Roast Potatoes in the Air Fryer, From Fresh

To make roast potatoes in the air fryer from fresh, peel and chop floury potatoes, parboil them for 7 to 10 minutes, drain and shake them until the edges go fluffy, toss them in a tablespoon or two of oil and cook at 200°C for about 20 to 25 minutes, shaking every 5 to 10 minutes. If you skip the parboil, they still work: give them 25 to 30 minutes at 200°C. The outside won’t be quite as crunchy. Cook them until they’re golden, not dark brown, and don’t pack the basket.

Air fryer roast potatoes are the roasties for a small household. You get a tray’s worth of crunch for two or three people without heating a whole oven, and at Christmas they free up the oven shelf for everything else.

Times from five UK recipes

I read all five of these on 3 November 2026. They don’t agree exactly, and the differences are useful:

Recipe	Parboil	Air fryer	Notes
Liana’s Kitchen	7-10 min	200°C, 20 min	Shake every 5 minutes or so. Without boiling: 200°C, 25-30 min
Morrisons	about 8 min	200°C, about 25 min	800g potatoes, 2 tbsp goose fat or veg oil, shake every 10 min
Feast Glorious Feast	roughly 20 min, until almost cooked	200°C, 15 min, turn, then 5 min	600g fitted with room for the air to move
Hint of Helen	none	around 20 min at 180°C	Check at 20 and add 5-10 min if needed
BBC Good Food	5 min steam or simmer	190°C, 30 min	Written for a paddle-type fryer; 5-10 min more if not tender

So the honest range for parboiled potatoes in a basket air fryer is 20 to 25 minutes at 200°C. Unboiled ones need 25 to 30 minutes. Your machine and the size of your chunks matter more than any recipe, so start checking early.

Parboil or straight in?

Liana’s Kitchen has made them both ways and says the unboiled ones are “not as crispy” but “still taste great, just with a different texture”. That matches what most people find.

Parboil if it’s a proper roast. The boil softens the outside, and a good shake in the colander roughs it up. Morrisons calls that the most important bit: you want the edges to “look a bit furry”, because that “fuzz” turns into the crunchy bits.
Skip it on a weeknight. No pan to wash, and they’re still a decent roastie next to sausages. Rinse the chopped potatoes, dry them well, and oil them.

Feast Glorious Feast boils for much longer, until the potatoes are almost cooked through. It says the best roasties come when “you are convinced that you over boiled them”. If you go that way, use tongs to move them so they don’t break up, and expect a shorter time in the air fryer.

The method, step by step

Pick floury potatoes. Maris Piper or King Edward, as Morrisons suggests. Cut them into even chunks, roughly golf-ball size, so they finish together.
Parboil in salted water for 7 to 10 minutes, until a knife goes in easily and the outsides are just starting to flake.
Drain and shake. Give the colander a proper shake, then leave the potatoes for a minute or two so the steam escapes. Wet potatoes steam instead of crisping.
Oil them in a bowl, not in the basket. One to two tablespoons for four people is plenty. Liana’s Kitchen used just one tablespoon for eight medium potatoes.
One layer in the basket, with gaps. If they’re piled up, cook two batches. Feast Glorious Feast fitted 600g with “more than enough room for air flow”, which is a useful guide for a mid-size drawer.
200°C, shaking or turning every 5 to 10 minutes. Turn them with tongs if they’re fragile. A pair with silicone heads, like the OXO Good Grips 23cm tongs, won’t scratch a non-stick basket.
Season at the end, while they’re hot enough for salt to stick.

Golden, not dark brown

Recipe photos love a deep brown roastie. The Food Standards Agency’s acrylamide guidance (read 3 November 2026) suggests a lighter finish. Acrylamide forms when starchy foods like potatoes are cooked above 120°C, and the FSA says to “aim for a golden yellow colour or lighter when frying, baking, toasting or roasting starchy foods”. It also says longer cooking times and higher temperatures form more acrylamide.

In practice: take them out when they’re golden and crisp, and cut away any very dark, burnt edges before they go on a child’s plate. The same page says you can store raw potatoes in the fridge or in a cool, dark place. The old advice not to fridge them has been dropped. That’s handy if your flat has no cool cupboard.

What it costs

Prices from Morrisons’ website on 3 November 2026:

Morrisons British Maris Piper Potatoes, 2kg: £1.85 (~$2.40), or 92.5p a kilo.
Morrisons British Naturally Wonky Potatoes, 2.5kg: £1.49 (~$1.95), or 59.6p a kilo. The name doesn’t give a variety, so you’re gambling a bit on how fluffy they’ll go.

The Morrisons recipe uses 800g, which is about 74p (~$1) of Maris Pipers, plus a couple of tablespoons of oil. Liana’s Kitchen allows two medium potatoes a person, so for a mum and two small children that’s a handful from the bag, not half of it.

Christmas: do them ahead and free up the oven

This is where the air fryer earns its counter space. The turkey or the chicken has the oven, and the roasties have the drawer.

Parboil in the morning. Shake them, oil them and leave them covered somewhere cool.
Part-cook early if you like. Feast Glorious Feast says that after the first 15 minutes at 200°C is “the point to stop cooking and store the roast potatoes until you want to finish the cooking”. Give them their last 5 minutes or so while the meat rests.
Two batches beats one crowded one. Keep the first lot warm in the bottom of the oven while the second cooks.

My roast dinner on a budget has the full timing plan, working backwards from when you want to eat.

For the fussy eaters

A roast potato is a safe food in most houses, which makes it a good plate to put one new thing on. A few things that help:

Cut theirs smaller. Small chunks get more crunch per bite, and they cool down quicker on the plate. They’ll also cook faster, so check them a few minutes early.
Serve the gravy on the side for dipping, not poured over. A soggy potato is a rejected potato.
One tiny portion of something new next to the potatoes, not on top.

Leftovers

Government guidance on cooking your food (read 3 November 2026) says leftovers should be cooled and in the fridge “within two hours”, eaten within 48 hours or frozen, and reheated “only ever” once, until steaming hot. My leftover roast potatoes post has seven ways to use them.

If you’d rather skip peeling altogether, frozen roast potatoes in the air fryer take 15 to 20 minutes with no oil. They’re a different food, but a reliable one.

FAQ

How long do roast potatoes take in the air fryer?

About 20 to 25 minutes at 200°C if you parboil them first, and 25 to 30 minutes if you don’t. Shake them every 5 to 10 minutes and check early, because air fryers vary.

Do you have to parboil potatoes before air frying?

No, but it helps. Parboiled potatoes have a fluffier, crunchier outside. Unboiled ones are fine on a busy night and save washing up a pan.

How much oil do air fryer roast potatoes need?

One to two tablespoons for about four people. Toss them in a bowl so every piece is coated.

What are the best potatoes for air fryer roast potatoes?

Floury ones, like Maris Piper or King Edward. They go fluffy inside and rough up well after parboiling.

Can I make air fryer roast potatoes ahead for Christmas?

Yes. Parboil and oil them in the morning, or part-cook them for 15 minutes and finish them for about 5 minutes just before you eat.