Air Fryer Waffle Fries (from Frozen)

The first item I tried in my new air fryer was frozen French fries. Which I love. I figured I might as well try a few other variations, so I went with air fryer frozen waffle fries. Because all forms of almost-fried potatoes are favorites in this house!

• Ingredients needed
• Frozen waffle fries
• Cooking spray

Pretty easy, right?

Disclosure: I have omitted the cooking spray more than once and had no issues with my fries. In theory, without the spray they will stick to the basket. This is probably variable depending upon the type and brand of fries you buy, so use the spray the first time and then, if you’re feeling brave, experiment without it another time.

What is a waffle fry?

A waffle fry is simply a variant of a French fry. Waffle fries are lattice shaped, obtained by quarter-turning the potato before each next slide over a grater. This lattice shaped potato is then typically deep fried.

How the air fryer works

I have an Instant Pot and my air fryer is a lid that goes right on it. What a relief – I did not need another whole appliance! The lid does take up a fair amount of room, but at least it’s not as big as most of the other choices out there.

The lid is basically an intense heating element. The default temperature for air frying is 400F. It also circulates air while cooking the food. This results in some differences between the cooking methods:

• Speed to preheat: the air fryer takes less than 5 minutes (exactly 3.5 when I timed it) to come up to temperature. I’m sure it helps that it is only heating a very small area within the Instant Pot’s stainless steel inner pot. This is compared to the 15-20 minutes it takes my full-sized oven to preheat to 400F.
• Speed to cook: Long ago I adopted the habit of cooking frozen fries (all shapes) for about double the time suggested on the package. Whenever I followed the package instructions, they were too soft and mushy for us. I like a little crisp to my fries! This means I end up baking the fries for 45-60 minutes. In the air fryer, this time is much shorter! I usually go for 18 minutes, but it does vary a little by type (see below)
• Flipping the fries: when using the oven, you need to remove the baking sheet about halfway thru the cook time and flip the fries with a spatula. The Instant Pot air fryer lid beeps at you when it’s time to do this. And the fries are in a basket, not in an even layer. I have found it easiest to simply lift the basket and give the fries a good shakey-shake to mix them up a little. This helps promote even heating, and it’s a lot faster and simpler than turning with a spatula.
• Texture of the fries: well, this is what it’s all about, right? Especially with waffle fries – they have all those extra edges, and every edge needs to get a little crispy! In the oven, I get a few burnt fries and a few that are a little soft but am trying for most of them being crisp on the outside and tender inside. This happens more evenly and near-perfectly with the air fryer.