The best part about air frying frozen french fries is that you can get perfectly golden and crispy fries without bathing them in oil. Dealing with hot oil in general is not my favorite thing.
It also takes less time to air fry frozen french fries than it takes to make them in the oven, and you get a more consistent and reliable crispy texture. And the crispy texture is what makes french fries for me. (Sorry to all you team soft and soggy fry people.)
How Long to Air Fry Frozen French Fries?
You can cook any type of fries in the air fryer, from curly to straight to thick cut steak fries. You can even cook waffle fries or tater tots. However, the cook time will vary with each different fry, so you’ll have to keep an eye on a new fry type the first time you make it.
- Air fry frozen french fries at 400 degrees for approximately 10-15 minutes.
- Shoestring Fries: 6-10 minutes
- Waffle Fries: 10-15 minutes
- Crinkle-cut Fries: 10-20 minutes
- Curly Fries: 10-12 minutes
- Steak Fries: 10-15 minutes
- Straight-Cut Fries: 18-20 minutes
- Sweet Potato Fries: 15-20 minutes
- Shake the basket halfway through or every five minutes for longer cooking fries to ensure fries are crispy on all sides and to help keep them from sticking to each other and the basket.
- As always, don’t overcrowd the basket. Your airfryer won’t be able to cook the fries evenly or quickly if it’s over crowded so that they air can’t circulate. It’s best to cook in batches if you need a lot of fries.
- I usually recommend pre-heating the air fryer before making frozen foods for a more even and predictable result. But most air fryers say you can skip this step.
- Adding a little olive oil can help your fries get extra crispy and ensure the seasoning sticks better.
- I prefer to add seasoning as soon as the fries are done, but some people like to add seasoning before they cook them.
- For softer fries, cook them for a couple less minutes or even lower the heat slightly. For crispier fries, add a couple extra minutes. The nice thing about fries are that they’re pretty forgiving and still delicious even if you take them out a couple minutes early or later.
- Toaster oven style air fryers will take longer to cook. They might even double the cooking time for each fry type.
Some less common seasoning options are garlic or onion powder, rosemary, truffle oil, ranch mix, seasoned salt, cajun seasoning, or cayenne pepper or chipotle powder if you like fries with a bit of spice to them.
Don’t forget the sauce! I love fry sauce, but ketchup or any popular dipping sauces are always great too. What’s your favorite dipping sauce for fries?
Two Pan Air Fryers
Since fries are usually a staple side, if you plan on eating them a lot it might be a good idea to invest in one of these two pan air fryers. They are my absolute favorites as I can make my main meal in one side, like chicken nuggets, pizza pockets, or fish, and a side item, like fries or even brussel sprouts, on the other side.
Here are some of my favorite two-basket air fryers:
