Part of the point of using an air fryer is to reduce the need for fat, giving a healthier alternative to foods that would otherwise be fried. But let’s be real: A big part of the appeal of an air fryer is that deep-frying at home can be logistically challenging and not worth the cleanup.
If deep frying at home was an easier prospect, though — without the splatter and the need to discard a large volume of oil, not to mention the increased risk of kitchen disaster — we’d all do it, at least sometimes, right? Oven-fried wings, tenders and fries don’t come anywhere close to the real thing, and air-fried items, though an improvement, come closer but don’t quite get there.
What if there was a way to tease out true deep-fried quality, at least for fries, while still using an air fryer, though? Splatter-free, no grease to discard, plus a crispy exterior, a glisten of oil, and the kind of pillowy interior that is often missing from hollow-but-crunchy air fryer fries? This surprising, four-step hack may be the key to unlocking deep-fried texture and flavor, with no actual deep frying necessary.
The ultimate air fryer french fry hack
The air fryer french fry hack involves four steps — don’t worry, they’re all easy — beyond air frying, that promise to transform frozen french fries into something actually resembling deep-fried fries: soaking them in water, shaking them to rough up the texture, parcooking them in the microwave (yes, really) and then dousing them with oil only after they’ve had a turn in the air fryer. None of these are especially intuitive, right? But all of these serve specific functions that improve on what the air fryer can do on its own.
In the age of TikTok, it can be hard to trace the origin of certain hacks, but the method was shared with me by Andreas Hansen, founder and CEO of Fritaire, whose tumbler-based model is especially ideal for this french fry preparation, since it both aids in the texturizing of the exterior of the fries, and precludes the need to shake several times during air frying.
A little investigation revealed that Chef Joshua Weissman is frequently credited with bringing attention to the method, but even in his video he gives a shoutout to Chris Young, whose video predates Weissman’s by over a year, and who credits Heston Blumenthal for inspiring the “triple-cooked” method, and so on, and so on.
Regardless of the actual origin of this hack, I’m taking their collective wisdom and applying it to french fries, since the method was specifically developed for thick-cut fries, which, I’m sorry, are steak fries, and not at all the same thing.
What you need for the best air fryer french fries in history
While a majority of what is needed here probably already exists among the various compartments of your kitchen, the supplies you’ll need to gather are:
- Frozen french fries (I’m using straight cut, not thick/steak fries)
- Large bowl with lid for shaking
- Microwave-safe bowl
- Microwave
- Air fryer
- Duck fat, goose fat or beef tallow for best flavor
- Salt
Step 1: A quick soak in water
Completely counterintuitive to the idea of crunchy fries is the notion that you must first make them soggy, but that is indeed what is recommended.
Straight from the freezer, soak the fries in warm water for 30 seconds to remove some of the starch on their exterior. (30 seconds to 1 minute is recommended for thicker-cut fries.) This is phase one of the “roughing up” process that will eventually create small micro-pockets of additional surface area on the fries, allowing the air fryer to really get a good crisp going.
The goal here is to keep the interior of the fries frozen, so set a timer to prevent over-soaking.
Step 2: Shake vigorously
Yep, now we’re really going to rough up the fries. After draining the soaking water, shake fries vigorously for another 30 seconds or so. The fries should be soft enough just on the exterior to add some texture, but not fall apart entirely. If they do, you’ve soaked too hard in the first step.
The more little craters you can add to the surface of the fries, the more area there is for the air fryer’s air to circulate, giving an unparalleled crisp.
Step 3: Microwave for 5 minutes
Before we actually get crunchy, though, things are going to get even softer first. Using a microwave-safe dish with a lid, par-cook the fries for 5 minutes. Since I was using thinner fries, I hedged my bets and went with 50 percent power, but still cooked for the full 5 minutes.
Both Weissman’s and Young’s videos use a plastic container for both soaking and shaking, but we know better than to do that. So long as we’re being extra with this french fry preparation, let’s switch out for a glass or ceramic container, OK?
This parcooking stage steams the interior of the fries, allowing them to get a better deal than they usually do in the air fryer. If you’ve ever found air-fried fries to be hollow, this is the antidote. The unexpected bonus of this step is that microwaving the fries releases a satisfying french-fry aroma.
Unsurprising step: Following the microwave parcooking, proceed airfrying as normal by placing the fries in a shallow layer in the air fryer and cooking at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 12 to 15 minutes (longer for thicker fries), shaking once or twice during the process to ensure all surface areas have access to the circulating air. The goal is golden brown with edges just starting to brown, so that the fries are crispy but still pillowy soft on the inside.
Step 4: Season them with cooking fat
While certain items get a little dousing in fat before being cooked in the air fryer, here we’re just using cooking fat as a seasoning, allowing the already-crisped fries to absorb the oil for both texture and flavor.
But not just any fat. For best results — since you’ve gone this far, why not go all the way — look to rendered animal fat such as duck fat, goose fat or beef tallow for a rich flavor boost. Salt to your liking, and voilà: air fryer french fries that are actually kind of fried.
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