These air-fryer potato chips make the perfect snack. They’re a crispier, crunchier version of your favorite store-bought chips, only without the excess grease. You need just four ingredients to pull them off: potatoes, cooking spray, salt and an optional garnish of fresh parsley for a fresh touch. The best part about these chips is that they don’t take all day. The pre-soaked potato slices will crisp up to a gorgeous, golden-brown hue in about 15 minutes.
Air-fryer recipes can whip up everyday snacks with record speed and minimal effort. If you’re new to cooking with an air fryer, check our air-fryer cooking guide to answer all your burning questions. And for those in the market for a new appliance, see which brand was ranked as the best air fryer by our Test Kitchen.
How to Make Potato Chips in the Air Fryer
To start, make very thinly sliced potatoes. Our Test Kitchen recommends picking up a handheld mandoline slicer. It’s the perfect tool to make super-thin slices with a uniform thickness, which ensures all the chips will cook evenly. Our Test Kitchen recommends using a cut-resistant glove while slicing to keep your fingers safe.
Next, soak the potatoes in water. This draws out the potato’s natural starches, which will give them a great crunch when they cook. It also helps prevent the potatoes from sticking to each other in the air-fryer basket.
Finally, load the potato slices into the air fryer. A preheated air fryer hits the potato slices with a blast of high heat, starting the cook process right away.
Ingredients for Air-Fryer Potato Chips
- Potatoes: Idaho and Russet potatoes are the best type of potatoes for air-frying. Their high starch content helps them crisp up perfectly. That said, we also really enjoy Yukon Gold potatoes for air-fryer potato chips. They have a creamy flavor and crisp up just as well.
- Olive oil-flavored cooking spray: Traditional potato chips are deep-fried in oil, but in this recipe, we use cooking spray to reduce the grease factor. The spray lightly coats the potato slices and helps them crisp up without burning.
- Sea salt: Sprinkle the potatoes with salt just before cooking to infuse every bite with salty goodness. Other than the delightful crunch of potato chips, the salt is the best part, right?
- Fresh parsley: This is optional, but a light sprinkle of minced parsley adds a fresh finish to the chips.
Directions
Step 1: Prep the potatoes
Preheat the air fryer to 360°F. Cut the potatoes into thin slices using a mandoline or vegetable peeler. Transfer them to a large bowl. Add enough ice water to cover. Soak for 15 minutes. Drain. Add more ice water, and soak for an additional 15 minutes.
Editor’s Tip: Cut the potatoes as thin as possible. Thicker slices may take longer to cook and won’t get as crispy.
Step 2: Dry the potato chips
Drain the potatoes. Place them on towels, and pat dry.
Editor’s Tip: Don’t skip this step! Removing the excess moisture is key to achieving a crunchy potato chip.
Step 3: Air-fry the potato chips
Spritz the potatoes with cooking spray, and sprinkle them with salt. In batches, cook the potatoes in a single layer on a greased tray in the air-fryer basket. Cook until crisp and golden brown, 15 to 17 minutes, stirring and turning potato slices every five to seven minutes.
Remove the potatoes from the air fryer, and repeat the process with the remaining potatoes. If desired, sprinkle the chips with minced fresh parsley.
Editor’s Tip: Every once in a while, lightweight items can get whisked up by the air fryer’s powerful fan. If you hear a weird noise, a potato chip may have flown into the heating element. Open the air-fryer drawer, and give the basket a shake. You can also pick out the already-done chips so they don’t burn.
Recipe Variations
- Black pepper: Give the chips a little kick with ground black pepper. Add it when you season the potato chips with salt.
- Salt and vinegar: Sprinkle the chips with distilled white vinegar powder after cooking.
- Sour cream and onion: After cooking, dust the chips with a mixture of buttermilk powder and onion powder. Ranch dressing and dip mix also works here, but it adds a more assertive flavor.
- Barbecue chips: After cooking, toss the chips with barbecue seasoning or a dry rub. Feel free to add extra cayenne or chili powder to adjust the spice level according to your preferences.
- Dill: Swap in chopped fresh dill for the parsley to give the chips a dill-pickle spin.
- Cheese: Use a Microplane grater to add finely grated Parmesan to the cooked chips. To keep the recipe vegan, you can use nutritional yeast instead (although you may need to spritz the chips with water first to help the powder stick).
How to Store Air-Fryer Potato Chips
Store the chips in a resealable plastic bag or an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week. You can freeze leftover air-fryer chips in a freezer-safe container for up to three months. Thaw the chips on the counter before serving.
If the chips lose their crispy edge, pop them in the air fryer for a few minutes to warm them through.
Air-Fryer Potato Chips Tips
Why are my air-fryer chips soggy and not crispy?
If your air-fryer chips are soggy, throw them back into the air fryer to cook a little more. Internal temperatures vary among air-fryer brands, so air-fryer cooking times may vary. You may need to cook your chips a little longer than suggested. Start checking the potatoes at the shortest suggested time, and check back a little later if it’s not done.
Are air-fried chips healthier than oven chips?
Air-fried food isn’t necessarily healthy or healthier than other foods, but it typically requires less cooking oil than pan-fried or deep-fried dishes.
What else can I make in my air fryer?
Any food meant to be deep-fried can be made in an air fryer, such as fried chicken, doughnut holes and jalapeno poppers. You can also use your air fryer to bake things like oatmeal cookies, bread pudding and even pork chops!
