Garlic Parmesan Air Fryer French Fries
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These homemade Air Fryer French Fries are so easy to make. After a quick soak in cold water, the fries cook in the air fryer for just 15 minutes. With a few simple ingredients, you’ll have the ultimate fresh, buttery, garlic parmesan fries to snack on!
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Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan Fries
If there was ever a competition for the best fries, this recipe would definitely be a contender for the best air fryer french fries. They’re crispy on the outside but soft on the inside and finished off with a delicious garlic butter parmesan topping. Not to mention the super simple aioli for dipping!
Of course, if you want to keep it basic, you can certainly leave off the garlic and parmesan and these french fries in the air fryer will still be good. But garlic parmesan fries pair so well with a freshly grilled steak or a burger!
Ingredients Needed
For the best air fryer french fries, you’ll need the obvious ingredients – potatoes and seasonings. For this recipe, you’ll also need garlic and parmesan.
(Scroll to the bottom for our easy printable recipe with the complete directions.)
- Russet potatoes – Wash, scrub, and dry.
- Canola oil – Helps get the potatoes nice and crispy on the outside.
- Salt & pepper
- Butter
- Garlic – The garlic in “garlic parmesan fries”!
- Parmesan cheese – Freshly grate your own for the best flavor.
- Parsley – Adds a nice final touch of color.
- Aioli Dipping Sauce – Mayonnaise, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper.
What Potatoes Work Best For Homemade French Fries?
Russet potatoes are, hands-down, the best potatoes for this french fries recipe. Most other potatoes have a higher moisture content and are too soft. Note that if you only have jumbo russets (bigger than a woman’s hand), you may need to cook the fries in two batches. If you overload the air fryer, they will just steam and not brown well.
How to Make Air Fryer French Fries
This french fries recipe is super easy to make and the aioli comes together in seconds. Here’s a summary:
(Scroll to the bottom for our easy printable recipe with the complete directions.)
- Cut the fries. Cut the potatoes into 3/8-inch thick slices, then slice lengthwise again.
- Soak. Soak the fries in a large bowl of cold water for 30 minutes. Drain, rinse, and blot dry with paper towels.
- Make the aioli. Whisk the aioli ingredients, taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary, and place in the fridge.
- Season the fries. Toss the potatoes with oil, salt, and pepper.
- Air fry the potatoes. Cook the potatoes at 360F for 5 minutes then toss and increase the heat to 390F for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown. Be sure to toss every 5 minutes or so.
- Toss with garlic butter. Microwave the butter and garlic for 30 seconds. Toss with the fries. Add salt and pepper as needed. Top with parmesan cheese and serve with the dipping sauce.
How Long To Cook Fries in The Air Fryer?
The exact amount of time needed to make french fries in the air fryer will vary depending on how thick your fries are and your particular air fryer. It should be around 15 minutes.
I like to cook the potatoes at a low temperature for 5 minutes or so then increase the temperature. Cooking the potatoes at a lower temperature for a few minutes allows them to par-cook and get ready to become crispy! Cranking the temperature up 30 degrees after this initial first cook transforms the soft pieces of potatoes into magical crispy crunchy fries.
Do I Really Need to Soak Them?
Yes, soaking the potatoes is an essential step in making crispy fries in the air fryer. Soaking them pulls out a lot of the starch and skipping this step will result in fries more on the limp side, without a fluffy texture inside. If you want fries that are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, you must soak them.
Serving Suggestions
Fries are best enjoyed immediately while hot and crispy. They go great with the aioli, but ranch dressing, yum yum sauce, BBQ sauce, remoulade sauce, and of course ketchup are also perfect.
These garlic parmesan fries pair perfectly with basics like chicken tenders or chicken nuggets or anything off the grill such as beef burgers, turkey burgers, grilled chicken or steak.
How to Store & Reheat Leftovers
- How to store leftover fries. Garlic parmesan fries are definitely best when enjoyed immediately but if you have leftovers, store them in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- How to reheat french fries in air fryer? To reheat leftover fries, turn the air fryer to 350F and air fry for 3 to 5 minutes until hot, flipping them halfway through.
More Air Fryer Recipes:
- Air Fryer Onion Rings
- Air Fryer Zucchini Fries
- Breaded Air Fryer Pork Chops
- Air Fryer Chicken Tenders
- Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp
- Sweet Potato Fries
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Garlic Parmesan Air Fryer French Fries
Ingredients
For the Fries
- 3 medium russet potatoes, , washed, scrubbed, and patted dry
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt, , divided
- freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 clove garlic, , grated on microplane
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
For the Aioli Dipping Sauce
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 to 2 cloves garlic, , very finely minced
- pinch dried parsley
- salt and pepper, , to taste
Instructions
- Cut potatoes lengthwise into 3/8-inch thick slices. Stack three slices at a time and slice lengthwise again to create 3/8-inch thick fries (batons). It’s ok if they’re a bit irregular, the thicker parts will stay soft, while the thin areas will get crunchy.
- Soak the potatoes in a very large bowl of cold water for about 30 minutes. Drain the water, rinse the potatoes, and place on a clean kitchen towel or paper towel, blot dry thoroughly until you see no more wet areas. (These two steps are critical for getting crispy fries, do not skip.) Wipe the large bowl dry.
- While the potatoes soak, whisk together all the aioli dipping ingredients. Taste and adjust seasoning and lemon to your liking. Cover and place in fridge.
- Place potatoes back in the bowl and toss with the oil, half of the salt, and a pinch of black pepper.
- Wipe out the bowl with a clean paper towel and set aside.
- Place potatoes in the basket of a large capacity air fryer and cook at 360 degrees F for 5 minutes. Toss, and increase heat to 390 degrees F; cook for 15-18 minutes longer until golden brown, tossing every 5 minutes. (If you have a few fries at the bottom that are pale and don’t seem done, remove all the others and cook the undercooked ones for another 2-3 minutes.)
- Place the hot fries in the large bowl.
- Place the butter and garlic in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. This will gently cook the garlic as the butter melts.
- Gently toss the fries with the garlic butter and parsley, taste and add another pinch of salt and pepper as needed.
- Transfer to a serving bowl and top with plenty of parmesan cheese. Serve immediately with the dipping sauce.
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and any changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are very important to you, I would recommend calculating them yourself.
Did you make this? Leave a rating below!
I am new to air frying. This recipe seemed simple enough to try, which it was! I made these as an appetizer. If I made enough, these would have become the main course because they were so good. You could call your garlic aioli sauce Frank’s garlic aioli sauce because my wife put that s**t on everything that night. I will definitely be making these again. Delicious!!!