Air Fryer Potato Skins

These Air Fryer Potato Skins are fast and easy to make! Serve them up with your favorite fillings as a snack, appetizer, or game day appetizer recipe!

Why You Will Love This Recipe

I figured out a way to make delicious potato skins at home a few year ago and boy, have I been enjoying that!

Potato skins are one of my favorite things to make for game day and are a perfect appetizer, especially for holidays. Cheesy potato skins are one of the favorite foods required for football season in this house!

Air fryer potato skins are a delicious and crispy appetizer, side dish, or snack that takes the classic baked potato skins to a new level with the use of an air fryer.

This method allows you to achieve a crispy texture without deep-frying, making them a healthier alternative.

Fill up the crispy air fryer potato skins with any of your favorite fillings. One of my favorite toppings is our Bacon Bourbon Blue Cheese Potato Skins. Check our our vast collection of fun potato skin recipes!

Or keep it classic and follow the last few steps in the recipe below.

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you will need for a classic potato skin. Full quantities and details can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Russet Potatoes – Yukon gold or red potatoes can work but russets are the classics

Vegetable Oil – I have found that vegetable oil works much better at crisping up than olive oil does. You can use an oil spray for minimal oil and ease, or brush on oil

Salt

Black Pepper

Toppings as Desired – we have many toppings and filling ideas below in this post. But if you want to make a classic potato skin, this is what you need:

• Sour Cream
• Green Onions or Chives
• Cheddar Cheese
• Bacon – cooked and crumbled bacon or bacon bits work great

Shaping the Potato Skins

When I made my popular baked Potato Skin Shells, I tested out numerous ways to make the potato skins.

This included scooping out the potato flesh middles both before and after cooking.

I found that the best way to make potato skins had the insides scooped out before cooking and held a better texture.

The trick to this is using a melon baller to quickly and easily scoop out the middles.

I have tried a grapefruit spoon, and it works, but it is much more difficult.

The melon baller is perfect because it has a sharper edge, is small, and rounded for easy scooping.

I am not a fan of one-purpose kitchen gadgets. This one is worth the space and very versatile.

Instruction Overview

Full instructions for the air fryer potato skins recipe are in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

First cut russet potatoes in half and scoop out the potato flesh middles leaving an edge intact.

If making a lot, you can put the potatoes in a bowl or pot of water to prevent them from oxidizing and browning.

Avoid food waste by making the scooped out insides into a small batch of mashed potatoes!

Remove the potatoes from the water and shake off. Place them skin side up in the air fryer basket.

Lightly spray the skin of the potatoes with the oil spray. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Use as much or little salt and pepper as you like, keeping in mind the salt factor of whatever you are filling them with.

Flip each shell upside down so the skin side is now down.

Spray the potatoes on this side and again sprinkle with salt and pepper. Seasoning the skins is the best part and very important for flavor.

Put the basket in the air fryer in a single layer and cook on the air fry setting at 400F for approximately 8-10 minutes. They are done when you can prick them with a fork.

Remove the cooked potatoes from the air fryer and fill as desired. Air fry again for a few minutes as needed to heat, melt, or cook any fillings. Cooking time for this step will vary slightly based on what you are doing, typically around 3-5 minutes until cheese melts.

Leftover potato skins can be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated. To reheat, you can put them back in the air fryer for just a couple minutes to warm and crisp up again.

To Use Oil or Not

I personally like to use oil because it helps give the potato skins that classic, crispy crust. It uses much less oil than a traditional fry.

For the air fryer, I use a non-stick oil spray to get a very light coating. Because the potato skins are coated with the oil, there is no need to spray the air fryer basket.

Want to skip the oil? You absolutely can!

The potato skins should still crisp up, it just might not be quite as crisp and not quite as browned.

But you will definitely still get a crisp texture unlike a traditional oven.

Picking an Air Fryer

There are a lot of air fryer options out there. Many air fryers are designed as single-use appliances, as in they air fry and not much else.

If you are looking at purchasing an air fryer, you want to consider how you will likely be using it.

Not only does the batch size vary with how large the air fryer is, but some have small and deep baskets while other have shallow and wide frying baskets.

I prefer and recommend something that has a wide and shallow basket because you can fit more in it without the food overlapping on itself, which especially matters sometimes as with these Air Fryer Potato Skins.

I have the Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven which is wonderful because it also bakes, toasts, and more all in one appliance. With the shallow and wide basket.

And it works FAST which means chicken nuggets for the kiddos are ready in a flash!

Potato Skin Fillings

After you make the shells of your Air Fryer Potato Skins, the filling possibilities are endless!

Over the years on this blog, I have had a lot of fun making unique and delicious potato skin recipes.

Most potato skin fillings you find will be for a traditional oven, but you can easily just finish them off in the air fryer as well.

Simply make and assemble the fillings for the crispy skins as the recipe says. See just below for some of our potato skin filling ideas!

When time to bake, pop the potato skins back in the air fryer at 350F for about 5 minutes or so, depending on if you need something to cook or melt.

Just keep an eye on them and when the melting/cooking has happened, you are all set!

Want to keep it classic with cheddar cheese, bacon crumbles, sour cream, and chives?

I have included a few steps at the end of the recipe card for how to do this.

FAQs

More Potato Skin Recipes