With our potato skins air fryer recipe, you can have one of the best appetizers available ready in just 15-minutes! We are starting with precooked Russet potatoes and bacon, adding in some cheddar cheese and seasoning, and letting the air fryer cook and crisp your potato skins to absolute perfection. This appetizer is definitely a WHOLE LOTTA YUM!
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Air Fryer Potato Skins
I don't know about you, but there is just something about homemade potato skins that has everyone in our house flocking to the kitchen. This simple appetizer is one that has mouths watering as soon as the first scents come wafting up out of the air fryer, and my teenage son begging for more.
When we aren't eating our potato skins air fryer recipe right out of the basket, we prefer to serve them with additional homemade air fryer appetizer dishes including BBQ chicken wings with dry rub, air fryer chicken tenders, and bacon and cream cheese stuffed jalapeno poppers.
Why You'll Love This!
- Just 15-minutes from start to finish, our potato skins air fryer recipe is one of the fastest homemade appetizers ever!
- Harness the power of the air fryer to create a crowd-pleasing appetizer without taking up space in your oven.
- Unlike storebought brands that are filled with chemicals, fillers, and artificial ingredients, your homemade air fryer potato skins are natural, healthy, and compliant with a gluten-free diet.
- What's not to love about the combination of potato skin, cheese, and bacon, plus all of your favorite toppings including sour cream and chives?!
We love to utilize our air fryer to create a variety of potato dishes including air fryer baked potatoes, air fryer baked sweet potatoes, and air fryer roasted potatoes.
Ingredient Notes
The key to the best potato skins air fryer experience is to start with precooked Russet potatoes along with precooked bacon. From there, choose your toppings, including cheddar cheese and chives, and get cooking!
- small Russet potatoes - precooked (try our air fryer baked potato recipe)
- olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- bacon - cooked and crumbled (try our air fryer bacon or our oven bacon recipes)
- cheddar cheese - shredded
- sour cream or Ranch dressing
- optional - green onions or chives, sliced
Variations
- Potatoes - While Russet potatoes are common, you can swap them out for red potatoes, Yukon gold, or even small sweet potatoes.
- Cheese - Cheddar is traditional for potato skins, however, feel free to try a variety of cheeses.
Equipment
An Air Fryer- We have a Cosori XL basket style air fryer, an Omni Plus oven style air fryer, and a small 3.2L Farberware basket style air fryer.The Cosori was used in this recipe.
Step by Step Instructions
As you can see, just four easy steps stand between you and this delicious homemade potato skins air fryer recipe.
Prep Ingredients
***NOTE: To make your air fryer potato skins you do need to start with precooked potatoes and bacon. If you don't have them, begin by either baking or air frying small russet potatoes. Bacon can easily be precooked using either your oven or your air fryer.
Preheat the air fryer to 400F and allow it to warm up for at least 5 minutes.
Using cooled potatoes, cut them in half length-wise. Then, scoop out most of the insides of the potatoes - leaving about a ¼"-½" rim to help the potatoes hold together. You won't need the inside of the potatoes so they can be used for another recipe like mashed potatoes.
Assemble
Brush the inside of the potato skins with olive oil or bacon grease.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Air Fry
Air fry the potatoes on 400 F for 3 minutes.
After 3 minutes, sprinkle the potato skins with the cheddar cheese and bacon crumbles. Put back in the air fryer and cook for 2-3 more minutes until the cheese is melted.
Garnish with your favorite toppings including sour cream, ranch dressing, and chives. Add additional salt and pepper if desired.
Serve hot and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- Preheating your air fryer for at least 5 minutes prior to cooking is essential to making sure they cook in the time allotted.
- Leaving less potato in the skin will make for a crispier potato skin, where leaving more potato will make for a softer potato skin.
- For our potato skins air fryer recipe we start by cooking just the seasoned potato skin for 2-3 minutes, then add cheese and toppings. This helps the potato skin have plenty of time to air fry, without risking burning the cheese or bacon crumbles.
- While small Russet potatoes are used to make appetizer-size portions, feel free to follow this same process with medium or large potatoes to turn them into a side dish!
Common Questions
What to Serve with Potato Skins?
Potato skins are a great appetizer that pairs well with additional homemade finger foods including BBQ chicken wings with dry rub, air fryer chicken tenders, and bacon and cream cheese stuffed jalapeno poppers.
How Do You Reheat Potato Skins?
You can reheat leftover potato skins in the air fryer by cooking them at 400F for 1-2 minutes, or until they are heated through.
Can You Air Fry Frozen Potato Skins?
Yes, you can air fry frozen potato skins. Simply place them in a 400F preheated air fryer and allow them to cook for 6-8 minutes or until cooked through.
More Air Fryer Potato Recipes
Looking for more air fryer potato recipes?
- Air Fry Baked Potatoes
- Baked Sweet Potatoes in Air Fryer
- Frozen Hash Browns in Air Fryer (Patties)
- Frozen Waffle Fries in Air Fryer
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Potato Skins Air Fryer Recipe
Yield: 10 potato halves
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 6 minutes
Total Time: 16 minutes
Make loaded potato skins in the air fryer and you'll never order out again! Just start with pre-baked potatoes and bacon, and you'll be able to whip this appetizer up in less than 15 mins!
Ingredients
- 5 small Russet potatoes, cooked
- 1 Tbsp+ olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
- ½ shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ cup sour cream or Ranch dressing
- 2 tablespoon green onions or chives, sliced
Instructions
- Do the prep work in advance by cooking the small Russet potatoes and cooking the bacon. Any method will work for cooking these, be we are partial to the air fryer of course.
- Let the potatoes cool slightly, cut them in half, and scoop out most of the insides of the potatoes- leaving about a ¼"-½" rim to help the potatoes hold together. You won't need the inside of the potatoes so they can be used for another recipe like mashed potatoes.
- Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees F for 5 minutes.
- Brush the inside of the potato skins with olive oil (or bacon grease), then add salt and pepper to taste.
- Air fry the potatoes at 400 F for 3 minutes.
- Sprinkle them with the cheddar cheese and bacon crumbles. Put back in the air fryer and cook for 2-3 more minutes until the cheese is melted.
- Garnish with sour cream and chives. or drizzle with ranch dressing. Add more salt and pepper if desired. Serve hot and enjoy!
Notes
Use a dollop of sour cream on each potato half or use a squirtable sour cream to make a drizzle.
Ranch dressing or blue cheese make a great variation to sour cream.
While small Russet potatoes are used to make appetizer size portions, feel free to follow this same process with medium or large potatoes to turn them into a side dish!
While Russet potatoes are common, you can swap them out for red potatoes, Yukon gold, or even small sweet potatoes.
Feel free to load up the potato skins with any of your favorite baked potato toppings.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 5Serving Size 1
Amount Per ServingCalories 285Total Fat 14gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 8gCholesterol 27mgSodium 313mgCarbohydrates 32gFiber 3gSugar 3gProtein 8g
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