Skip to Content

How to Make Smashed Potatoes in an Air Fryer

If you love smashed potatoes like me but don’t love going to the trouble of boiling and baking, these air fryer smashed potatoes will be right up your alley. You can make them entirely in an air fryer with just a few minutes of prep time.

There’s nothing shortcut about them in the flavor department, however. Every smashed potato is crispy golden brown with hints of garlic, rosemary, and black pepper. So get ready to air fry some baby gold potatoes as we crack into the recipe!

How to Make Smashed Potatoes in an Air Fryer

This is a seriously easy recipe. So I’ve included a very brief visual recipe walkthrough below with a few ingredient notes, seasoning options, and tips for prep. If you’d like to skip straight to the recipe card at the bottom of the post, you should be fine.

Air Fry Baby Gold Potatoes for 15-20 Minutes at 400ºF.

The recipe calls for baby gold potatoes, but I’ve made these smashed potatoes with all kinds of baby potato medleys. Gold potatoes just tend to have the best color.

To keep the fat content on the lower end, the recipe calls for washing, drying, and going straight to the air fryer with the potatoes. But you’re welcome to toss the potatoes in a little olive oil before the first round of air frying to make them extra crispy. My air fryer potato wedges use as little as 1/2 tablespoon for the first round of air frying.

Use the Bottom of a Cup to Smash the Potatoes. Season with Olive Oil and Desired Spices.

If you’d like to avoid a dirty pan, throw some parchment paper down. Just be careful when drizzling with olive oil.

The recipe calls for dried rosemary, garlic powder, black pepper, and salt for finishing. Here’s a handful of alternative seasoning ideas:

You can pretty much season your air fryer smashed potatoes any way you want to match your main dish or cuisine.

Updated Notes: In my Traeger smashed potatoes recipe, I added the oil and seasoning before smashing. This makes evenly seasoning much easier.

Air Fry for 15-20 Minutes at 400ºF Until Crispy Golden Brown.

smashed potatoes before and after air frying a second time

Do your best to place the smashed potatoes in an even layer or two inside the air fryer basket. If you have a larger air fryer basket, you may be able to get everything in a single layer for faster cooking. For smaller baskets like the 6.5-quart Foodi I used, you’ll want to shake or stir once or twice during the final cook.

Like with every air fryer recipe, you’ll want to keep an eye on your first batch and check in on things early and often to avoid overcooking.

What to Serve with Air Fryer Smashed Potatoes

golden brown smashed potatoes in a bowl topped with flaky salt

The world is your oyster. Part of the beauty of potatoes is their flexibility to go with just about anything. Some of my favorite recipes to pair with smashed potatoes:

The possibilities are endless. I’d love to hear about the complete meal you put together. Come on back and let me know in a comment or recipe review. And if you have any questions about these air fryer smashed potatoes I missed, you can drop them in the comments as well.

Air Fryer Smashed Potatoes

Air Fryer Smashed Potatoes

Yield: 6 Servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

Crispy golden brown smashed potatoes made entirely in an air fryer. No boiling required.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lb Baby Gold Potatoes
  • 2 Tbsp (32g) Olive Oil
  • 1 tsp Dried Rosemary
  • 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
  • 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
  • Kosher or Flake Salt, to taste

Instructions

  1. Wash and dry the potatoes before adding to an air fryer basket. Cook for 15-20 minutes at 400ºF or until the potatoes are fully cooked.
  2. Transfer the potatoes to a sheet pan and use the bottom of a cup or mug to smash the potatoes into thin coins, about 1/4" each. Don't over smash or you'll end up with mashed potatoes.
  3. Drizzle olive oil and seasoning over the potatoes and gently toss to evenly coat.
  4. Add the smashed potatoes back to the air fryer and cook an additional 15-20 minutes at 400ºF, shaking halfway through, until the potatoes are crispy golden brown.

Notes

I used a 6.5-quart Ninja Foodi for air frying. Different sizes of air fryers will cook faster or slower. Adjust cook times accordingly.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: about 3 oz
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 149Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 109mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 3gSugar: 1gProtein: 3g

Stacey Christie

Friday 28th of October 2022

Made these to use up red potatoes I had. I definitely needed to cook much longer then 20 minutes they were not soft enough to smash in that time, but just adjusted until they were about 30 minutes then smashed, drizzled the olive oil with herbs used a teaspoon of garlic powder with the rosemary S&P plug back in the airfryer for just under 10 minutes. Topped with cheese and let it melt in the basket. Served with over medium egg on top, diced green onions, hot sauce with crisp bacon and toast with jam. Excellent! Highly recommend this recipe! Thank you! Today, Huzzah is happy 😀

GameFaceLouie

Saturday 25th of February 2023

@Mason Woodruff,

Going to microwave the potatoes before smashing, then seasoning and air frying to cut down the time

Mason Woodruff

Monday 31st of October 2022

That sounds amazing. Thanks for the add-on ideas!

Jen K

Sunday 6th of February 2022

Can you use red potatoes?

Mason Woodruff

Friday 11th of February 2022

Definitely. I've used the tri-colored medleys several times. Just make sure you keep an eye on them towards the end with the darker colors.

Misty Norwood

Tuesday 30th of November 2021

These are a must! I added a little cheese, crispy bacon end light sour cream. What we didn’t eat for dinner, we reheated on our blackstone for breakfast the next morning and put a little crispness to the potatoes.

Carrie Lozano

Monday 29th of November 2021

I made these for Thanksgiving and they were a HIT!!!!!! I can’t wait to make them again! I love all your recipes

Kim

Thursday 19th of August 2021

These potatoes were so good and quick/easy to make. The only change I made was using 1 tsp. of garlic instead of the 1/2 tsp. They were perfect alone and we ate them as a snack, but they would be even better with some chimichurri sauce.

Mason Woodruff

Friday 20th of August 2021

Great, now I have to make another batch just so I can try them with chimichurri.

Skip to Recipe