! The Air Fryer crisps up ready-made french fries better than anything, and they truly taste deep-fried. If you’re looking for homemade air fryer french fries, you’ll love our
crispy fast-food style recipe! Frozen French Fries – You can cook any type, any flavor, any cut, and any number of frozen french fries in the air fryer. Seasoned
fries? Check. Curly fries? YES, PLEASE. Steak fries? You bet! Shoestring fries? As long as they’re not so small they fall through the basket. You’ll just need to adjust a little as far as cook time and number of batches depending on the size, thickness, and number of fries you’re making. I included time suggestions on the recipe card below so be sure to check that before you get started! Hey – you’ve made it this far, so now we’re basically best friends! If you make this recipe, I’d love for you to give it a quick review & star rating ★ below. Make sure you follow me on
Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and Facebook, too!❓What Makes This Recipe So Good
🍟 Key Ingredients
❗️Chef’s Tips
More Easy Recipes You’ll Love
Air fryer basket-style or oven-style
neutral spray oil must be safe for air fryers
Preheat air fryer to 400° Fahrenheit.
Once air fryer is preheated, lightly spray basket with neutral oil. Add frozen french fries to basket and lightly spray tops of fries with additional oil. Sprinkle salt or other seasoning over fries if desired, then place basket in air fryer.
Cook fries 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, remove basket from air fryer. Shake basket well to toss fries, and check doneness of fries. If desired doneness is not yet achieved, return basket to air fryer.
Cook fries another 5 minutes, then remove basket from air fryer. Check doneness of fries. If desired doneness is not yet achieved, shake basket again to toss fries. Return basket to air fryer and cook another 2 to 5 minutes.
Repeat steps 3 and 4 of cooking instructions as needed until desired doneness is achieved. Be sure to check doneness of fries and shake basket to toss fries every 3 to 5 minutes, or fries will overcook. See Notes below for suggested cook times.
Once desired doneness is achieved, remove basket from air fryer. Transfer prepared french fries to plate or bowl. Repeat entire process with any remaining fries until desired number of fries has been cooked. Serve fries hot with desired condiments and/or toppings.
❗️Important: You MUST shake the basket every 5 minutes! This helps the fries cook evenly, which will also reduce the chances of them overcooking. Taking the basket out of the air fryer also gives you a great opportunity to check the doneness of the fries, so you can be sure they’re not getting crispier than you like.
Regarding Cook Times & Temperatures
This method was tested and perfected using both a Chefman basket-style air fryer and a Cosori basket-style air fryer. In both, we cooked our fries at 400°F for 20 minutes total.
Every air fryer behaves differently, though – even two of the exact same model. Be sure to keep an eye on the fries the first time or two you cook them this way, and make any adjustments to the cook time or the temperature that you need to make based on your specific air fryer!
Toaster-oven-style air fryers tend to take a little longer than basket-style. The age of your air fryer can affect the results, too. Newer air fryers can cook hotter and faster than older ones.
Suggested Cook Times
Different types of fries will cook differently. For example, shoestring fries would not need the same cook time as steak fries since they’re much smaller and thinner.
In general, start with the cook times below and adjust as needed. If you’re cooking multiple batches of fries, keep in mind that the later batches will need less time to cook than the earlier batches.
- Shoestring Fries: 6-10 minutes
- Waffle Fries (a.k.a. Lattice Fries): 10-12 minutes
- Crinkle-cut Fries: 10-12 minutes
- Curly Fries: 10-12 minutes
- Steak Fries: 12-15 minutes
Note: total cook time for one batch of fries should not exceed 25 minutes.
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 393kcal, Carbohydrates: 46g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 23g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Sodium: 741mg, Potassium: 650mg, Fiber: 7g, Vitamin C: 10mg, Calcium: 14mg, Iron: 2mg, Net Carbs: 39g
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
Meet Cheryl Malik
Cheryl Malik is the recipe developer, writer, and photographer behind the healthy, flavorful, family friendly recipes at 40 Aprons. She's been a blogger for 10+ years and is known for her delicious recipes and detailed recipe instructions. Cheryl is a mom of three who lives in Memphis, TN.
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