Air Fryer Home Fries {Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free}

Home fries are one of those breakfast sides that not only fills your belly, but gives you those cozy, family feelings. There’s something very nostalgic about home fries for some reason. In the past, it would have been hard to imagine having a full “Sunday” breakfast as a vegan, but now, there are an infinite number of delicious vegan breakfast options.

You know what goes great with vegan home fries? Everything! Woo! Make a batch of these crisp on-the-outside, pillowy soft on-the-side potatoes and serve them with pretty much anything you love. Our favorite Bring On the Sunshine breakfast combo includes: tofu scramble, fresh fruit salad, cinnamon-encrusted crumb muffins, and a batch of these sensational, savory home fries. Serve this mouthwatering menu to your family to show them all the love!

Find your air fryer, pull out a bag of potatoes, arm yourself with an onion, and let’s get cooking!

Why These Homemade Home Fries are So Awesome

• Best breakfast side
• Savory and satisfying
• Only a few ingredients needed
• Easy to prep ahead of time
• Gluten-free
• Soy-free
• Dairy-free
• Nut-free

How To Make This Home Fries Recipe

This air fryer home fries recipe is pretty foolproof. It’s simply a matter of preheating, chopping, and cooking before you can dig into this downright delicious side. If you’ve got an air fryer, a knife, a cutting board, and some basic seasonings, you’re good to go. Keep in mind that these air fried potatoes are best served immediately, but you can easily reheat them in the air fryer if needed.

• Prep and steam the potatoes.
• Preheat the air fryer at 400 degrees for 5 minutes.
• Cut potatoes and onions into equally sized chunks.
• Mix veggies with seasonings and add to the preheated air fryer basket.
• Cook for 8 minutes, stir, and finish cooking for another 6-8 minutes.
• Enjoy!

Star Ingredients

Even though there are only a couple of ingredients in this recipe, both of them are nutrient dense superstars! Potatoes and onions are inexpensive, easy to find, and chock full of vitamins and minerals. You can mix it up by changing the type of potato that you use (try red, white, yellow, russets, purple, and even sweet potatoes) to create different flavors and textures. Feel free to swap out the red onion for a yellow or white onion…even a shallot would work if cut into chunks.

Potato – Low calorie density, high in fiber, and also protein. Packed with vitamins C, B6, folate, potassium, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, and niacin. Simple and satisfying!

Red Onion – High in antioxidants (particularly quercetin), full of prebiotics, and antibacterial, with a fair amount of vitamins B6 & C, manganese, biotin, and copper. Tasty and tangy!

Suggestions for Serving Up Your Home Fries in the Air Fryer

This delightful home fries recipe is appetizing on its own (we’ve been guilty of eating the entire batch by ourselves!) or serving alongside a favorite breakfast dish like waffles, maple french toast, tofu scramble, or even with mouthwatering blueberry muffins fresh out of the oven. Here are a few other ideas to keep in mind:

• Spice: Naughty or Nice? – For those who are sensitive to spices, feel free to stick with only salt and pepper or make them without any spice at all. If you are looking for even more flavor, double the amounts of the seasonings on the potatoes before cooking. Consider adding in dried herbs (like oregano, rosemary, or thyme) and possibly cayenne, cumin, or nutritional yeast to the mix.
• Prep Your Potatoes –  If you want to save a bunch of time making these potatoes on the day you’re going to serve them, you can steam your potatoes 1-2 days ahead of time and keep them in the refrigerator. Take them out about 30 minutes before you want to cook them, so there’s time for them to come to room temperature before chopping them up.
• Not an Onion Lover? – No problem. You can leave them out of the recipe or, instead, add in chopped green or red bell pepper, mushrooms, or sprinkle on some rosemary after turning the potatoes.
• Select a Sauce – This, of course, is personal preference, but we love ketchup or barbecue sauce as a side (or smothered on top!) of our home fries. Other tasty choices include: maple syrup, hot sauce, salsa, vegan mayo, or even salad dressing.

Can I Make These Oven Baked Home Fries Instead?

Sure thing! We used an air fryer for this recipe to save time and add an extra crunch, but you can definitely use the oven instead.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and, while the oven is heating up, steam your potatoes (or do this the night before), and cut into chunks when cool.

Add the oil, seasonings, and onion. Mix well. Spread onto a parchment lined (or silicone) baking sheet and cook for 35-45 minutes or until desired crispiness. Turn halfway through cooking. Steaming your potatoes beforehand allows your home fries to be soft in the inside while perfectly crispy on the outside.

How to Store Leftover Home Fries

You can easily store any remaining breakfast fries in the freezer. If possible, place them in a single layer inside of a freezer-safe container or silicone storage bag. Make sure they are sealed tightly.

The leftover potatoes should last up to 3 months in the freezer. To defrost the frozen home fries, arrange them in a single layer in a preheated air fryer basket and cook at 400 degrees for 5-8 minutes or until desired crispiness.

More Brilliant Breakfast Recipes

• Vegan Crumpets
• Carrot Bacon
• Hash Brown Waffles
• Easy Lemon Custard
• Vegan Poptarts
• Vegan Chicken and Waffles
• Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes
• Crispy Tofu Fries

Recipe FAQs

Air Fryer Home Fries {Golden and Crispy}

Author: Gina House | World of Vegan

5 from 9 votes

Boost your weekend brunch satisfaction with these heavenly golden and crispy air fryer home fries! Pillowy soft on the inside and a delightful crunch on the outside. Perfect to serve alongside your tasty tofu scramble or to pair with a savory slice of avocado toast. Perfection!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1½ pounds baby potatoes, or 2 large potatoes
• 1 small red onion
• ½ tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika, sweet, smoked, or regular
• ¼ teaspoon salt, to taste
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper, to taste

Instructions

• Wash and scrub the potatoes. 
• Steam potatoes in the microwave (all baby ones together or 1 large on high for 5 minutes), in a pot with a steamer basket (add 1 inch of water, add potatoes to basket, cover, bring to a boil, and let steam for about 10 minutes) or in the Instant Pot (5 minutes on high pressure followed by a natural release). 
• Let the potatoes cool for about 5 minutes before cutting. 
• While you’re waiting for the potatoes to cool down, remove the outside onion skin and roughly dice the onions. Place into a mixing bowl. 
• Preheat the air fryer at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. 
• While the air fryer is heating up and when potatoes are cooled, cut the potatoes into medium-sized chunks. 
• Add the potatoes to the onions in the mixing bowl, mix in the olive oil and spices. 
• Add the potatoes and onions to the air fryer basket in a single layer, if possible, and cook at 400 degrees for 8 minutes. 
• Stir the potatoes and onions and cook at the same temperature for another 6-8 minutes, or until desired crispiness.

Notes

• Oil-free Version – You can completely eliminate the oil if you wish or just give a couple of spritzes of oil spray on the uncooked home fries instead. 
• Spice-Sensitive – You can stick with only salt and pepper or make them without any spice at all and add your own toppings when the home fries are cooked. 
• Prep Your Potatoes – If you want to save a bunch of time making these potatoes on the day you’re going to serve them, you can steam your potatoes 1-2 days ahead of time and keep them in the refrigerator. Take them out about 30 minutes before you want to cook them, so there’s time for them to come to room temperature before chopping them up. 
• Not an Onion Lover? – No problem. You can leave them out of the recipe or, instead, add in chopped green or red bell pepper, mushrooms, or sprinkle on some rosemary after turning the potatoes.
• Gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, and nut-free

Nutrition

Calories: 162kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 157mg | Potassium: 778mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 251IU | Vitamin C: 36mg | Calcium: 29mg | Iron: 2mg

Course Side

Cuisine American

Keyword air fryer, brunch, dairy-free, gluten free, potatoes, sugar-free

Thank you to our recipe testers for these homestyle fries, Kristen Sinch, Anandee Seshradi and Melanie Swanson!

This home fries in air fryer recipe was developed and written by Gina House and edited by Rachel Lessenden. This cottage fries content is copyright of World of Vegan, all rights reserved. Photos by J.J. Steele.