Air-Fryer Flour Chips: Quick, Easy, And Crunchy!

Air fryers are a great way to make healthier, less greasy versions of your favourite fried foods. You can use them to make flour chips from scratch in a few simple steps. All you need are flour tortillas, oil, and salt. You can also add extra spices and herbs for flavour. The process is straightforward: cut the tortillas into triangles, spray them with oil, add salt, and cook in the air fryer for a few minutes. You can also make potato chips in the air fryer, but these require more preparation time.

Choosing the right potatoes

The type of potatoes you use can make or break your air-fried chips. The best potatoes for air frying are those with a high starch content, as this helps them to crisp up. Here are some tips to help you choose the right potatoes for your air fryer chips:

Potato Varieties

• Idaho and Russet potatoes are recommended by several sources as the best type of potatoes for air frying. They have a high starch content, which helps them crisp up, and they contain less moisture than other types of potatoes.
• Yukon Gold potatoes are also a good option for air fryer chips. They have a creamy flavour and crisp up well. However, they are not as starchy as Russet potatoes, so your chips may not be as crispy.
• If you're in the UK, you might want to try Maris Piper or Rooster potatoes. These are floury potatoes that will give you a fluffier chip interior and a crispier exterior.

Other Factors to Consider

• If you want to leave the skin on your potatoes for a more rustic feel, make sure to give them a good scrub first to remove any dirt.
• Try to choose potatoes that are similar in size, so they cook evenly in the air fryer.
• If you're cutting your potatoes by hand, rather than using a mandoline, try to make the slices a similar thickness. This will help ensure they cook evenly.

Preparing the potatoes

The first step in making flour chips in an air fryer is to prepare the potatoes. Here is a step-by-step guide:

Selecting the right potatoes

For flour chips, it is recommended to use floury potatoes such as Maris Piper or Rooster. These potatoes will ensure a fluffier chip interior and a crispier exterior.

Peeling and slicing the potatoes

Start by peeling the potatoes. You can leave the skin on for a more rustic look if desired. Then, slice the potatoes into chips. Aim for a thickness of about 1 cm. If the potatoes are dirty, rinse them in cold water, then drain and pat them dry.

Soaking the potatoes (optional)

Some recipes suggest soaking the potatoes in water before air frying. This is done to remove excess starch and prevent the potatoes from burning. However, others find that this step is unnecessary and that the potatoes cook just fine without soaking. If you choose to soak the potatoes, place them in a bowl of cold water for up to an hour. For longer soaking, it is recommended to store them in the fridge.

Coating the potatoes

After slicing and drying the potatoes, it's time to coat them. Add the potato chips to a bowl and toss them with cornflour until they are evenly coated. The cornflour will add extra crispness to the chips.

Seasoning the potatoes

Once the potatoes are coated in cornflour, it's time to add the oil, salt, pepper, and any other desired seasonings. Toss the potatoes again to ensure they are evenly coated. You can also add extra flavourings such as Cajun spice, garlic salt, chilli flakes, or curry powder. However, it is recommended to add these seasonings halfway through the cooking process to prevent burning.

Adding flavour

There are many ways to add flavour to your flour chips when using an air fryer.

Firstly, you can add flavourings to the oil that you toss the chips in before placing them in the air fryer. This could include garlic salt, Cajun spice, dried herbs (rosemary is recommended), chilli flakes, or curry powder. If you're using chilli flakes or dried herbs, it's best to add them halfway through the cooking process so they don't burn.

Secondly, you can add flavour to the chips after they are cooked. For example, you could sprinkle them with sea salt, or add a light sprinkle of minced parsley for a fresh finish.

If you're making tortilla chips, you can add flavour by sprinkling salt on the tortillas before placing them in the air fryer. You could also squeeze lime juice over the chips, or add some Cajun seasoning, chilli powder, or cayenne pepper. For a sweeter flavour, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Finally, you can add flavour to your chips by serving them with a dip. For tortilla chips, this could include salsa, cheese sauce, or guacamole. For potato chips, you could try spicy bang bang sauce, BBQ sauce, or classic burger sauce.

Cooking the chips

Preparation

To make straight, neat chips, peel the potatoes and trim away all the rounded edges so they become rectangular blocks. Cut the blocks into batons – they should be somewhere between fries and thick chips. If you cut them too thin, they might break; if you cut them too thick, they won't cook through. Alternatively, cut the unpeeled potatoes into chips without trimming if you don't mind a more rustic look.

If you're using floury potatoes, like Maris Piper or Rooster, give them a rinse in cold water, drain and pat dry. If they're not too grubby, you can skip this step.

Cooking Method

Add the chips to a bowl and toss with cornflour until coated. Then, add oil, salt, pepper, and paprika and toss again so they're evenly coated.

Place the chips in the air fryer and cook at 190C/375F for 20 minutes, shaking the basket every 5 minutes. You can also cook at 350F for 3 minutes, flip the chips, spray with cooking spray and add more salt, then cook for another 2-3 minutes or until browned and crisp.

Seasoning

You can add flavouring to your chips either at the start or halfway through cooking. Try garlic granules, paprika, grated parmesan (add this towards the end), dried herbs, chilli powder, cumin, or nutritional yeast.

Tips

• If you want your chips extra crispy, you can preheat your air fryer before adding the potatoes.
• If you want to make your chips ahead of time, you can cut and peel the potatoes, then place them in a bowl of cold water for up to an hour. If you need to prepare them further ahead, put them in the fridge. Don't leave them in the water for more than 8 hours.
• These chips are best eaten freshly cooked.

Serving suggestions

These flour chips cooked in an air fryer can be served as a side dish or a snack. Here are some ideas on how to serve them:

As a Side Dish

• With a chip butty (a sandwich with chips)
• With Lasagne or Steak Pie

As a Snack

• Dipped in spicy bang bang sauce, BBQ sauce, or classic burger sauce
• Smothered in homemade gravy or upgraded into poutine, salt and pepper chips, or pizza fries
• With toppings such as chilli flakes, dried herbs (rosemary), garlic salt, or curry powder
• With Spicy Nacho Cheese sauce, Homemade Salsa, Pineapple Salsa, or Guacamole
• As a base for Sheet Pan Nachos, Buffalo Chicken Nachos, or Loaded Chicken Nachos
• Sprinkled with cinnamon & sugar
• With dips such as salsa, salsa verde, corn salsa, guacamole, spinach artichoke dip, or cheese sauce

Other Ideas

• If you want to add another layer of flavour, squeeze some lime juice over the chips.
• For an extra kick, sprinkle on some Cajun seasoning, chilli powder, or cayenne pepper.

Frequently asked questions