Perfectly Crispy Skin And They’re Super Fluffy Inside
Why should you make air fryer baked potatoes? Let me count the ways! It’s easy to achieve potato perfection in record time while keeping the kitchen cool! Who wants to heat up the kitchen for a few baked potatoes in July?
I’ve been married for over fifty years to a guy whose motto is, “I never met a potato I didn’t like.” I may hold the land speed record for peeling potatoes and have dozens of ways to make them, but until now, I hadn’t made air fryer baked potatoes! Wow! What a discovery!
You can make baked potatoes fast in the microwave oven, but they have sad soggy skins. A true baked potato aficionado knows that the crispy, shiny skin with a little salt is the pinnacle of potato perfection and an air fryer provides a super fast way to get it!! Air fryer baked potatoes are “spud-tacular!”
Here’s why. The air fryer creates a magical tornado of hot air that crisps up the potato skin to absolute perfection. They come out with a golden, crispy exterior and a fluffy, cloud-like interior. Say goodbye to soggy spuds and hello to a crispy delight that will make your taste buds do a happy dance.
How To Make Air Fryer Baked Potatoes
Russet potatoes, especially from Idaho, make fantastic air fryer baked potatoes. The warm Idaho days, cool nights, and volcanic soil give them fantastic terroir. Their low moisture content makes them ideal for baking.
If you’re mashing, dicing, or frying potatoes, their appearance and size don’t matter much. When baking potatoes, however, choose uniformly shaped and evenly-sized ones that have minimal blemishes. Six to eight-ounce taters are a great size for a side dish or base for the main dish.
It’s so simple! Scrub potatoes with a brush or a nylon scrubber then dry them well with a terry towel. This helps the olive oil stick to the skin. Drizzle the olive oil generously over the potatoes and using your hands, roll and rub as much of the oil on the skins as you can.
Sprinkle the skins with flaky sea salt or kosher salt and place them in the air fryer basket. If needed, sprinkle some additional salt on them.
Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees for about five minutes. Then place the potatoes into the air fryer basket and cook for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees.
Turn over the potatoes and cook for an extra ten to fifteen minutes depending on the size of the potato. The potatoes are done when they can be pierced easily with a cake tester or the tip of a knife.
Let them rest for a few minutes before splitting the skins and squeezing them to expose that glorious fluffy interior, then pile on the butter, sour cream, cheese, bacon, chives, or any combination your heart desires!
Be sure to make a few extra air fryer baked potatoes because there are so many things you can do with them! Here are just a few ideas for you in the art of what we call “planovers!”
I’ve found it’s really handy to have some baked potatoes on hand in the fridge for my husband and me. They keep well and reheat nicely in the microwave! Once you have a few extra potatoes, here are some other delicious things you can do with them:
Peel (or don’t peel) the baked potatoes and dice them into a skillet with butter, olive oil, or bacon drippings, and make wonderful country fries!
Peel and cube the baked potatoes and use them as a base for a potato salad. Add diced onions, celery, pickles, hard-boiled eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, and seasonings to taste.
Peel and shred the baked potatoes and form them into patties. Pan-fry the patties until golden brown on both sides. Serve them with ham and eggs as a delicious breakfast side dish.
Peel the baked potatoes and mash them with butter, milk, and your preferred seasonings until smooth and creamy. You can serve them as a side dish or use them as a topping for cottage pie or other casserole.
Reheat them in the microwave and stuff them with cheese, diced ham, leftover chili or taco meat, green onions, salsa, or sour cream! A great little main dish and a perfect way to use up leftover odds and ends that might otherwise go to waste!
At my house, we eat a lot of potatoes! Here are some of our favorite ways to fix them! Colcannon, Twelve Creative Delicious and Unique Ways To Serve Potatoes, Easy Hasselback Potatoes, and Hot German Potato Salad.
Printable Recipe:
Air Fryer Baked Potatoes
A quick and easy way to make perfect baked potatoes with golden crispy skin and a fluffy interior while keeping your kitchen cool.
Ingredients
- Four Russet potatoes about six to eight ounces in size
- Olive oil for rubbing on the skin
- Flaky sea salt or kosher salt to sprinkle on the potato skin
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees for five minutes.
- Scrub the potatoes thoroughly and then dry them well.
- Rub olive oil generously on the skins.
- Sprinkle with salt.
- Place potatoes in the air fryer basket leaving room in between them.
- Cook for 30 minutes, then flip, and cook for another 10 minutes or until the potatoes are easily pierced with a cake tester or knife tip.
- Allow the potatoes to rest for five minutes before splitting the skin and squeezing them to expose the fluffy interior.
- Top the potatoes any way you like!
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