Who doesn’t LOVE a crispy roast potato? Not many people can really say they don’t, but they can be either healthy or unhealthy, depending how you prepare them.
This best crispy, air-fried roast potatoes recipe is 100% OIL FREE and 100% guilt free for that matter! Yes, you can eat our delicious roasties until they’re comin’ out your ears and they won’t be bad for you (well, within reason).
Why Do We LOVE Roast potatoes SO much?
Potatoes have been part of Western our culture for many hundreds of years and part of other cultures for up to 8,000 years. Though they would have been different varieties back then, one thing remains the same. They are a healthful, creamy and delicious comfort food, but only when prepared in certain ways.
We love them with any meal and they’re not out of place with any meal. Potatoes are often the carbohydrate element of our dishes in some form or another. They’re a great source of natural and useable energy for the body and definitely have their place in a healthy lifestyle.
The only thing that can make your potatoes potentially unhealthy is when they’re cooked or fried in oils and fats. Many still believe that adding fats is crucial in any potato preparing process (think fried, chips, baked potatoes with butter, mashed potatoes to name just a few), but we’re here to bust that myth once and for all.
Yeah, you heard that right! Potatoes are good for you and can even be a weight loss food, and we’re going to show you how.
How Do I Cook Potatoes Without Fat?
The humble potato is actually delicious without fat when you know how to prepare and flavour them right. This process all depends on the type of potato dish you want to prepare. This recipe is for super crispy, roast potatoes, but here are some examples of how you can make some common potato dishes completely oil free:-
- MASHED POTATOES – Can be mashed with low fat plant milk, salt, pepper and nutritional yeast flakes for creaminess and cheesiness. You can also make your own oat milk cream by blending 4 parts oats to 1 part water until smooth, and use that as a mashed potato creamer.
- BAKED POTATOES – Can be topped with smashed in avocado. This is technically a FAT, but it’s a whole fat and not an oil and so is considered way healthier and part of a whole foods plant based diet.
- BAKED SWEET POTATOES – Can be topped with tahini or 100% peanut butter. Again, going for nut butters without any added oils or sugars keeps them a whole food and a great topper for potatoes.
- MASHED SWEET POTATOES – Can be mashed with a dash of maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg for a truly decadent experience that’s completely fat free.
- BOILED POTATOES – Plain boiled potatoes, be they old or new potatoes, are perfectly delicious with just a little seasoning on their own. Try it!
- CHIPS – Depending on where you hail come, you may call these fries. But, you can make fat free chips by slicing your potatoes into chip sizes with skins on and simmering in water until almost cooked. Then toss them in cornflour and seasonings, lay on a parchment paper lined baking tray and oven bake or air fry until crispy. No oil required!
- POTATO CHIPS – Did you know you can make your own potato chips with zero oil? Take a mandolin and thinly slice your potatoes with skins on. Lay flat on a baking tray and season with anything you fancy, except oil. Bake until crisp and golden in a medium heat oven. You can even add flavourings like salt and vinegar, nutritional yeast, paprika or any other herbs and spices you like before you bake.
Why Do My Potatoes Not Get Crispy In The Air Fryer?
The reason why your potatoes may not be crisping up adequately in your air fryer could be a number of things.
Firstly, you may have too much moisture in there if you have pre-boiled your potatoes, so always be sure to drain as thoroughly as possible.
You may also be using to much oil, which can act like moisture too and prevent crispiness. Remember that your air fryer cooks food in much faster time than your oven, so it’s fair to say that the moisture’s have littler time to evaporate.
To prevent soggy potatoes in your air fryer, try these tips:-
- Use minimal oil by using an oil spray.
- Don’t use any oil at all and instead toss your potatoes in cornflour, herbs and spices as per our crispy, air fried potatoes recipe on this post.
- Boil your potatoes until cooked or almost cooked. This vastly helps crisp them up, especially if you then toss them in cornflour.
- Keep skins on! Keeping the scrubbed skins on your roast potatoes helps with crispiness as the potato skin naturally crisps up.
- Cook for longer. Sometimes you just got to be patient, as hard as it is when you want to get chomping down on your roasties, but often more time will just result in more crispiness.
The BEST Crispy, Air-Fried Roast Potatoes Recipe (Oil Free)
Equipment
- Medium sized saucepan and lid
- Air fryer (you can also use your regular oven)
- Chopping board
- Chopping knife
Ingredients
- 3 medium sized potatoes OR 14-16 new potatoes Fluffy potatoes like King Edwards or Maris Piper are best.
- 1 heaped tbsp cornflour
- 2 tsp turmeric powder (completely optional but add a lovely colour)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prepare your potatoes by thoroughly scrubbing the skins, then chop into 2 inch pieces.
- Cover with hot water and bring to the boil, then simmer until almost cooked.
- Drain carefully and thoroughly. You do not want to break the potatoes up too much. Make sure you get all the water out as much as possible. Once drained, add back to the saucepan and sprinkle with your cornflour, turmeric powder, salt and pepper. Put the lid back on the pan and gentle twist and turn it a few times to coat every potato. Don't worry if they don't get coated evenly, or even thoroughly, because they will still turn out fine.
- Now you need to lay them flat on your air fryer trays. If you do not have the type of air fryer that has flat trays, then put them carefully in the basket without breaking them up too much. You may get away with some of them being on top of each other if you are using a basket, only if you aren't using too many potatoes and they are not more than 2 potatoes deep. You will need to gently toss and turn half way through when using a basket type air fryer.
- Now set your air fryer to it's high setting, which is usually 200C (392F). Either way, set it to this temperature and don't forget to pre-heat if that's how your particular air fryer works (not all do).
- Bake for roughly 25 minutes until you can see they're golden and crispy.Please note that you can also bake these roast potatoes in your oven if you want to. You would use a 180C (356F) temperature instead of 200C and bake for around 35 minutes until golden and crispy. Toss half way through cooking time.
Video
Thanks for visiting ZestForever today!
We hope you liked this air fryer roast potato recipe as much as we do. As you can see, you really do not need to add fats to your roast potatoes, or any potatoes for that matter. They can be just as delicious without oils and are way more waistline friendly.
Why not serve your crispy potatoes with a topping of oil free, fried onion rings?
If you enjoyed this awesome recipe, don’t forget to share it with your friends. Go on, make us smile 😉
