Frozen Fries in Air Fryer

PSA: Your air fryer is the absolute best way to cook frozen french fries at home (and yes, that includes tater tots, too). Try it once, and you’ll never go back to oven-baked. Trust me.

It doesn’t matter whether you’ve got a bag of crinkle-cut, waffle, shoestring, steak, or even curly fries: Frozen fries in the air fryer cook up with the most irresistible crispy edges and soft centers. The crisp-factor is higher than you’ll ever achieve from baking fries in the oven. And frozen fries in the air fryer are the closest you’ll get to crispy restaurant-style deep-fried fries, without the hassle of deep-frying. Here’s what you need to know. 

The cook time for air fryer frozen french fries will vary depending on the type of fries.

• Shoestring fries: 9 to 10 minutes
• Curly fries: 10 to 12 minutes
• Steak fries: 10 to 12 minutes
• Waffle fries: 12 to 14 minutes
• Crinkle-cut fries: 18 to 20 minutes
• Straight-cut fries: 18 to 20 minutes

To make the absolute crispiest frozen fries in the air fryer, here are a few things to keep in mind. 

1. Keep the temperature high. 400ºF is the sweet spot for frozen french fries. 
2. Don’t overcrowd the basket. It’s important that the fries are in a single layer in the basket. It’s OK if some of them are touching, but they shouldn’t be overlapping. 
3. Cook in batches, if you have to. If your air fryer has a large basket (say, like in most toaster oven-air fryer combos) you’ll likely be able to cook the fries in a single batch. Otherwise, cook the fries in batches; it’ll take more time, but the crispier fries will make it worth it.

Ketchup will always be my top pick for frozen french fries, but all dipping sauces are fair game here. Here are a few of our other favorites to serve with fries.

• Fry Sauce
• Easiest-Ever BBQ Sauce
• Garlic Aioli
• Creamy Honey Mustard Sauce
• Magic Summer Sauce
• Big Mac Sauce