The Secret to Making Great Hash Browns in Air Fryer

Make your own hash browns in air fryer at home. Depending on the brand, frozen hash brown patties can contain palm oil. Since we avoid palm oil in my house (my son gets sick from it) we use our air fryer a lot to replace processed foods. 

There is nothing quite like dishes made from scratch. This air fryer hash brown recipe makes it easy to get homemade hash browns with minimal effort. Of course, you can use frozen hash browns in an air fryer (look for palm oil free hash browns). Just be sure to thaw them out first, and pat dry to remove moisture.

The great thing about air fryer hash browns is that they are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. They have just the right amount of firmness.

You can season hash browns any way you like. See some suggestions below. What’s important here is to make something that you and your family will enjoy. This easy hash brown recipe for the air fryer will become a breakfast and brunch staple. 

Hash Browns in Air Fryer

I’m always looking for ways to use my air fryer because it takes up quite a bit of room in my kitchen. There are so many helpful appliances available but with limited kitchen space, each one has to serve many purposes or be something I will use often. Being able to use an air fryer to make hash browns makes me happy I bought it.

What makes these hash browns extra-delicious is cooling them in water and then drying them completely before putting them in the air fryer.

There’s a bit of prep time to grate or shred the potatoes but it’s worth it. Use these steps to make air fryer hash browns. This recipe uses two potatoes and yields two servings. If you have a large air fryer, you can double this recipe easily.

If you make more than one batch, pay attention to cook times. After the air fryer has heated up, it will cook them faster.

What You Need for This Recipe

• Potatoes – Yellow potatoes or Dutch gold are very good; peeled and left whole
• Olive oil
• Himalayan sea salt or table salt
• Roasted garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Coarse ground black pepper

Optional: grated Parmesan or cheddar cheese

How to Make Air Fryer Hash Browns

1. Fill a large bowl with cold water. Use a grater to shred potatoes into the water. You can also use the grate function on a high-performance blender.

2. Stir the potatoes a couple of times and let sit for 20 minutes. Preparing the potatoes this way will make them crisp up quite nicely. 

3. After 20 minutes, drain potatoes in a colander. Rinse with very cold water. Dry out the bowl they were in.

4. Place the shredded potatoes on some paper towels or a clean towel. Place several paper towels on top and gently press to extract any remaining water. You want to get them as dry as you can.

5. Return the potatoes to the dried bowl and add the seasoning, oil, and cheese (if desired). Mix well.

6. Spray or wipe down the air fryer rack or basket with olive oil. Place the potato mixture on the rack or basket and gently press down to shape and flatten into patties. You want the potatoes in an even layer. It’s important they are the same thickness when cooking.

7. Cook at 380 degrees F for 17 – 20 minutes or until your air fryer hash browns are golden brown and crispy.

8. Carefully remove — they will be hot — and enjoy. Add salt and pepper as desired.

Pro Tips

Don’t worry too much about the shape of the hash brown patties. You can make them into circles or ovals. However you make them, they will taste great. The important thing is to make them relatively the same thickness so they cook evenly.

Be aware that air fryers will cook differently. Note how long it takes to make hash browns in your air fryer. Also, if you make a second batch, it will likely take less time the second time because it will be hotter.

Seasoning Ideas

The seasoning in this recipe makes delicious, crispy homestyle hash browns, but you can also use Cajun seasoning or Italian seasoning. Salt and pepper are also excellent.

My family’s all-time favorite spice is McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning. It’s at Costco and grocery stores. We put it lots of foods, including cauliflower rice, roasted vegetables, baked potatoes, and in our breakfast frittata muffins. If we don’t top the hash browns with salt and pepper, we will use this spice.

This recipe is gluten free. If you don’t use cheese (and you certainly don’t need to; we don’t) these are vegan and vegetarian as well. Salt and pepper goes a long way with this recipe.

How Do I Cook Frozen Hash Browns in an Air Fryer?

You can make frozen hash browns in air fryer as well. Remove as much moisture as possible by blotting them with a clean kitchen towel. Put them in the air fryer frozen. Do not thaw frozen hash browns.

Using an Air Fryer

Potatoes are filling, nutritious and versatile. There are many ways to prepare potatoes in an air fryer. Making these hash browns in the air fryer is an easy and fun way to make them. I make French fries as well.

It also makes me glad I bought an air fryer. Before having one, it was hard to know the benefits of owning one. I wondered if an air fryer was worth it. If you don’t want to buy a stand alone model, you can get one that does multiple things. The Ninja Foodi is an example of an air fryer that is also a grill and cooker. Mine is a basic air fryer.

Potatoes for Breakfast or Anytime

Since figuring out my son has a palm oil allergy and palm oil intolerance, I learned to cook most of our foods from scratch. Potatoes are filling and inexpensive, and can be prepared in many ways. When it fits in our budget, I buy organic. 

I do not buy frozen potatoes anymore because of the extra ingredients in them. Many hash brown patties contain palm oil when you buy them at the store. (We don’t order them in restaurants either.)

Many prepared potatoes are palm oil free — be sure to read ingredient labels — but as I started making most all of our foods from scratch, I got in the habit of making them at home. It’s simple to put baked potatoes in the oven or on the grill. Sometimes I cut potatoes and cook them with onions on the stovetop. 

The great news is when you make hash brown patties at home, it doesn’t matter how they look. The important thing is to drain as much moisture out of them as you can. Also be sure they aren’t overlapping when you cook them in the air fryer.

Many breakfast foods are easy to prepare at home. As we started reading labels on foods common for breakfast, we saw many had palm oil ingredients. Learn how to have breakfast without palm oil. This air fryer hash brown recipe is a great place to start!

Making hash browns in air fryer is another way to use this kitchen appliance and another potato recipe in our rotation. If you make them, please let me know your favorite seasonings or toppings in the Comments below. 

Looking for other uses? Use it to make air fryer popcorn and air fryer eggplant. If you want another tasty potato recipe, make air fryer home fries. They are incredible. Potatoes are so easy to cook in an air fryer. 

Another fantastic potato recipe is this old-fashioned one for pommes frites.