Air Fryer, Extra Crispy Potatoes

2020 is filled with many not-so positives, but a major positive for us? Elide perfecting a crispy potato recipe.

We love these potatoes. We reserve them for weekend dinners, and they are so crispy and crunchy, you’d have no idea they were made in an air fryer and not fried. Before we continue, if you’re interested in making these potatoes but don’t have an air fryer – no worries – an oven will work just fine. We’ll include oven instructions in the post as well. (But also you should get an air fryer, we love ours!)

We pair these potatoes with a garlic aioli that we highly recommend. It is barely pictured below, but know that it is there every time :).

Without further ado, the recipe!

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp of baking soda
• 2-4 lbs of  Yukon gold potatoes, cut into quarters, sixths depending on size (no peeling necessary unless you don’t like potato skin)
• 3 tbsps of oil of your choosing
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• kosher salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Heat a large pot of water (about 2 quarts) until boiling. Once boiling, add about 2 tablespoons of salt – this ensures the potatoes are salty on the inside and outside. Add baking soda and potatoes and return to boil, uncovered. Cook for about 10-12 minutes until a knife can be inserted into a potato with only slight resistance. 
   
2. Drain potatoes and return them to the hot empty pot where you boiled them with the heat off. add oil, garlic powder, onion powder, and a couple of pinches of salt (if you have coarse salt, that’s even better!). Mix well. Some of the potatoes will break apart a bit – THAT IS OK! By breaking a part a bit, that will help create crispy uneven bits all over the potatoes. See the photo below for what this will look like.

3. Here is where you pick your air fryer or oven – same instructions for both. Either add your potatoes to the basket or add them to a baking sheet. Set the temperature to 375°, and put the potatoes in. Shake/stir every 5-10 minutes for about 30-40 minutes total. As the air fryer circulates heat a bit faster, if you think they’re done – take ’em out!
   
4. Transfer to bowl and dig in!
   
   Elide Fact: You add baking soda to the water because baking soda breaks down the potato’s pectin and draws the starch to the surface, which contributes to browning and crispness!

Garlic Aioli recipe

Not a requirement to include, but STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to serve on the side! Give it a try!

Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of your favorite mayo (we like using kewpie mayo!)
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced (Elide uses a microplane, but finely chopping works as well)
• 1 lemon, juiced

Instructions:

1. Take your lemon juice and your minced garlic, and combine into small dish. Let sit for 10 minutes.
   
2. Strain the mixture so that you have garlic flavored lemon juice (it sounds weird, but it works)
   
3. Add 1/2 of lemon juice mixture to mayo. Mix until combined, and taste. If you want the aioli to have a stronger lemon taste, add more of the lemon juice mixture.
   
   The longer you let the mixture sit, the better, but it is ready to eat immediately! It stores in the fridge for ~ 1 week. It is delicious on potatoes, fries, fish tacos, etc.

Enjoy!!