You used to see loaded potato skins as an appetizer offering on every restaurant menu. New ideas have crowded them out, but I for one still hold a special place in my heart for loaded potato skins!
And now I developed a way to make these delicious morsels in the air fryer! The advantage? Less grease and mess, exceptional crunch and taste, and maybe just a little bit healthier than a typical potato skin.
Once you try these, you'll want to make them again and again. Potato skin cravings - it's a thing!
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Ingredients Needed for These Air Fryer Skins
- Russet potatoes
- Butter
- Green onions
- Shredded cheese
- Bacon (cooked)
- Sour cream
How to Make Loaded Potato Skins in the Air Fryer
Bake and Prep the Potatoes
- First, bake your potatoes. You can do this in the conventional oven if you'd like (you can do this a day ahead if that's more convenient) or use the air fryer. For either method, wrap each potato in foil and pierce with a fork to make a couple holes to allow steam to escape. In a conventional oven, bake at 400°F for 45 minutes to an hour. In my air fryer, 35 minutes at the same temperature is enough for medium sized potatoes. Allow the potatoes to cool enough to handle.
2. Scoop most of the cooked potato out of the skin, leaving about ¼ inch of potato along the edge of the skin. To make this come out in a clean line, I typically score the circle around the edge with a sharp knife, then use a spoon for the scooping step. Works great!
3. Brush the surface of each potato skin with melted butter. I like to flip them skin side up, brush that side, then flip over and brush the potato side with more butter.
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How to Cook Potato Skins in the Air Fryer
4. Place the potato skins, skin side down, in the air fryer basket. Try to maintain a little space between the skins rather than crowding them together. This will help to make that lovely crispy skin we all crave! This is easier in a toaster oven style air fryer, but if you have the kind with a smaller basket you can do this in batches.
5. Air fry the empty potato skin "shells" at 400℉ for 5 minutes.
6. While the shells are cooking, prep the ingredients to make these into "loaded" potato skins. I use the pre-shredded cheese for ease, but I won't argue if you like to shred your own. It actually melts a little better that way!
But I definitely must have bacon on my potato skins. I like to buy the "fully cooked" bacon and microwave it for a minute or so to make it really crisp. Once the bacon is crisp, chop it into crumbles.
7. When the first cook cycle is done, remove the potato skins from the air fryer. If feasible, remove the whole basket and fill the shells while still in the basket, then put it all back in the air fryer.
To fill the potato skins, I start with a sprinkle of shredded cheese, then distribute the bacon crumbles evenly among the shells. I like to finish with a little more cheese just to ensure the perfect amount of cheesy taste in every bite.
8. Air fry the loaded potato skins for an additional 2-3 minutes. I use that time to chop the green onion. It'll be ready to add as soon as the skins come out of the air fryer.
9. Sprinkle the cooked potato skins with chopped green onion right away (this will help the green onion to "stick" to the melted cheese). Serve warm with a dollop of sour cream for dipping!
How to Reheat Potato Skins
When you've done every cooking step in the air fryer, it of course makes sense to use the air fryer again to reheat any leftovers! If your air fryer has a bake setting, use that and set the temperature to 350℉. Reheat the potato skins for 5 to 8 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the skin is crisp.
📖 Recipe
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Air Fryer Potato Skins
Ingredients
- 4 russet potatoes medium
- ¼ cup butter melted
- 1 cup Cheddar cheese shredded
- 4 slices bacon cooked
- 1-2 green onions chopped
- ⅓ cup sour cream for serving
Instructions
- First, bake the potatoes. This can be done a day or two before if you like to prep ahead. Just scrub the potatoes well, wrap individually in foil and poke each one a few times with a fork. Bake at 400°F in a conventional oven for 45 to 60 minutes, or in an air fryer for 35 to 45 minutes. Use a fork or knife to verify the potatoes are fork tender all the way through.4 russet potatoes
- Allow the baked potatoes to cool enough to handle. Unwrap and cut each in half lengthwise.
- Scoop most of the cooked potato out of the skin, leaving about ¼ inch of potato along the edge of the skin.
- Brush the surface of each potato skin with melted butter, on both sides.¼ cup butter
- Place the potato skins, skin side down, in the air fryer basket.
- Air fry the empty potato skin "shells" at 400℉ for 5 minutes.
- Prep the other ingredients as needed: shred the cheese, as needed, and cook and chop the bacon.1 cup Cheddar cheese, 4 slices bacon
- Remove the potato skins and add the cheese and bacon. (I add this as cheese - bacon - a little more cheese.)
- Return the potato skins in the basket to the air fryer and air fry an additional 3 minutes to melt the cheese and crisp the skin.
- When the cook cycle is done, remove the potato skins and immediately sprinkle with chopped green onion.1-2 green onions
- Serve with sour cream or any dipping sauce of choice!⅓ cup sour cream
Nutrition
Nutrition values are estimates only, using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
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