You Don’t Need to Soak Potatoes Before Air Frying Them — Do This Instead

Crispy potatoes often come with an extra step before they ever reach the air fryer: soaking the cut pieces in water to remove some of their starch. That can help with browning, but it also adds more time to a breakfast that could otherwise be ready in about 20 minutes.

For breakfast potatoes, Nutrition in the Kitch skips the soak and focuses on moisture, heat, and airflow instead. The potatoes are washed, dried with a paper towel, cut into roughly 1.5-inch pieces, and tossed with olive oil before going into a preheated air fryer.

Keeping the pieces from overlapping is another part of the method. Hot air needs room to move around the potatoes, so packing the basket can leave some pieces browned while others stay soft.

Dry the Potatoes Before Adding the Oil

Water left on the surface can work against the crisp crust you want from an air fryer, which is why drying the potatoes after washing them matters more here than adding a soaking step. Once dry, toss the pieces with olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, and onion flakes or onion powder.

Preheat the air fryer to 400°F for two minutes, then brush the basket with a small amount of olive oil or cooking spray. Arrange the potatoes in a single layer with enough space to keep them from sitting on top of one another.

Cook them at 400°F for 14 minutes, pulling out the basket after seven minutes to shake and turn the pieces. Rearrange any potatoes that land on top of each other before returning the basket for the remaining seven minutes.

An Overcrowded Basket Can Keep the Potatoes Soft

Adding more potatoes may seem like an easy way to make a larger batch, but filling the basket can block the circulating air responsible for browning their exposed surfaces. Cooking in two batches gives the pieces more room and can produce a better result than squeezing everything into one layer with overlaps.

Serving them as soon as they come out of the air fryer also preserves the texture. Like deep-fried potatoes, air-fried potatoes lose some of their crispness as they sit, so eggs, bacon, sausage, avocado, or other breakfast sides should be ready before the potatoes finish cooking.

Soaking can still remove excess starch if you want to add that step, but it isn’t required for this method. Dry potatoes, a little oil, a hot air fryer, and enough space between the pieces can deliver the crisp exterior without leaving the potatoes sitting in a bowl of water first.

Do you soak potatoes before putting them in the air fryer, or do you skip the extra step?