Find yourself Googling, “Best Air Fryer Potato Skins?”
Our Air Fryer Potato Skins recipe is one of our favourite quick & easy homemade snacks to bake when a craving for carbs, cheese and bacon hits!
Our simple Air Fryer recipe takes less than 1 hour to prepare and cook. It features common pantry ingredients like potatoes, bacon, paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, shredded cheese and chives.
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What Are Potato Skins?
Potato skins, also referred to as potato jackets, are a snack food or appetizer made of unpeeled potato halves, hollowed and dressed with bacon, cheddar cheese and green onions before being baked again.
The twice baked potato snacks are commonly found on the menus of pubs and casual family restaurants in the United States and Canada.
As an appetizer in restaurants, potato skins have been around since the 1970s. They’ve been documented by local culinary historians on menus as early as 1974. Many restaurants such as TGI Fridays have claimed to be one of the first restaurants to serve potato skins.
While popularly enjoyed at local restaurants and and sports bars, these addictive cheesy snacks are also commonly made at home using common pantry ingredients.
My Family Loves Potato Skins
My family is obsessed with potato skins.
My sister ordered the popular appetizer all the time when she was little. Her love for the classic pub grub was no surprise as she has always been the resident mashed potato lover.
We’d often share a platter of crisp potato skins at the table as an appetizer while my dad enjoyed a few glugs of craft beer.
Classic Potato Skins in the 90s were often topped with mozzarella or cheddar cheese, crumbled smoky bacon, scallions or chives and spices.
Some fine dining restaurants took the dish to the next level by adding or substituting gourmet ingredients like gruyere cheese, blue cheese, fried chorizo and shaved black truffle.
Now that we’ve upgraded our kitchen with the trendiest new gadget we love making cheesy Potato Skins in an air fryer.
Cooking Potato Skins in an Air Fryer is a modern day marvel for home cooks who have a penchant for snacking on pub food at home. Air Fryers cook food much quicker and help ensure cheesy potato skins are both crispy and delicious!
Best Air Fryers
An air fryer is a small countertop convection oven designed to simulate deep frying without submerging the food in oil. A fan circulates hot air at high speed, producing a crisp layer via browning reactions.
In 2010, Philips introduced the Airfryer brand of convection oven at a consumer electronics fair in Berlin. It used the patented Rapid Air technology, though the term air fryer is now used generically.
Early air fryers were barrel-shaped, though more recently, many have come to resemble toaster ovens and pressure cookers, offering additional functions like toasting, baking, dehydrating and rotisserie.
A decade after their launch, Air Fryers are now one of the trendiest kitchen appliance. They are particularly popular with gourmands living in condos or apartments in big cities like Toronto as they reduce the number of appliances taking up space in your kitchen.
- Hamilton Beach: I tested this recipe with a Hamilton Beach toaster oven-style air fryer. They are an excellent option for those looking for an affordable air fryer and I particularly like mine as it allowed me to replace my toaster, dehydrator and rotisserie. It’s also easier to spread food out and make it crispy by using a baking tray rather than a basket.
- Instant Vortex: This popular air fryer is brought to you by the inventors of the popular Instant Pot. It’s 6 quart capacity features an easy to clean tray that air frys, roasts and bakes.
- COSORI: This 5.8 quart air fryer is an 11-in-1 cooker featuring a nonstick basket and helpful shake reminder setting.
- Ninja: This premium brand is the perfect option for those looking to invest in a heavy duty stainless steel air fryer. The product has been designed to look similar to an Instant Pot, with the top of the air fryer flipping backwards so you can easily lower a basket filled with food.
- NuWave: This sleek digital air fryer features a traditional removable basket and reaches temperatures up to 390 F.
How To Make Air Fryer Potato Skins
Our homemade recipe is so easy to make you’ll have it ready to serve in under 1 hour!
There are two methods to making potato skins in an air fryer, which depend on the style of air fryer you are using.
- Traditional Basket: air fryers with a removable basket are still the most common. In order to make Air Fryer potato skins in these machines, simply dress each potato slice and gently lower them into the basket. Ensure the potato skins aren’t crowded and don’t touch. This will ensure they get crispy not soggy.
- Toaster Oven Tray: modern air fryers featuring a glass door and tray configuration make it easy to prepare cheesy potato skins at home. Simply place the potato slices on the tray and watch the cheese melt through the glass door.
Potato Skins Air Fryer Cooking Tips
- We suggest using Russet potatoes as they perform the best when baking thanks to the sturdy skin.
- We fried bacon then crumbled it with our hands but you could also use bacon slices or substitue with fried chorizo or kielbasa.
- Make vegetarian Air Fryer Potato Skins by omitting the bacon.
- We’ve used a mixture of mozzarella and parmesan cheese in our recipe. Other popular cheeses that melt well when baked in an air fryer include cheddar, gruyere, provolone and asiago.
- We prefer to use mozzarella for crispy air fryer potato skins as it melts well and is so stringy. You can use factory made bricks of mozzarella and shred them at home or get all fancy and slice fresh mozzarellas like bocconcini, fior di latte or burrata.
- Place the dressed slices in one flat layer without any overlap or touching, otherwise you’ll end up with unevenly cooked potato skins.
What To Serve With Air Fryer Potato Skins
Potato Skins cooked in an Air Fryer can be enjoyed as a snack on their own or as a hearty lunch with a healthy side salad.
Air Fryer Potato Skins are a popular game day snack during the Superbowl. If you’re hosting movie or game night serve them alongside a buffet featuring Roast Beef, Mexican Queso, Cheesy Vegetarian Antojitos, Baked Chicken Cracklings, Nuts & Bolts, Keto Jalapeno Poppers, Guasacaca Venezuelan Guacamole, Keto Spinach Dip, Vegan Melitzanosalata Greek Eggplant or Marshmallow Fluff Fruit Dip.
For a healthy meal we suggest serving Potato Skins with fresh salads like Roasted Pumpkin Feta Salad, Roasted Beetroot Salad, Warm Orzo Lemon Salad, Canadian Salad, Garlic Lemon Chickpea Avocado Salad, Cherry Pecan Kale Salad or Fennel, Apple, Celery and Roasted Hazelnut Salad.
After dinner why not dazzle your guests with one of our popular desserts such as Oat Flour Cookies with Chocolate Chips, Dark Chocolate Lindt Lindor Cookies, Maraschino Cherry Cupcakes Recipe, Cinnamon Babka For Chocolate Lovers, Rhubarb Strawberry Dutch Baby, Jordgubbstårta Swedish Strawberry Cake and Chocolate Chip Caramel Banana Nut Ice Cream.
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Best Homemade Air Fryer Potato Skins Recipe
Air Fryer Potato Skins
Ingredients
- 3 6 oz Russet Potatoes
- 1/2 tsp Cooking Spray
- 3 Bacon Strips or Crumbled Bacon
- 3/4 tsp Paprika
- 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- 2 oz Cheddar Cheese or Mozzarella shredded
- 3 tbsp Chives chopped
- 1 oz Parmesan Cheese shredded
Instructions
- With the basket in the air fryer, preheat to 375 F.
- Prick each potato in four places with a fork. Spray all sides with cooking spray. Set the potatoes in the basket with as much air space between each of them as possible. Air-fry for 45 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender when pricked with a fork.
- Use kitchen tongs to transfer the potatoes to a wire rack. Cool for 15 minutes. Maintain the machine's temperature.
- Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop out the hot, soft middles into a bowl, leaving 1/2 inch of potato around the insides of the potato next to the skin. Sprinkle the inside of the potato skins with paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
- Chop the bacon pieces into small pieces. Sprinkle the potato skins with bacon bits, shredded cheeses and chives.
- Set the potato skins in a basket with as much air space between them as possible. Air fry for 4 minutes, until cheese melts and lightly browns.
- Use kitchen tongs to gently transfer the stuffed potato skins to a wire rack. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.
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