Air Fryer Hash Browns

Air fryer hash browns are so quick and easy to make. You can take out a bag of frozen hash browns, gather a few simple ingredients, and have breakfast on the table in less than 25 minutes. If you want to know how to make air fryer hash browns that are crispy and delicious, you’ve come to the right place.

For a quick breakfast or even a quick and easy snack, air fryer hash browns never seem to disappoint. Making them from scratch is simple and my easy recipe makes for golden brown and crispy hash browns straight out of the air fryer in a matter of minutes.

By cooking your hash browns in an air fryer, you’ll receive such a delicious end result and save so much time, you might just choose to say goodbye to your previous cooking method altogether.

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Whenever I’m craving crispy potatoes in the morning, I love my favorite air fryer recipes I can quickly reference to air fry hash browns until my heart’s content. There are simple steps to follow, a short cooking time, and, depending on the recipe, no prep. Who doesn’t love having hardly any dishes to wash after making food? Plus, those warmed hash brown patties are just so, so good.

 

You can use russet potatoes, frozen patties, or make homemade hash browns using my easy recipe, but both methods call for the use of an air fryer. If you’ve got less than 30 minutes to make this meal from potato to plate, it’s a considerable fast, cheap and convenient way to serve a home-cooked meal or side dish for yourself and your family. In this post, I’ll mention several of my favorite add-ins to enjoy with crispy air fryer hash browns, it’s all going to boil down to your own personal preference!

Why Use An Air Fryer?

Out of all my favorite air fryer recipes, the one for crispy hash browns wins a spot at the top of the list. Potatoes are often cooked in a lot of oil, particularly canola oil, which is not good for your body or the healthiest way to intake such a hearty staple. Not only is this recipe made healthy and heart-health conscious for you, it doesn’t slack on flavor either. I like to substitute canola oil for avocado oil spray or olive oil spray. If you don’t have these oil sprays, a simple teaspoon of oil with be just enough to give you that super crispy flavor that hash browns are famous for.

Not only do I want a more health conscious way to cook hash brown patties, I’m not the biggest fan of the taste oil gives them either!

All of this can be avoided by simply choosing to air fry your hash browns. An air fryer works similarly to a miniature version of the convection oven and circulates hot air to cook the food safely. Notably, cooking any hash brown recipe requires little oil or none at all. When oil is needed, the most commonly used is vegetable oil, as it leaves behind no taste and has a high smoke point at roughly 400 degrees Fahrenheit, or an olive oil spray in a non-propellant bottle to avoid harmful chemicals and aerosols.

Related post: Air Fryer Zucchini

Cooking Frozen Hash Browns In An Air Fryer

Luckily, frozen food hash brown patties are pre-cooked and therefore already have a little bit of oil in them. But if you opt for the Trader Joe’s Frozen Shredded Hash Browns, they have absolutely no oil in them and are my favorite hash browns to buy when I am making air fryer hash browns. This is a recipe card I pull out when I feel like cooking hash browns in the air fryer for the perfect addition to my breakfast. Sometimes I’m craving extra crispy hash browns; other times I’m fine with enjoying the individual patties softer to be eaten on their own, crumbled, or in a breakfast sandwich.

 

To start, it’s important to lay out the hash browns in a single layer inside the air fryer tray. Overlapping hash browns disrupts the cooking process by causing them to heat unevenly. At 370 degrees Fahrenheit, an appropriate cook time would be 7-10 minutes, flipping each hash brown patty once carefully with a spatula at the 4 or 5-minute mark.

Ensuring the best results and approximate cook times will require you to know what works best for the size of your air fryers. Many different brands exist on the marketplace today, but a popular name that comes to mind is the Cosori air fryer, which has a 5.8 quart basket that holds up to 6 patties at a time. In some cases, you’ll need to preheat the air fryer ahead of cooking as well. Familiarizing yourself with your air fryer truly maximizes the likelihood of successfully cooking a wide range of foods.

Making Homemade Hash Browns In An Air Fryer

Utilizing my easy air fryer recipe for homemade hash browns guarantees an ideal breakfast side that nicely compliments eggs, toast, and more. You’ll spend less time prepping and cleaning up too; this recipe calls only for the use of a large mixing bowl and a food processor or box grater to create the shredded hash browns. No need to bust out the frying pan this time.

Trial and error will best help you determine your preferred cook times, but the recipe card below gives you a solid median to start with. In the event that you have a larger or smaller air fryer, temperatures and heating times may need adjusting to accommodate. Leftovers will keep for 4-7 days when placed in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Reheating involves only halving the original time needed to cook.

As it happens, russet potatoes are the prime choice when it comes to homemaking hash browns. Packed with starch and low in moisture content, they are the tried and true favorite amongst their fellow spuds for making something super crispy and special. In addition to this, the entire ingredients list is inexpensive and most of the items you may already have on hand.

For this recipe we are going to use frozen hash browns, but you are more than welcome to use potatoes you may already have at home. Grab 4 russet potatoes (or frozen hash browns), 1 teaspoon of avocado oil or olive oil (I like to use avocado oil spray), salt to taste ( I like to use seasoned salt and I use about 1 teaspoon), ½ teaspoon of onion powder and ½ teaspoon of garlic powder, then you’re ready to go.

 

Prep Your Potatoes

To start, you’re going to have to scrub those potatoes under some running water. The last thing you’re going to want in your hash browns is dirt. You can use a vegetable brush scrubber for scrubbing potatoes if you prefer to scrub off dirt particles from hard-to-reach places on your potatoes.

Once you’ve cleaned your potatoes, you can decide if you want to keep the skin on, or peel it off. I personally like the skin as it gives the hash browns that extra crispy flavor that I love.

Next, shred the potatoes using your food processor or a box grater and place them into a strainer where you can rinse cold water over them for roughly 45 seconds. You’re rinsing off the excess starch in this step. Let them rest for a couple of minutes to give the water time to drain off and then move the potatoes onto some paper towels.

Fold the paper towel over the top of the hash browns and press down. Right now, you’re removing so much unwanted moisture, it would have prevented your hash browns from becoming crisp had you left it in. Once the potatoes are dry, you can transfer them into the mixing bowl.

I believe in the use of avocado oil because it is mainly composed of monounsaturated fatty acids that help to balance our blood’s cholesterol and sugar levels. Pour in the oil (or you can use nonstick cooking spray to your potatoes evenly), add the salt and pepper, and mix well. Place a flat, even layer of your breakfast potatoes at the bottom of the air fryer basket.

Cook Homemade Hash Browns

In my experience, the best way to cook my hash browns is at 370 degrees Fahrenheit and flipping after 4-5 minutes have passed. Despite my own preference is to use less oil, I know many who love to throw a dash more on at the halfway flip. Afterwards, I add 1-2 minutes to the timer and pull out the hash browns when they appear browned and crunchy enough to my liking, but as mentioned earlier, this cooking time can be altered to make yours the perfect way you’re looking for. Be careful, though; they’re hot!

Add-Ins And Other Ideas

Several delicious add-ins to homemade hash browns are seasonings like Cajun, onion powder, and garlic powder, just to call out a few. Lovers of all things spicy can add their favorite hot sauce, while others with a less heat-seeking palate spruce up the spuds with vegan cheese or ketchup. Loads of great recipes exist out there and I simply cannot name them all, but the next time you want hash browns in an air fryer, don’t hesitate to add what you’d like or try something new.

Additionally, the easy breakfast recipes mentioned above can also work to make air fryer tater tots by shaping the shredded potatoes into small cylinders before air frying. You can also swap the russet potatoes for sweet potatoes and skip the step of soaking them in water as it is unnecessary. This is because the starch content is not as high in sweet potatoes, and you must make certain they are spread out in the air fryer’s basket in a thin layer to combat sogginess.

Can You Put Aluminum Foil In The Air Fryer?

Though it is not needed for this recipe, yes – you can put aluminum foil in the air fryer. If you do use foil in your air fryer, you may need to adjust the temperature and flip the hash browns a few extra times to make sure they get crispy and are cooked evenly. Sometimes using aluminum foil in the air fryer can block the ventilation and cause the food not to cook properly. When I do use foil (mostly to avoid having to clean the tray so much), I add extra time to make sure everything cooks evenly.

What Temperature Do You Fry Frozen Hash Browns?

I usually like my hash browns extra crispy and I find that cooking frozen hash browns at 370°F is the sweet spot, though you can go up to 390°F for super crispy hash browns. Just make sure you keep an eye on your air fryer so you don’t overdo it!

Up next: Easy Air Fryer Pizza Rolls Recipe

Ingredients

• Frozen hash browns – My favorite hash browns are the ones you can get from Trader Joe’s as the only ingredient is frozen hash browns. Any brand will do. You can use part of the bag or all of the bag, depending on the amount you are serving.

• Avocado oil or olive oil (you can use the spray as well) – I like using avocado oil spray as it is less in calories and just my favorite overall spray for cooking. You can use whichever you prefer.

• Salt, onion powder, and garlic powder – My go-to seasoning is seasoned salt, which I add to taste in this recipe. I also add onion powder and garlic powder.

Equipment

You will definitely need an air fryer for this recipe. sIt makes it easy and hassle-free when making these hash browns. I recommend this air fryer as it comes with two frying baskets and lots of cooking options to choose from. You will also need a mixing bowl and measuring cups and spoons.

As far as easy recipes go, it can’t get any simpler than this. Whether it’s your first time in the kitchen or you’re an experienced chef, the ease of making hash browns in an air fryer is bound to become your new favorite part of breakfast.