Air Fryer Baked Potatoes

"We independently review the products we recommend! When you buy through links on AHealthyBowl.com, We may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more"

To be honest, no matter how much I preach about low-calorie foods, healthy salads, and nutritious meals, pizza is still my favorite meal, and a flavor in everything. So I came up with an interesting variation to the regular Air Fryer Baked Potatoes that you can use as the potluck sides to serve a crowd. Yes, you guessed that right, I made them in Pizza flavor. With loads of chicken, cheese, and an amazing Pizza Sauce, this recipe might make a bombastic addition to your regular menu.

Contents

The recipe is open to customization and variations. To make it vegetarian, skip the chicken mince and proceed with vegetables. If you don’t like vegetables or want to skip a particular one, go ahead. But let me assure you, with my version, you are going to make this recipe your children’s favorite. The best thing is, you can bake it in an oven as well as use the air fryer too. So let’s see how it is made.

Why Do I make this in an Air fryer?

A good question. We have a lot of baked potato recipes too. Even this recipe can also be made in an oven at almost the same time. But the reason I always recommend an air fryer for this recipe is because

The outside of the potatoes including the skin becomes crispy.
An air fryer takes less time compared to a traditional oven.
You need no heavy butter, fat, or oil. Just a light coating on the outside and you are good to go.
It Can also be reheated in the air fryer without losing the same great taste and texture.

Pro Tips For Ingredients:

Potatoes

For this dish, choose only the same-sized, large Russet potatoes. A large potato will offer more room for filling and will give a soft, buttery texture.

Wash and scrub the potatoes to clean the exterior but do not remove the skin.

Prick the potatoes with a fork but do not poke large holes.

Mince

Although I always use chicken mince because my child loves it like this, be creative and use beef mince as per your liking. Remember that beef mince might take a little more time to get tender.

If you don’t want to add mince, you can always go for boneless chunks, pepperonis, or sausages.

Vegetables

Just as you customize the veggies in your pizza, you can customize the veggies here as well. Add as many as you like. I mostly go with the onion, tomato, and capsicum, but you can add green peas, mushrooms, shallots, or any other you and your family likes.

If you are using corn or peas, be sure that they are boiled and tender before you fill them inside the potatoes.

Cheese

Use both cheddar and mozzarella cheese in equal amounts. The combination of the two creates the delicious flavor and that classic pull-like-strings-like appearance, just as in pizza.

Ingredients for Air-fryer baked potatoes

For filling

200-gram Chicken Mince
1 tsp Ginger Garlic paste
4 large Potatoes washed
¼ tsp Black Pepper Powder
½ tsp Red Chilli Powder
½ tsp Paprika powder
¼ tsp Salt
Cooling oil as required

For assembling

1 tsp Butter
Pizza sauce, as required
½ cup cheddar cheese grated
½ cup mozzarella cheese grated
1 medium-sized capsicum chopped
1 medium-sized tomato chopped
1 medium-sized onion chopped
A few black olives sliced
Crushed Red Chilli as required
Dried Oregano as required

How to make Air fryer Baked Potatoes?

Prepping the potatoes

For this recipe, choose only large-sized potatoes. Wash and clean them thoroughly from the outside. Scrub them a bit to ensure complete removal of dirt.

With the help of a fork, prick the potatoes all over the surface just lightly so that the steam can release occasionally.

Preheat the air fryer to 160°C.

Bake the potato in the Air fryer for about 30 to 40 minutes. You can also bake it in the oven at 180 C for an hour. Do NOT wrap it in any foil because it steams the potato and makes it soft instead of keeping the crisp outside.

Making the filling

If you are using chicken mince, pour a bit of oil into the pan and fry till the mince changes its color.

Add ginger garlic paste, salt, black pepper, red chili powder, and paprika powder. If you want to keep it less spicy, omit red chili powder and reduce the black pepper.

Let the mince cook for a while, and then set aside.

Instead of chicken mince, you can use beef mince the same way, but it may require additional time to cook and tenderize.

To reduce the cooking time, you can also use pre-pack pepperonis or sausages cut into thin slices.

The veggies

Meanwhile, chop one medium-sized onion, one tomato, and one capsicum into small cubes. Cut olives into thin slices. Chop mushrooms if you would like to add some.

If you like to add corn or peas, boil them till the vegetables become tender.

Use pre-pack pizza sauce for the best taste.

The assembling

When the potato is done, take it out of the air fryer. Make a long cut in the potato with the help of a knife. Scoop a spoon inside and mash some of the potatoes to make a hollow space for the filling.

Pour in one tbsp. of pizza sauce. Layer half of the cheddar and mozzarella cheese.

Fill in the prepared mince, pepperoni, or sausages. Fill in the chopped vegetables.

Layer the remaining cheese and set olives on top. Sprinkle a bit of dried oregano and red chili flakes.

Air fryer baked Potatoes ready for air frying

The final touch

When everything is set, place it in a preheated air fryer at 160 C and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

You can also bake it in an oven at 180C for 5 minutes. Serve hot.

How to store the leftovers?

The best way to store the air fryer baked potatoes is to keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. This will keep them good for at least 3 to 4 days.
If you have to reheat air-fryer baked potatoes, reheat them in an air fryer at 400°F for just 4 to 5 minutes.
Freezing is not recommended, because it makes potatoes moist and watery. But if you need to freeze them, freeze them before the second baking so that during the second baking, any excess moisture gets removed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are baked potatoes better in the oven or air fryer?

The air fryer works like an oven but produces a very crisp exterior and a fluffy, buttery inner side. The air fryer yields an evenly cooked potato as compared to microwave or baking methods.
In regular baking, the result is almost the same except that the outside may remain soft and not get as crispy.

Do baked potatoes cook faster in aluminum foil?

No. It’s not true. The layer of aluminum foil takes time to heat itself, so the overall cooking time slightly increases. Therefore the potatoes cook faster and better without being wrapped in foil.

Can you bake sweet potatoes in an air fryer?

Yes, you can. You can bake a sweet potato in the air fryer and it takes half the time than in the oven. The instructions for selecting the potatoes are the same as mentioned above. You can choose to load the baked sweet potato with any topping you like e.g. butter, sour cream, cream cheese, brown sugar, maple syrup, blueberries, cheese, etc. The options are unlimited.

What size of the air fryer is best?

If you have a small family having 3 members, then an air fryer with a capacity of 4 to 5 quartz is best. However if you decide to cook larger meals and often use an air fryer, a 5-quart capacity is ideal. I recommend the COSORI Pro Air Fryer, which has a capacity of 5.8 quarts and can hold more volume of food.

Print Pin

5 from 3 votes