These air fryer potato skins are incredibly crispy! They’re topped with bacon, green onions, and just the right amount of sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack Cheese to make this an aromatic, beautiful snack.
Potato Skins
Baked potato skins should be a tradition for football season and any outdoor barbecues. They’re so tasty you won’t be able to stop at just one!
If you love entertaining guests, whether it’s for game day, kids’ sleepovers, or family barbecues, these air fryer potato skins are absolutely perfect.
Expert Tips
- Use Russet potatoes for this recipe. They seem to have the best skins for getting crispy.
- Definitely do not skip your olive oil and salt coating. This is the secret to getting a truly memorable crispy skin.
- It’s a good rule of thumb to save your scooped potato flesh, and use your potatoes in a side dish like mashed potato cakes or bubble and squeak. Leftovers are always fun!
- We recommend to brush both sides of the scooped out potatoes with the butter mixture and place back in the hot air fryer to get the crispiest skins ever.
- You can substitute green onions for chives.
- For the best flavor profile, we recommend serving your potato skins promptly out of your air fryer. However, you can get pretty good results reheating them in the oven, or in the air fryer.
- Put a little sour cream in each skin for maximum wow factor at your next party.
You'll Need
These are the ingredients you will need to make these crispy and flavorful potato skins in your air fryer.
How to Make Air Fryer Potato Skins
- The first step to making these delicious potato skins is scrubbing and drying potatoes.
- The next thing to do is to poke the potatoes all over with a fork.
- Then rub them with oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Add the potatoes to the air fryer basket.
- Cook for 30 minutes at 400°F. Flip the potatoes and cook further for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size. Use tongs to transfer to a plate. Once that’s done, allow the potatoes to sit and cool for a while.
- Once cooled, cut your potatoes in half, scooping out the flesh. Leave about a quarter inch to half an inch of potato around the outside.
- Then combine some melted butter with the garlic powder and onion powder, and brush both sides of your potato with this butter mix. Sprinkle with ranch seasoning.
- Return your scooped potato halves to the air fryer, baking until they’re browned and crispy, about 10 minutes. Be sure to flip halfway through.
- Now, evenly divide the cheese between the skins, and top with your chopped bacon. Pop your skins back in the air fryer for a few minutes, until your cheese has melted. Top with sliced scallions and serve with sour cream.
Recipe Variations
- You can make Jalapeno popper potato skins by topping with shredded cheddar cheese, crispy bacon, and chopped jalapeno.
- Taco potato skins can be made with shredded cheddar, taco seasoned ground beef, Pico de Gallo, and sour cream.
- Chili skins are so easy! Simply use leftover chili instead of bacon.
- For Hawaiian potato skins, top with shredded mozzarella, cubed smoked ham, crisp bacon, and pineapple bits.
Storage
Any leftovers will keep in the fridge for a few days as long as you store them in an airtight container. Alternatively, you can freeze leftover skins, as outlined below.
Reheating
For reheating any leftovers, we love using an air fryer! Air fryers are a great way to reheat small amounts of food.
To reheat your potato skins in the air fryer, we recommend putting them in the air fryer basket at 350F. Give them about 3-4 minutes in the air fryer. For best results, be sure not to overcrowd the air fryer with too many skins. You want about a half inch of space around each skin so the potatoes don’t accidentally poach each other with any latent moisture in the skins. Remember, we want crispy skins!
Another tip for air frying your potato skins is to add your cooking toppings (like bacon and cheese) before the skins go into the air fryer. Your fresh or cold toppings, like scallions, green onion, and sour cream, should go on the skins after reheating.
How to Freeze Potato Skins
You can make a massive batch of potato skins in advance, freezing some for reheating later. Here’s how.
- First, make your potato skins as outlined above, but don’t add sour cream or green onions on top. Let them cool completely.
- Next, place your potato skins into a freezer safe ziplock bag, making sure to remove any air from the bag. Place this bag with the skins inside into the freezer.
- Your potato skins, if frozen this way, should keep in the freezer for up to 6 months.
- When you’re ready to enjoy your potato skins, reheat them according to our instructions above. Larger potatoes might need an extra couple of minutes to cook through.
More Air Fryer Recipes to Try!!!
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Air Fryer Potato Skins
Ingredients
- 4 large Russet potatoes
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper as needed
- 3 tablespoons butter melted
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon ranch dressing seasoning
- ¾ cup Cheddar cheese shredded
- ¾ cup Monterey Jack cheese shredded
- 3-4 slices bacon cooked and chopped
- Sour cream for topping optional
- 2 tablespoons green onions finely sliced
Equipment
Instructions
- Wash potatoes under running water then dry with a kitchen towel.
- Poke the potatoes all over with a fork, rub with oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Add the potatoes to the air fryer basket.
- Cook for 30 minutes at 400°F. Flip the potatoes and cook further for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size. Use tongs to transfer to a plate. Allow to cool.
- Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, scoop out the flesh leaving ¼-inch around the inside of the skin.
- Whisk together melted butter, garlic powder and onion powder in a small bowl. Brush the potato skins all over and sprinkle with ranch seasoning.
- Arrange the potato skins in the air fryer basket and cook for 5 minutes at 400°F. Remove the basket, flip and bake another 5 minutes. Remove the basket.
- Top with cheeses and bacon. Air fry for additional 2 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
- Top with sour cream and garnish with green onions.
- Serve immediately.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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Tom says
Crispy, cheesy, and the perfect party snack! The air fryer made them so easy, and they tasted just like restaurant-style potato skins.
Tatiana says
That’s amazing, Tom! So glad they hit the spot. Thanks for your review!