A recipe for crispy, crunchy seasoned curly french fries made with fresh large potatoes in an air fryer and dashed with spicy Cajun seasoning. An excellent side dish or late night snack.
So I got myself and air fryer fairly recently and just haven't had much of an opportunity to use it lately. I'm in the middle of writing another cookbook, this one on "Easy Spicy Dinner Recipes" (up my alley, right?), so I've been focusing on that as much as possible. I was going to make us a couple smashburgers - Check out this recipe for Smashburgers with Charred Serrano-Blue Cheese Butter - and thought, man, I could REALLY go for some french fries with this.
I'm talking Cajun Curly French Fries. So yeah, time to bust out the air fryer! Yes!
I don't fry many foods, and the advantage of an air fryer is that you use MUCH less oil. In fact, instead of needing several cups of oil, I only needed 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the air fryer.
It's not that I am opposed to frying. I just didn't want to use that much oil for a small side dish, and truly, I wanted to test it out.
It works quite well! At least with french fries.
I'll have to give it a go with some other recipes and let you know how it works for those, but for these curly french fries I made, heck yeah.
The only criticism - which isn't a criticism, really - is that it will take you longer to make french fries in the air fryer than with traditional frying. Frying only takes a few minutes, though with the air fryer, you'll need at least 10 minutes, more like 15 to achieve a good level of crispiness. Not a big deal to me, as I get that set up while I'm making my burgers, but yep, just letting you know.
How to Make Homemade Air Fryer Cajun Curly French Fries - the Recipe Method
The process is simple enough. Get yourself a couple of large baking potatoes. I used a spiralizer to make curly fries, but you can just slice them into french fry size if you'd like. I recommend getting a spiralizer, as it makes the process super easy.
I'll link out to a good spiralizer and air fryer below so you can take a look at my recommendations.
Soak the potatoes in water for 30 minutes, then drain, dry, and toss them with your oil and seasonings. I call for a couple tablespoons of Cajun seasonings, but you can add more if you'd like. Potatoes can REALLY absorb the seasoning, that's for sure!
Try my Homemade Cajun Seasoning blend for this. It's SO GOOD.
Pop them into your air fryer and cook them for 10-15 minutes, tossing them here and there, until they are just to the level of crispiness you like. When they're done, hit them maybe with another blast of salt and BOOM! You are good to go. Serve them up with a side of smashburger.
Enjoy! Let me know how this recipe turns out for you.
Here's a link (affiliate link!) to a good air fryer at Amazon: BLACK+DECKER 2-Liter Air Fryer
, and here is a link to a good spiralizer as well: Spiralizer 5-Blade Vegetable Slicer
Serve these up with this awesome Jacked Up Fry Sauce Recipe.
Try Some of My Other Popular Recipes
- Air Fryer Chicken Wings
- Air Fryer Jalapeno Poppers
- Baked Cajun Fries
- Carne Asada Fries
- Jacked Up Fry Sauce
- Ranchero Sauce (great for dipping!)
- Chipotle Sauce
Homemade Air Fryer Cajun Curly French Fries Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 large baking potatoes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning blend
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Use your spiralizer to spiralizer the potatoes according to directions. You should have a curly fry blade for this.
- Soak the potatoes in water for 30 minutes.
- Drain the water and dry off the potatoes. Toss them with oil and your seasonings. These potatoes can absorb a lot of seasoning, so don’t be afraid to season liberally.
- Preheat your air fryer to 390 degrees F and add half of the potatoes to the basket. Cook for 10-15 minutes total, stirring the basket a few times during cooking, until they are to your preferred crispness.
- Remove and do the same for the remaining potatoes.
- Enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Tino Nguyen says
Hi Mike,
Love your recipe.
My daughter really like this food, sure I will follow this french fries and try to do for my child's
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Tino!
Nicole says
My sister has an air fryer, she would always make me some Curly French Fries because I liked that as a kid really much. I don't know something about the curves made it interesting for me to eat them. I tried to do them in the oven following this recipe. They are good, but my sisters are better. Less oil less grease.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Nicole. Agreed on the less oil, less grease!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Felicia, you can set them onto paper towels to drain a bit if you need to. 200 degrees F in the oven would be fine, too.
Mat says
I got an air fryer recently but struggling to crisp the fries decently. Cooked ends, soggy middle. Does the potato type make a difference?
REPLY: Mat, it's definitely something to play with. I kept tossing my fries and they came out quite crispy. It's possible thickness plays a role, as does the amount of oil, etc. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Tracy says
I keep telling myself I don't need an air fryer. I hardly ever fry anything because I hate the mess and the worst part for me is the smell in the house afterwards. Does the air fryer do that? Love the idea of using a tablespoon of oil....and it would mean I could have fries at home??!! Yikes Ü
REPLY: Tracy, correct, there is no "fry oil" smell, and you only need a tablespoon of oil to coat the fries. The air fryer works by moving hot air around, sort of like a convection oven. Definitely not as oily as regular fried fries. Still pretty crispy. You WILL notice the lack oil. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.
Leo says
Half an hour to cook a small batch of fries? They look great but take way too long.
REPLY: Leo, that is soaking time. Cooking time is 10-15. -- Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.