Learn how to make an air fryer baked potato with flavorful, crispy skin and fluffy insides! Enjoy it with toppings like chives, sour cream, and/or butter.
This air fryer baked potato recipe is a quick and easy way to make a perfect baked potato! Ready in around 45 minutes in the air fryer, the potatoes have crisp, salty skins and moist, fluffy insides. You just need 3 ingredients to make them: olive oil, salt, and (of course) russet potatoes!
In this recipe, I use the same method as in my classic oven baked potato recipe. I rub the potato skins with olive oil and sprinkle them with salt so that they become crisp and flavorful as they cook. I don’t use foil—baking the potatoes bare is the secret to getting the skins nice and crisp.
The main difference between these two recipes is timing. The potatoes bake more quickly in the air fryer, and it preheats almost instantly. When I want a baked potato on a weeknight, this air fryer recipe is the fastest way to make it happen. I hope you love it as much as I do!
What Readers Are Saying
“Love this! It’s easy and efficient, but the skins come out crispy and the potato is incredibly fluffy!” —Samantha
How to Make an Air Fryer Baked Potato
This air fryer baked potato recipe is super easy!
Start by preheating the air fryer to 400°F. Depending on what air fryer you have, it may not even require preheating. My Wonder Oven, for example, preheats in no time.
Next, prep the potatoes. I like to use russet potatoes here. Sometimes called Idaho potatoes, they have a high starch content, which means that they become nice and fluffy inside as they bake. Their skin also gets especially crisp!
Scrub the potatoes well and pat them dry. Then, prick them a few times with a fork. Drizzle the potatoes with olive oil and use your hands to rub it into the skin. Sprinkle them liberally with sea salt and place in the air fryer basket.
Cook the potatoes in the air fryer until they’re crispy on the outside and tender in the middle, about 40 to 50 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. They’re ready when the centers of the potatoes are tender. You should be able to easily pierce them with a fork.
Slice open the tops, fluff the insides, and serve with salt, pepper, and your desired toppings!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Common Questions
Do I have to pierce potatoes before air frying?
Yes! Piercing the potatoes with a fork or knife allows steam to escape from them as they cook. If you skip this step, the potatoes could burst open in the air fryer.
Should I wrap potatoes in foil before air frying?
Definitely not! Wrapping potatoes in foil before air frying or baking makes the skin soggy. So skip the foil, and season the potato skins with olive oil and sea salt instead. They’ll come out super crispy!
How long should I cook baked potatoes in the air fryer?
The exact cooking time will depend on your specific air fryer and the size of the potatoes. In my air fryer, a large baked potato takes around 45 minutes at 400 degrees. Start checking at 40 minutes. If the potatoes are still firm, continue air frying them until tender, checking them every 5 minutes.
Baked Potato Toppings
My favorite part of any baked potato is always what I put on top! Here are some of my favorite toppings for these air fryer baked potatoes:
- Butter
- Vegan sour cream, sour cream, or Greek yogurt
- Chipotle sauce
- Vegan bacon
- Shredded cheddar cheese or crumbled feta
- Chopped fresh herbs like chives or dill
- Chopped green onions
- Vegetarian chili
What are your favorite toppings? Let me know in the comments!
More Favorite Potato Recipes
If you love this air fryer baked potato, try one of these delicious potato recipes next:
- Air Fryer French Fries
- Air Fryer Potatoes
- Air Fryer Sweet Potato
- Crispy Smashed Potatoes
- Oven Roasted Potatoes
- Best Mashed Potatoes
Air Fryer Baked Potato
Ingredients
- 2 medium russet potatoes
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 400°F.
- Use a fork to poke a few holes in the potatoes. Place on a plate. Rub with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with sea salt all over.
- Transfer to the air fryer basket and air fry for 40 to 60 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork-tender and the skin is crisp.
- Slice open each potato, fluff the insides, and serve with desired toppings.
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Can I do 3 potatoes at a time?
yes!
Love this! It’s easy and efficient, but the skins come out crispy and the potato is incredibly fluffy! I have been following you guys for a while, and when I search out a recipe and one of yours shows up? That’s the place I look! You guys are AWESOME!
Aww thank you, Samantha! So glad you love the recipes!
I’ve tried different air fryer potato recipes, and this one is my favorite!
Five stars!
400F. = 200C
I’ve used the air fryer baked potato recipe many times… It’s very simple. I slice the russet down the middle about halfway through, rub it with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper. Then I place it on a sheet of parchment paper in a preheated air fryer at 400° for 55 minutes and it comes out perfectly every time. I just use one single medium size russet. This time I sprinkled just a dab of tajin seasoning on the bottom of the parchment paper and it did not overwhelm the flavor, but added just a touch of spice..
Should I select bake mode or air fryer mode?
This was the first time I baked a Potato without the aluminum foil. It tasted great but I have to get used to a crispy skin with the moist inside. Next time I think I will peel them and air fry the skins and make fries with the peels. I will add this way of baking a potato to my recipes.
Mine came out great! I used olive oil spray, to reduce calories, and I used Pink Hymalayan Salt! I had a medium and large potato, med took 45 min, large took an hour! Topped with cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses and streamed broccoli! It was delicious!
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One small potato took 20 minutes last night and turned out perfect. Thank you for a great idea.
I love potatoes in the fall and winter. So warm and filling. This air fryer baked potato recipe came out so nicely and it was really nice not having to heat up the whole big oven to cook 2 potatoes for my husband and I. Thanks!
I’m glad you enjoyed it! I think it’s so convenient!
Some recipes should be really simple. I use garlic salt, they come out amazing
So it takes about 60 minutes to “bake” a potato in the air fryer? The same amount of time it takes to bake a potato in a conventional oven? What’s the point? ??
It useless energy and the results are better.
Hi Denise, you save 20 or so minutes of not having to preheat the oven, plus the energy of heating up a larger oven to cook 1 or 2 potatoes. I’ve found it convenient for those reasons.
You don’t heat up your entire house with the oven
It can help if you’re baking something else at the same time. Also, I love how crisp it is in the air fryer. I haven’t compared oven vs air fryer though.
It’s still not a “baked” potatoe, it’s just Air Fried.
aww bless your heart. Airfrying is just a convection oven, Kevyn; therefore air frying is BAKING.
Totally doing this! Would you have to adjust anything for sweet potatoes?