These Air Fryer Baked Potatoes with fluffy flesh, crispy skin are delicious served with a dollop of butter, baked beans, or lentil meat! Bonus, these baked potatoes are perfect for meal prep as you can rewarm them in less than 15 minutes for a quick dinner.
Making savory food in the air fryer is a great way of making a healthy lunch or dinner in just a few minutes. You might have tried my air fryer potato wedges recipe or my Air Fryer Sweet Potato Wedges. These baked potatoes are even easier!
Baked potatoes are such a classic, popular side dish or dinner! But, baking your potatoes in your oven can be overwhelming and quite a long process. You need to pre-heat your oven, and the average baking is often close to 90 minutes.
Plus, you need some parchment paper and quite a good amount of oil to make the potato skin crispy. But, with your air fryer, you can make amazing baked potatoes way faster with less hassle and less oil.
Why Air Frying Potatoes?
Let me tell you why you should air fry your baked potatoes. First, air-fried potatoes have the same, if not better, delicious fluffy flesh and crispy skin! But the other amazing advantages of baking potatoes in the air fryer are:
- Faster – 30% quicker to bake than oven-baked potatoes.
- Healthier – an air fryer uses far less oil.
- Economical – no parchment paper, less energy use, and almost no cleaning.
- Tastier – ultra-crispy skin and fluffy inside – I honestly never achieved such a crispy skin in the oven in such a quick timeframe and with minimal oil!
Ingredients and Substitutions
I recommend:
- Potatoes – Medium size, make sure all your potatoes are the same size, or they won’t air fry at the same speed. First, choose the right potatoes. Baked potatoes have a soft, fluffy inside with crispy skin. To achieve this delicious fluffy texture, you must use high-starch potatoes to make baked potatoes in your air fryer. This includes varieties like: King Edward, Desiree potatoes, Russets, or Idaho’s. Choose potatoes of roughly the same size or weight. This is crucial to ensure that all potatoes air fry at the same speed. A medium-size potato takes about 40 minutes to be cooked through, while big potatoes take up to 1 hour. To serve all your potatoes hot at the same time, choose potatoes of the same variety, same weight – ideally about 10 ounces (280g) with their skin on.
- Avocado Oil or Olive Oil – I recommend avocado oil because it has a high smoke point and stays stable above the air frying temperature of 390°F (200°C).
- Salt and pepper
- Garlic Powder – or onion powder, or skin if you are not a big fan of flavors on your potato skin.
How To Make Air Fryer Potatoes
It’s pretty easy to make air fryer baked potatoes. All you need are four simple ingredients and, of course, an air fryer.
Depending on your air fryer basket size, you will be able to fit more or fewer potatoes. In my Philips XXL basket, I fit 3 medium potatoes.
- First, in a small bowl, combine oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
- Next, scrub the potatoes to remove the dirt and clean them under the tap.
- Next, pat dry the potato skin roughly with a clean towel or absorbent paper. Then pierce the skin several times with a fork or knife. That’s very important, or the potatoes burst out in the air fryer.
- Then, rub the skin of the potatoes evenly with the olive oil mixture. You can use your hands to massage the potatoes with the oil mixture or use a pastry brush.
- Place the oiled potatoes in the air fryer basket, make sure they don’t touch each other, and air fry them at 400°F (200°C) for 30 – 40 minutes, flipping the potatoes halfway using tongs. This ensures the potatoes cook evenly in the center.
- The potatoes are ready to remove from the air fryer when you can insert a knife through the flesh, and the skin is crispy and golden brown. Note that the cooking time varies a lot based on the size of the potatoes. If your potatoes are bigger, expect more cooking time up to 1 hour. For smaller potatoes, check the cooking after 30 minutes. You don’t need to use foil or parchment paper for these baked potatoes as they are easy to transfer. Read when to use parchment paper in an air fryer and whether using foil is safe with an air fryer.
- Remove the baked potatoes from the air fryer basket using tongs or oven mittens to avoid burning yourself.
- Transfer them onto a chopping board and, using a sharp knife, cut the top lengthwise. Don’t cut the potato up to the bottom, just the top – mind the steam coming out! It is boiling hot.
- Use a spoon to carve out the potato flesh and transfer it to a chopping board.
- Then, use a fork or potato masher to mash the potato flesh.
- Now, you can add (vegan) butter or garlic olive oil and mix in to create a fluffy, mushy mashed potato filling. Or, you can keep it simple and only add a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Return the mashed potato to the potato skin.
- Keep the potato plain or top with vegan cheese and plant-based diced bacon.
- For ultra-crispy potato skins, bring the filled baked potato back to the air fryer basket.
- Set the air fryer at 350°F (180°C) and air fry for 5-6 minutes until the filling is hot and the skin is ultra crispy.
Baked Potato Filling
Baked potatoes are so much more delicious when filled with some creamy addition or plant-based proteins. Slice the air fried, baked potato halfway and fill the potato skins with some of the vegan version of the classic baked potato filling like:
- Butter
- Sour cream
- Cheese
Or some Mexican Black Beans, lentil taco meat, TVP Taco Meat, or herbs like chives or parsley.
These baked potatoes are delicious as a light dinner filled with proteins like baked beans, chickpea, or lentils. They are also a delicious side dish.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can use all varieties of sweet potatoes with this similar recipe, including:
– Orange sweet potatoes – low starch.
– Purple sweet potatoes – high starch.
– White sweet potatoes – medium starch.
The cooking time varies depending on the variety of sweet potatoes. The orange variety cooks faster and is more watery in the center than white or purple sweet potatoes.
The average air frying time varies from 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the size of the sweet potatoes and the color of their skin.
Storage Instructions
You can store the baked potatoes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze them for up to 3 months. Thaw the potatoes in the fridge the day before serving and rewarm them in the air fryer at 350°F (180°C) for 10-15 minutes or until hot inside and crispy on the outside. You can also rewarm in the microwave for a quick lunch, but the skin won’t be crispy.
More Air Fryer Recipes
I love to create recipes in the air fryer, and below are more air fryer recipes for you to try.
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Air Fryer Baked Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 medium Russet Potatoes
- 3 teaspoons Avocado Oil - or olive oil
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder
Baked Potatoes Filling per potato
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil - or (vegan) butter
- 1 tablespoon Chopped Chives - or parsley
- 1 pinch Salt
Instructions
- First, choose 3 potatoes of the same variety and of roughly the same size and make sure they fit the size of your air fryer basket. Scroll up in this post for tips on how to choose potato varieties for air fryers.
- In a small mixing bowl, mix olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Set aside.
- Scrub the potatoes under cold tap water to clean their skin and roughly pat dry the skin with a clean kitchen towel or absorbent paper. Use a fork or knife to pierce each potato skin several times on all their surface.
- Rub the skin with olive oil – you can use a pastry brush or massage potatoes with your hands.
- Place the oil potatoes in the air fryer basket, making sure they don't touch each other.
- Air fry at 390°F (200°C) for 40 minutes, flipping them halfway using tongs – this makes sure the potatoes air fry evenly on both sides. Keep air frying until soft in the center – you should be able to pierce the potato with a knife, and the skin is crispy and golden brown. Note that cooking time varies based on the potato size. The potatoes are ready when you can easily insert a knife in the center, and the skin is crispy/golden. If not, keep air frying by an extra 5 minutes burst, checking every 5 minutes.
- Remove the baked potatoes from the basket using tongs or oven mitten and transfer them to a chopping board. Cool for 10 minutes.
Filling
- Slice the potato down the center, lengthwise, and use a spoon to scoop out the inside.
- Mash the scooped out potato with a fork or potato masher and combine with any toppings like olive oil, or vegan butter, salt, and pepper.
- Scoop the potato mixture back to the potato skin, top with cheese or vegan diced bacon if you like.
- Air fry again at 350°F (180°C) until the filling is hot and the skin is ultra crispy.
- Serve with a dollop of extra vegan butter and herbs.
Excellant.