Air Fryer Waffle Fries From Scratch
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Your favourite French fries are about to transform into a new shape! Air Fryer Waffle Fries from Scratch are easy to make and super cool to eat! Serve these on the side for your next burger night and enjoy a healthy take on the Chick-Fil-A waffle fries!
If French fries didn’t exist then I honestly don’t know what I’d do with myself! I love them so much! If you’re new here then let me tell you that we love fries of all kinds here. On social media, I’ve been called “The King of Fries".” While I’m not sure I can fully receive that title, I’ll admit that I do consider myself a pro at eating fries and cooking fires - I sure have a lifetime of experience! You need to see my Instagram stories to see how often I enjoy fries! I certainly don’t go a week without them, and I either make them myself or enjoy them as a side dish when going out to eat! As I’ll be doing in this recipe, air frying fries allows you to enjoy the deliciousness crispiness of fries on a daily basis because there’s less mess and oil! On the other hand, I do have a soft spot for deep frying fries when I want an extra-special meal and I have oil ready to go!
For the month of July, I was holding a YouTube collab called #funfries! I know I’m posting this recipe in August, but I just had to extend the collab by another week because…. I just love fries so much! Focusing on the French fries theme for the past month has totally been a blast! I’ve really enjoyed seeing how far I can take fries and let my creativity soar! I give more details about how having a theme can help you get out of a rut in the kitchen and open your eyes to plenty of recipes in my 5 Tips To Make Cooking Fun! free motivational guide! Sign up to my newsletter to get the guide and check out my Live to Cook one-month challenge! If fries from your favourite fast food or sit-down restaurant have been on your mind, then why not try them at home? Check this waffle fries recipe off your bucket list and share it as part of your challenge! Don’t forget to tag me on social media so I can see and share your awesome creation!
To follow along with me making these Air Fryer Waffle Fries From Scratch, don’t forget to watch the video at the bottom of this post! Please subscribe to me on YouTube if you haven’t already and hit the bell button to receive the notifications when my video recipes go live! I love to share the videos to complement the written recipes so you get the visual aspect of the recipe and can fully grasp the concepts. Let’s get air frying!
WHy You’ll Love Air Fryer Waffle Fries From Scratch
This recipe will totally change your life! Admittedly, I’ve never actually tried Chick-Fil-A before, but I’ve heard that it’s a great spot to eat! The waffle fries do look delicious, and I’m sure I’ve had waffle fries from some other spot. This recipe will now be a go-to if you want to have some fun with fries and switch up your favourite side dish! You should make these Air Fryer Waffle Fries because…
Minimal oil: You could deep fry these waffle fries (perhaps I’ll share the recipe one day, comment below if you want it!), but of course there are adverse health effects when you eat deep-fried food regularly. Vegetable oil or other refined oils are typically used to deep fry, and those contain trans fats that can affect your health and cholesterol. On the other hand, for this Air Fryer Waffle Fries, we’re going to be using just a touch of olive oil. Olive oil is excellent because it adds a little bit of flavour, helps the fries get crispy, and contains mono-unsaturated fats that help lower LDL or “bad” cholesterol. A little will go a long way here - we’re not slathering our fries in oil!
Crispy, fully-cooked fries: This recipe will show how to make sure you have fully cooked fries on the inside but perfectly crisp and crunchy fries outside - just like you love from fast food and restaurants! It’s frustrating when you have crunchy fries outside but are raw inside. I’ll show how to nail the cooking time to amazing fries every time!
NOT frozen in a bag: Most other waffle fries recipes use frozen fries from the grocery store. That’s fine, but not what we’re about here! We pride ourselves in making most things from scratch wherever possible! Buying a number of potatoes is much cheaper than buying the bag, and you’ll have the satisfaction of making the shapes yourself! Get everyone involved and make these special fries a family bonding opportunity!
Saves money: Making your own fries is always cheaper than buying fries from even a fast food restaurant! The cost of making these fries is about $3 for three potatoes, and they make enough fries for two people! However, a large fries at Chick-Fil-A is also $4, from what I see on Google, a large certainly is not three potatoes’ worth!
Easy: It’s super easy to make the waffle shape and to air fry! I’ll break down all the steps for you, and once you try it once, I’m sure you’ll want to do this on a regular basis!
Vegan: I’m not adding anything to these fries except for salt and oil, so these fries are perfect for everyone following all diets! No matter who you’re serving, we can all enjoy these awesome fries!
So yummy: Well, aren’t all fries so good? These are just a tad bit tastier because of the cool waffle shape!
Equipment for Air FRyer Waffle Fries
Since we’re making our waffle fries from scratch, we’ll need a couple of tools to make the fries. Let’s review:
I’m using the Ninja Foodi 6-in-1 2-basket air fryer. I like this air fryer because you can cook two different components of your meal at once - the air fryer will allow you to set different temperatures and cook times in the two baskets so that your meal can be hot and fresh all together! You won’t be waiting on any component of the dish and this will help with your time efficiency in the kitchen! For example, you can cook some Chicken Wings in the air fryer as you prepare these fries. For a more detailed review of this air fryer, check out this video.
As for the crinkle cutter, I’ve seen other waffle fries being cut with a mandoline slicer. I don’t think that’s necessary at all - the crinkle cutter did the trick just fine as you can see! I’ll go over exactly how to use it to make waffle fries in the next section!
How to Make Crispy Air Fryer Waffle Fries
Rinse and wash the potatoes well. You may peel the potato or keep the skin on.
Place the potato lengthwise on a cutting board and using a crinkle cutter, slice 1 edge of the potato. Then rotate the potato 90 degrees and make another cut with the crinkle cutter to create a cross hatch waffle pattern. Repeat the same for the remaining potatoes.
Add the cut potatoes in a large bowl and fill with cold water and soak for about 25 minutes (see tip for a shortcut). In the meanwhile, set a large pot of water to boil.
Add soaked potatoes to the boiling water and boil for 3-5 minutes, or until the potatoes are partly cooked but still firm. Add only enough potatoes that will comfortably fit in your air fryer basket in a single layer.
Drain the potatoes onto paper towel and gently pat dry.
Then, transfer the fries to a large bowl and coat with olive oil. Gently toss the potatoes in the oil.
and arrange fries in a single layer in the air fryer basket
Set Air Fryer to Air Fry mode at 400F and cook for 15 minutes.
If making a multiple batch, transfer the fries from the air fryer basket to a bowl/baking sheet and repeat steps 2-4 for the remaining portion of fries.
Once all the fries are crispy, you can toss all the fries in a single basket to refresh the fries at 375F-390F for 3-5 minutes. Voila!
Season with salt to taste and toss well. Enjoy your fries!
Tips & Tricks for The Best Air Fryer Waffle Fries
Be consistent with the thickness of the fries as you cut them. The more even the shape and size of the fries, the better consistency you will see with the doneness.
Soak the fries in cold water to rinse off excess starch to help get the fries crispy.
In case you are short on time and patience soak the potatoes in cold water only until the water comes to a boil.
Boil the potatoes in batches large enough to comfortably fit in your air fryer basket in a single layer.
If making multiple batches of fries, once the last batch is ready, you can toss all the fries in a single basket to refresh the fries at 375F-390F for 3-5 minutes. Voila!
How Come My Fries Didn’t Get Crispy?
It’s likely there was too much overlap between the fries which prevented the fries to become crispy. Try arranging the potatoes in a thinner layer.
Also, if the potatoes are not coated with oil, they will not turn out as crispy and may turn soft after air frying.
Given all this, if you are really looking for the crispiest experience, deep-frying is the way to go!
How to Reheat Air Fryer Waffle Fries
I would recommend you eat your Air Fryer Waffle Fries fresh for the best crunchiness and taste! However, if you’ve made extra fries or just wanted to make these in advance for whatever reason, then you can store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container for two days.
To reheat your waffle fries in the air fryer, place them in the basket at 350 F. It should take about 5 minutes for them to be fully warmed through.
Serving Suggestions
There are so many ways to enjoy Air Fryer Waffle Fries! You could literally have the fries with anything, but if you want some specific meal options, then check out this list!
MAINS
SAUCES
Sour cream
Dill dip
Various cream cheese dips, such as jalapeño, onion, smoked salmon
I don’t Have an Air FrYer! Can I use my Oven?
Of course! Follow the steps outlined for my Crispy Oven-Baked French Fries or Restaurant-Style Deep Fried Fries recipes for the air fryer-free method of your choice!
MORE FRENCH FRY RECIPES!
Watch how to make Air Fryer Waffle Fries From Scratch here:
Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cookingwithanadi. Thank you!
Homemade Air Fryer Waffle Fries From Scratch
Instructions
- Rinse and wash the potatoes well. You may peel the potato or keep the skin on.
- Place the potato lengthwise on a cutting board and using a crinkle cutter, slice 1 edge of the potato. Then rotate the potato 90 degrees and make another cut with the crinkle cutter to create a cross hatch waffle pattern. Repeat the same for the remaining potatoes.
- Add the cut potatoes in a large bowl and fill with cold water and soak for about 25 minutes (see tip for a shortcut). In the meanwhile, set a large pot of water to boil.
- Add soaked potatoes to the boiling water and boil for 3-5 minutes, or until the potatoes are partly cooked but still firm. Add only enough potatoes that will comfortably fit in your air fryer basket in a single layer.
- Drain the potatoes onto paper towel and gently pat dry. Then, transfer them to a large bowl and coat with olive oil. Gently toss the potatoes in the oil and arrange in a single layer in the air fryer basket.
- Set Air Fryer to Air Fry mode at 400F and cook for 15 minutes.
- If making multiple batches, transfer the fries from the air fryer basket to a bowl/baking sheet and repeat steps 2-4 for the remaining potatoes.
- Once all the fries are crispy, you can toss all the fries in a single basket to refresh the fries at 375F-390F for 3-5 minutes. Voila!
- Season with salt to taste and toss well. Enjoy your fries!
Nutrition Facts
Calories
519.01Fat (grams)
11Sat. Fat (grams)
1.59Carbs (grams)
96.69Fiber (grams)
12.18Net carbs
84.52Sugar (grams)
4.32Protein (grams)
11.18Sodium (milligrams)
130.31Cholesterol (grams)
0Nutrition info is an estimate.
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Welcome to Cooking With Anadi. This platform is all about making cooking exciting and finding new ways to bring classic flavours and recipes at your service. Join me in my personal journey in the world of cooking. Hope you have a great ride!
