Air Fryer Home Fries
Home fries are one of those breakfast sides that not only fills your belly, but gives you those cozy, family feelings. There’s something very nostalgic about home fries for some reason.
You know what goes great with air fryer home fries? Everything! Woo! Make a batch of these crisp on-the-outside, pillowy soft on-the-side potatoes and serve them with pretty much anything you love. Our favorite Bring On the Sunshine breakfast combo includes: tofu scramble, fresh fruit salad, cinnamon-encrusted crumb muffins, and a batch of these sensational, savory home fries. Serve this mouthwatering menu to your family to show them all the love!
Find your air fryer, pull out a bag of potatoes, arm yourself with an onion, and let’s get cooking!
Why These Homemade Home Fries are So Awesome
- Best breakfast side: Home fries are the ideal sidekick to your morning breakfast—they go with almost anything!
- Savory and satisfying: Enjoy the satisfaction of savory, crispy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside home fries.
- Only a few ingredients needed: These home fries are easy to whip up whenever the craving strikes.
- Easy to prep ahead of time: Prep ahead of time for added convenience to make mornings a cinch!
“Will definitely make this again!!”
Kristen Sinch
Star Ingredients
Even though there are only a couple of ingredients in this recipe, both of them are nutrient dense superstars! Potatoes and onions are inexpensive, easy to find, and chock full of vitamins and minerals.
Potato – You can mix it up by changing the type of potato that you use (try red, white, yellow, russets, purple, and even sweet potatoes) to create different flavors and textures.
Red Onion – Feel free to swap out the red onion for a yellow or white onion. Even a shallot would work if cut into chunks.
Check out the recipe card at the bottom for the full quantities and measurements.
How To Make This Home Fries Recipe
This air fryer home fries recipe is pretty foolproof. It’s simply a matter of preheating, chopping, and cooking before you can dig into this downright delicious side. If you’ve got an air fryer, a knife, a cutting board, and some basic seasonings, you’re good to go. Keep in mind that these air fried potatoes are best served immediately, but you can easily reheat them in the air fryer if needed.
Step 1: Prep and steam the potatoes.
Step 2: Preheat the air fryer at 400 degrees for 5 minutes and cut potatoes and onions into equally sized chunks.
Step 3: Mix veggies with seasonings and add to the preheated air fryer basket.
Lastly, Step 4: Cook for 8 minutes, stir, and finish cooking for another 6-8 minutes.
Enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
This delightful home fries recipe is appetizing on its own (we’ve been guilty of eating the entire batch by ourselves!) or serving alongside a favorite breakfast dish like hash brown waffles, maple french toast, tofu scramble, or even with mouthwatering blueberry muffins fresh out of the oven. Here are a few other ideas to keep in mind:
- Adjust the Spice – For those who are sensitive to spices, feel free to stick with only salt and pepper or make them without any spice at all. If you are looking for even more flavor, double the amounts of the seasonings on the potatoes before cooking. Consider adding in dried herbs (like oregano, rosemary, or thyme) and possibly cayenne, cumin, or nutritional yeast to the mix.
- Prep Your Potatoes – If you want to save a bunch of time making these potatoes on the day you’re going to serve them, you can steam your potatoes 1-2 days ahead of time and keep them in the refrigerator. Take them out about 30 minutes before you want to cook them, so there’s time for them to come to room temperature before chopping them up.
- Not an Onion Lover? – No problem. You can leave them out of the recipe or, instead, add in chopped green or red bell pepper, mushrooms, or sprinkle on some rosemary after turning the potatoes.
- Select a Sauce – This, of course, is personal preference, but we love ketchup or barbecue sauce as a side (or smothered on top!) of our home fries. Other tasty choices include: maple syrup, hot sauce, tomatillo salsa, vegan mayo, or even oil-free salad dressing.
Can I Make These Oven Baked Instead?
Sure thing! We used an air fryer for this recipe to save time and add an extra crunch, but you can definitely use the oven instead.
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and, while the oven is heating up, steam your potatoes (or do this the night before), and cut into chunks when cool.
Add the oil, seasonings, and onion. Mix well. Spread onto a parchment lined (or silicone) baking sheet and cook for 35-45 minutes or until desired crispiness. Turn halfway through cooking. Steaming your potatoes beforehand allows your home fries to be soft in the inside while perfectly crispy on the outside.
Storage Tips
You can easily store any remaining breakfast fries in the freezer. If possible, place them in a single layer inside a freezer-safe container or silicone storage bag. Make sure they are sealed tightly.
The leftover potatoes should last up to 3 months in the freezer. To defrost the frozen home fries, arrange them in a single layer in a preheated air fryer basket and cook at 400 degrees for 5-8 minutes or until desired crispiness.
Recipe FAQs
This is completely up to you. Leaving the peel on saves prep time, allows the potatoes to steam more easily, gives an extra crunch to the cooked home fries, and adds lots of healthy fiber. But, if you like the smoother texture of the home fries without the skin, go for it!
Steaming or lightly cooking the potatoes ahead of time is what gives these home fries their soft inside and crispy outside texture. You can certainly skip that part if you wish, but you’ll need a longer cooking time overall because the potatoes will be raw. Sometimes, the longer cooking time makes the home fries burn prematurely and you may end up with slightly undercooked interior with an almost burnt exterior.
Sure! They’re actually really great with any type of potato. Keep in mind, though, that sweet potatoes need a longer cooking time, so you may wish to increase the steaming time or air fry cooking time so that the sweet potatoes are fully cooked, without the outside becoming burnt too quickly.
More Easy Air Fryer Recipes
If you make this air fryer home fries recipe, please leave a star rating and let me know what you think in the comments below! I love reading your comments!
Air Fryer Home Fries (Ultra Crispy!)
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds baby potatoes, or 2 large potatoes
- 1 small red onion
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika, sweet, smoked, or regular
- ¼ teaspoon salt, to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Wash and scrub the potatoes.
- Steam potatoes in the microwave (all baby ones together or 1 large on high for 5 minutes), in a pot with a steamer basket (add 1 inch of water, add potatoes to basket, cover, bring to a boil, and let steam for about 10 minutes) or in the Instant Pot (5 minutes on high pressure followed by a natural release).
- Let the potatoes cool for about 5 minutes before cutting.
- While you’re waiting for the potatoes to cool down, remove the outside onion skin and roughly dice the onions. Place into a mixing bowl.
- Preheat the air fryer at 400 degrees for 5 minutes.
- While the air fryer is heating up and when potatoes are cooled, cut the potatoes into medium-sized chunks.
- Add the potatoes to the onions in the mixing bowl, mix in the olive oil and spices.
- Add the potatoes and onions to the air fryer basket in a single layer, if possible, and cook at 400 degrees for 8 minutes.
- Stir the potatoes and onions and cook at the same temperature for another 6-8 minutes, or until desired crispiness.
Notes
- Oil-free Version – You can completely eliminate the oil if you wish or just give a couple of spritzes of oil spray on the uncooked home fries instead.
- Spice-Sensitive – You can stick with only salt and pepper or make them without any spice at all and add your own toppings when the home fries are cooked.
- Prep Your Potatoes – If you want to save a bunch of time making these potatoes on the day you’re going to serve them, you can steam your potatoes 1-2 days ahead of time and keep them in the refrigerator. Take them out about 30 minutes before you want to cook them, so there’s time for them to come to room temperature before chopping them up.
- Not an Onion Lover? – No problem. You can leave them out of the recipe or, instead, add in chopped green or red bell pepper, mushrooms, or sprinkle on some rosemary after turning the potatoes.
Nutrition
Thank you to our recipe testers for these homestyle fries, Kristen Sinch, Anandee Seshradi and Melanie Swanson!
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Leave a Comment
I’ve never made home fries in the air fryer before, but this recipe has me excited to give it a try!!
potatoes always hit the spot for me. love how easy these yummy fries are to make in the air fryer!!
You had me at the photos definitely got to try these out
I’ll be making these for my husband often since he’s a huge potato fanatic! Pairs so well with the World of Vegan tofu scramble.
Simple and delicious, and healthier! Perfect!
Thrilled to be able to share this recipe with the WOV family! It’s a staple recipe in our house, especially on a lazy weekend morning. Enjoy!
These are perfect! Crispy and so delicious 🙂
love a good potato air fryer dish! so crisp and easy to make!
These home fries came out perfectly crispy in the air fryer! And I love how fast they are to make!