Air Fryer Baked Potatoes Recipe
These quick and easy air fryer baked potatoes take about 35 minutes and have perfectly crispy skin on the outside while staying fluffy and tender on the inside. You can easily add them to any weeknight meal as a simple side, or load them up with your favorite toppings to make it a meal all on its own!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Russet Potatoes – Russets are well known as the go-to for baked potatoes. I’ve not tried any other type of potato, but feel free to experiment, though expect different cooking times and textures. I like to use medium potatoes of uniform size so that they all cook evenly.
- Olive Oil – Olive oil is my favorite for this baked potato recipe, but you can substitute with avocado oil, grapeseed oil, canola oil, or olive oil cooking spray. Any oil with a high smoke point will work for these potatoes.
- Kosher Salt – I love kosher salt for its flavor, but you can sprinkle with sea salt or even table salt, just make sure you season the potatoes well!
How to Make Air Fryer Baked Potatoes
Scrub potatoes thoroughly and dry them well. Poke holes all over the potatoes with a fork. Coat each potato in olive oil and sprinkle all over with Kosher salt.
Place in the air fryer basket or on the trays and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender on the inside and crisp on the outside.
Use tongs to remove potatoes from the air fryer and carefully slice them open. Season with salt and pepper, add your favorite toppings – like a pat of butter, sliced chives, cheddar cheese, and sour cream – and enjoy!
Why You Will Love This Air Fryer Baked Potatoes Recipe
- There are only three ingredients needed to make baked potatoes in the air fryer! Unless you want to upgrade them with extra toppings! These potatoes are the perfect quick and easy side dish for any weeknight dinner.
- The air fryer gives these baked potatoes the best texture. The skin is crispy and salty on the outside and the inside is perfectly fluffy and tender.
- If you loved this air fryer baked potato recipe, be sure to check out some of my other air fryer recipes like my Air Fryer Grilled Cheese, Air Fryer Green Beans, Air Fryer Potato Wedges, and Air Fryer Asparagus.
Baked Potato Toppings
The best part about baked potatoes in the air fryer – other than the super crispy potato skins – is that you can top them with anything you want. Here are some of our family’s favorites:
- crispy bacon bits
- shredded cheddar cheese
- sour cream
- sliced chives
- sliced green onions or scallions
- homemade smoked queso sauce
- crock pot cheese sauce
- three bean chili
- Pico de Gallo
- roasted broccoli
- diced ham
- pickled jalapenos
- grilled corn
Tips
- Don’t forget to poke holes in the potatoes! This is incredibly important as it releases built up steam inside the potato as it cooks. Not poking holes can result in exploding potatoes which is unfortunate and messy.
- Try to keep all the potatoes the same size so that they cook evenly. If you end up with different size potatoes, just test each of them and pull the smaller potatoes as soon as they’re fork tender and let the larger potatoes cook for longer.
- You’ll know the potatoes are fully baked when you can easily pierce them all the way to the middle with a fork.
- If you’d like to cook more than 4 potatoes, you’ll want to cook them in batches. Don’t overcrowd the air fryer as this will result in potatoes that don’t cook through in a timely fashion and the skin won’t get crisp on the outside.
FAQ
At 400 degrees, potatoes typically take roughly 30 minutes but test the potato with a fork to see if it’s tender and add more time if it’s not quite done.
Potatoes should be cooked at 400 degrees in the air fryer for best results and shortest cooking times.
While it’s not strictly necessary, there is always the risk of them exploding while baking, so it’s safest to poke holes.
Yes! The air fryer is one of the easiest ways to bake a potato! With the air fryer you’ll get a perfectly cooked baked potato – crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. I love that you don’t have to heat up the oven and how quickly you can cook a potato in the air fryer.
I don’t classify foods as healthy or unhealthy but one of the perks of using an air fryer is that it gives you crispy, perfectly cooked foods without the use of excess oil.
The air fryer is a compact, counter top kitchen appliance that uses convection heat to cook the food. While the oven is a large kitchen appliance that uses a heating element on the top and bottom to heat the air in the oven which bakes the food. Air fryers typically cook food more quickly than an air fryer making them a great short cut for easy weeknight dinners!
Make-Ahead, Storage, and Reheating
- Make-Ahead: These air fryer baked potatoes are best served warm and fresh from the air fryer. However, you can always make them a day or so ahead and reheat.
- Storage: Store baked potatoes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Reheating: Reheat the baked potatoes either in the air fryer or in the oven at 350 degrees until warmed through. You can also zap them in the microwave in 30-60 second increments until warmed through.
Best Baked Potato Recipes
- Air Fryer Potato Wedges
- Herb Roasted Baby Potatoes
- Instant Pot Baked Potatoes
- Broccoli Cheese Twice Baked Potatoes
- Crispy Potato Wedges
- Crispy Roasted Potato Tacos
Easy Family Dinner Recipes
Did you love this recipe?
Please leave a 5-star rating and review below!
Air Fryer Baked Potatoes
These quick and easy air fryer baked potatoes take about 35 minutes and have perfectly crispy skin on the outside while staying fluffy and tender on the inside. You can easily add them to any weeknight meal as a simple side, or load them up with your favorite toppings to make it a meal all on its own!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 baked potatoes 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Air Fryer
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 4 Russet potatoes
- olive oil
- Kosher salt
Instructions
- Set the air fryer to 400 degrees.
- Wash and dry potatoes thoroughly.
- Poke holes all over with a fork.
- Coat each potato in olive oil and sprinkle all over with Kosher salt.
- Place on the air fryer trays and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender on the inside and crisp on the outside.
- Carefully slice open, add your favorite toppings, and enjoy!
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
- Don’t forget to poke holes in the potatoes! This is incredibly important as it releases built up steam inside the potato as it cooks. Not poking holes can result in exploding potatoes which is unfortunate and messy.
- Try to keep all the potatoes the same size so that they cook evenly. If you end up with different size potatoes, just test each of them and pull the smaller potatoes as soon as they’re fork tender and let the larger potatoes cook for longer.
- You’ll know the potatoes are fully baked when you can easily pierce them all the way to the middle with a fork.
- If you’d like to cook more than 4 potatoes, you’ll want to cook them in batches. If you overcrowd the air fryer, the potatoes won’t cook through in a timely fashion and the skin won’t get crisp on the outside.
Only way I bake potatoes now!!
My go to now for baked potatoes!
Isn’t it so easy?!?! No need to heat up the whole oven and they come out crispy on the outside and tender on the inside!
Are you saying use the air fryer button or the baking button? I have so many buttons on mine.
I like to use the air fryer function on mine for these potatoes! Perfectly crisp on the outside and tender on the inside 🙂
I have a toaster oven that says it can be an air fryer. Um, it says air fry on the dial. Would this recipe work in a toaster oven/air fryer? Honestly, I don’t take it seriously as an “air fryer” but thought I would ask. I did not purchase it for the air fry capability. I purchased it cuz it fit the space. I am unsure. Thanks!
I would give it a try! My air fryer is one of those that has multiple functions and the air fry option works great. You may need to adjust the cooking time slightly depending on the brand of air fryer but you’ll know their done when they are fork tender. Great question!