How to cook the perfect roast potatoes in the air fryer
I’ve read so much about cooking with air fryers over the last couple of years and I’ve wanted to see what all the fuss was about for a while now. So, a couple of months ago, I bit the bullet and bought an air fryer of my own. There is a lot of choice when it comes to air fryers, but I opted for a dual basket air fryer so that I can cook two things at the same time.
How to cook the perfect roast potatoes in the air fryer
Roast potatoes can be a bit tricky to master, but I do make a mean roastie in the oven! However, it can be a bit of a faff and take a long time to cook the perfect roast potato in the oven, and it also means that at least one oven shelf is taken up for quite a while. I have to admit that I wasn’t too sure about using the air fryer to cook roast potatoes. I was worried that they wouldn’t crisp up properly on the outside or be soft enough on the inside. But, I’ve had a few attempts at cooking them and I have definitely cracked how to cook the perfect roast potatoes in the air fryer.
- Parboil the potatoes until slightly soft – test them by piercing with a sharp knife. They should be soft enough for the knife to go in easily but not so soft that they’re falling apart!
- Spray fry light oil into the air fryer basket and preheat the air fryer for 3 minutes at 180 degrees.
- Once the potatoes are parboiled, drain them and allow them to sit for a few minutes to dry off. Then give them a slight shake to fluff them up.
- Set the air fryer at 180 degrees for 30 minutes. Shake the potatoes halfway through the cooking time. In the images below I was cooking the potatoes in the left-hand basket.
And that’s it, the end result is the perfect roast potatoes in the air fryer. They’re perfect for Sunday lunches when you need the oven for a million and one other things, and also a great addition to any midweek meal when you’re pushed for time.
What are the benefits of using an air fryer?
There are tonnes of benefits to using an air fryer to cook your meals.
- A healthier way to cook food without using lots of cooking oil.
- A faster way to cook means you can have meals ready much quicker than in a conventional oven.
- Air fryers use less energy than ovens, so they can help you to save money on your energy bills.
- Dual basket air fryers are perfect for cooking two different food items at the same time – perfect when you’re cooking for the family. You can even set them to finish cooking at the same time even if they need different temperatures and different cooking times.
- Easy to clean. One of my absolute pet hates about cooking a roast dinner is the washing up afterwards! Air fryers are really easy to clean without too much effort at all.
What else can you cook in the air fryer?
As well as the perfect roast potatoes in the air fryer, there are all sorts of other meals you can cook quickly too. You can even use them to reheat leftovers from a Chinese takeaway. I’m still experimenting with ours, but I have cooked sausages in the air fryer and chicken too. I want to try cooking some vegetables in there soon too. I’ll keep you posted!
