If you love chips and have an air fryer, then you will love our homemade air fryer chips. Cooked with salt and vinegar and little extra virgin olive oil they are spot on every single time.
Perfected from 10 years of air frying, these chips are simple, require no soaking and work well with many air fryer brands.
Did You Know? This chips recipe is so so popular with our air fryer readers that it features in our popular air fryer cookbook The Complete Air Fryer Cookbook. Perfect for beginners with 140+ everyday recipes and how to knowledge. You can get a copy here and read the amazing reviews.
Chips In Air Fryer
Yesterday on Recipe This we shared with you how to cook frozen McCain oven chips in the air fryer.
They are the best frozen chips you could ever made in the air fryer because they are lower in calories, have a chunky texture and are perfected over a number of years.
But what about if you want to go homemade? And make your own chips in the air fryer?
Well, that is what today is all about.
Our homemade chips in the air fryer took several years to get spot on. They were good, but we wanted them amazing.
We also wanted to use just the right amount of extra virgin olive oil.
We also wanted a crisp on them.
We also wanted to make our homemade chips like the sort you would buy from the chippy, just with less calories.
What started off as our 2nd ever air fryer recipe that we made ourselves over 10 years ago, is now what we cook the most in the air fryer.
They are perfect for a last minute dinner (think cheesy chips) and also for serving on the side of your dinner plate.
Plus, zero guilt thanks to the lower calories that the air fryer brings you.
If you have just bought an air fryer or are looking at an air fryer that produces the best chips, then you will LOVE our chips in the air fryer.
Are You New To The Air Fryer?
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Can You Cook Chips In An Air Fryer?
Yes, you can, and that was the whole reason why an air fryer was invented. When the Philips Air Fryer was introduced, it was all about the chips.
That you could make chips for a fraction of the calories compared to deep frying and that they would taste just as good.
Of course, the air fryer has got better and better in the last 12 years and they are now used for all kinds of cooking such as air fryer baked potatoes and air fryer whole chickens, but its purpose was chips.
Do Air Fryers Make Good Chips?
Yes, they sure do! OMG air fryer chips are truly amazing. But its all about following a great recipe and getting your temperature and cook times spot on.
The chips we made in 2012, are nowhere near as good as the chips we make in 2022. Its all about following the best method and this will then create the best air fryer chips.
Best Air Fryer For Homemade Chips?
If your main purpose is to make chips with your air fryer, then you MUST buy a basket style air fryer or the Ninja Foodi which is like a basket inside of a pressure cooker.
I have made air fryer oven chips using the Power Air Fryer Oven and was so disappointed compared to my Philips Air Fryer XL.
Today’s recipe for air fried chips is made using my Cosori air fryer, and its like a cheaper version of the Philips XL.
Best Way To Cook Homemade Chips In Air Fryer?
If you want the best homemade chips in the air fryer, then you must prep them in a bowl first before air frying.
What this does, is allows the seasoning and the oil to be local to the chips and not just leaving the chips and ending up in the bottom of the air fryer basket.
This also gives your chips a fantastic all round coating, rather than just some of the chips been flavoured.
Though it only takes a minute or two to do and makes a big difference.
This is the bowl we use the most for our air fried chips:
Do I Need To Par Boil Chips Before Air Frying?
No, you don’t! There is no need to par boil your chips, just like you would never par boil your chips if you were deep frying.
What we do instead though, is partly cook the chips at a lower temperature so that you can have fluffy chips in the middle and a crispy chip shop style coating.
Do I Need To Soak Chips Before Air Frying?
No need to soak your chips before air frying, though note many people do. Soaking of your chips will strip it of the excess starch. So, if you are using chips that are very starchy or dry out of season potatoes, then it can improve the taste.
But whenever I do air fried chips with in season potatoes they taste amazing without a pre-soak.
Why Are My Chips Soggy In Air Fryer?
The BIGGEST reason for chips that are cooked in the air fryer been soggy, is that they are cooked in too much oil, or you have soaked them and not dried them first.
There is the temptation to just drizzle the top of your chips with oil in the air fryer basket and what this does, is add too much oil to the chips making soggy chips.
Chips Air Fryer Ingredients
Potatoes – I recommend any white potatoes for making your air fryer chips with. You can even follow our air fryer sweet potato fries recipe for a sweet version.
Oil – I have tried a LOT of different oils in the air fryer and have found that the best oil to use is extra virgin olive oil. You don’t need much to make perfect homemade chips.
Extras – This is air fryer chips UK so I am sure you are not surprised that we have used salt and vinegar. Making it perfect for that fish and chip shop style taste.
Then for the kitchen gadgets that we have used in this air fryer chips recipe it has just been our Cosori Air Fryer. We have this one and its wonderful for many types of air fryer recipes.
Plus, we recommend you head over to our air fryer recipes category as we have more than 500 tried and tested air fryer recipes and have been air frying for 10 years.
How To Cook Chips In An Air Fryer?
- Prep. Peel and slice potatoes into chips. Load into a mixing bowl with salt, vinegar and extra virgin olive oil and mix well in the bowl with your hands.
- Cook. Load your homemade chips into the air fryer basket and cook for 15 minutes at 160c/320f.
- Shake. Then shake your chips in the air fryer basket and cook for a further 5 minutes at 180c/360f.
- Shake. Then shake the chips again, spray with extra virgin olive oil and cook for a final 5 minutes at 200c/400f.
- Serve. Then serve with your favourite sauce and enjoy!
And I am sure you can see now how easy it is to cook homemade chips in the air fryer and why you should be doing it too!
Shaking Your Air Fryer Chips
The shaking of the air fryer basket is fantastic for making sure your chips are not stuck together or stuck to the bottom of the air fryer basket.
It also helps you get an even crisp on all your chips rather than just one or two.
Some air fryer chips recipes, will tell you to shake your chips every 3rd minute and this is bad advice. Who wants to stand over their chips and shake them that much?
Instead, we recommend shaking your chips twice, just as you alter the temperature.
Ninja Foodi Chips
If you have a Ninja Foodi, then cooking chips in the Ninja Foodi is almost the same. The only main difference, is that the Ninja Foodi is slightly slower in its cook times. If you have a Ninja I recommend you follow this Ninja Foodi French fries recipe instead.
How Long To Cook Chips In Air Fryer
This air fryer chips recipe takes JUST 25 minutes. Though note, this is for enough chips to serve 4 of us for dinner.
Also note, we are not jumping in with a high temperature straight away, as we want chips that are fluffy in the centre.
Listen To Air Fryer Chips
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Air Fryer Chips Tips & Tricks
- If you love your chips with cheese, do check out our air fryer cheesy chips recipe.
- Shaking your chips is essential for creating a perfect crisp on your chips and to stop them from sticking together. Please don’t skip this step.
- No need to par boil or soak your potatoes before making air fried chips.
- Prep your chips in a bowl with some seasoning and oil and mix with your hands. Produces the best tasting chips ever.
- If you have leftovers, leave in the bowl in the fridge with water covering them. They will then be perfect for the next day as many of us prep too many chips.
Top Air Fryer Trick – Air fry the chips at three difference temperatures. It makes sure that the chips are fluffy in the centre, whilst crispy on the outside with very little oil.
More Air Fryer Chips
- Air Fryer Five Guys Fries
- Air Fryer Frozen Chips
- Air Fryer Frozen Steak Fries
- Air Fryer Smiley Fries
- Air Fryer Pizza Chips
Your homemade chips in air fryer recipe is below, note you can print it out with or without photos, adjust servings, or click between metric and imperial depending on where you are in the world.
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Air Fryer Chips
Ingredients
- 6 Medium White Potatoes
- ½ Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Tbsp Malt Vinegar
- Salt & Pepper
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil Spray
Kitchen Gadgets
Instructions
- Peel and slice your potatoes and load into a mixing bowl.
- Add to the bowl salt, pepper, vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil and then mix with your hands until the potatoes are well coated.
- Place the chips into the air fryer basket and cook for 15 minutes at 160c/320f.
- Then shake the chips and air fry for 5 minutes at 180c/360f. Then do a fork test and make sure they are fork tender.
- Shake the air fryer again, spray the chips with extra virgin olive oil and air fry for a final 5 minutes at 200c/400f.
- Then serve with your favourite sauce or like at the chippy with more salt and vinegar.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Can’t make it now? Then save it for later!
Can you do first 2 stages in advance, cook steak and fo 3rd stage while steak resting?
Hi Jenny,
Yes should be fine as long as your steak cooks and rests about the same time as it takes for the chips to cook 🙂
Terrific! I made them with your pork steak recipe, which was also really good. I only used one potato and didn’t peel it. I used apple cider vinegar since I didn’t have malt vinegar and seasoned them with a local favorite, Possum Seasoning.
These were amazing, not dry like some other ones, i made loads of them and everybody was asking how to make them, so i mentioned your recipe and now they are wanting to try an air fryer, thank you.