How to Make Crinkle Cut Fries in an Air Fryer or Oven

In this recipe, I’ll show you how to cut crinkle cut fries from russet potatoes and make crispy fries in the air fryer or oven with a variety of fry seasoning blends. You’ll also find some tips for making your own butternut squash zig zags and ideas for making homemade crinkle cut fries with sweet potatoes and other vegetables. So strap in and get ready to make some kinda healthy french fries!

How to Cut Potatoes for Crinkle Cut Fries

There’s no magical knife skill for making crinkle cut vegetables—just a tool. You can find several options on Amazon that either look like a knife or with a handle directly over the blade.

For the actual technique, it’s no different than cutting any other fries. Cut a potato in half lengthwise, place it flat-side-down, and cut each half into 4-5 pieces. Turn those pieces on their side and cut them into 2-3 pieces. Voilà. Crinkle cut fries.

I went with peeled potatoes for a more classic crinkle cut french fry look, but you could definitely skip that step and leave the skin on.

For Air Fryer Crinkle Cut Fries

I made the fries you see picture with the burgers in the air fryer. All you need is a little bit of oil (I used olive) and salt to finish. I wouldn’t skip the oil entirely, but you can try cutting the oil in half or even using some cooking spray if you’d like to reduce the fat content a bit.

As for the actual air frying, I used a 6.5 quart Ninja Foodi to air fry a pound of fries for 16-20 minutes, shaking once about halfway through. Different sizes and models of air fryers may call for different cook times. So check on your fries early and often if it’s your first time.

And like Michael Keaton’s character in The Founder kept reminding his employees, salt your fries when they’re fresh out of the air fryer. I’ve also included more seasoning ideas like cajun and garlic parmesan in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

For Baked Crinkle Cut Fries

I used the garlic parmesan seasoning option to make the oven baked crinkle cut fries you see above. The air fryer does a phenomenal job at making crispy fries that the oven struggles to live up to. However, adding something like grated parmesan adds a lot of crisp in oven baked versions.

For baking, I went with a 20-30 minute cook time at 425ºF. The parmesan will brown quite a bit on the side of the potato that’s in contact with the pan. So you may want to flip your fries halfway through, but it’s not 100% necessary. As long as you keep an eye on your fries, you can extend to get them as crispy as you’d like. You may also want to add a sheet of parchment paper to your baking sheet to limit sticking.

Other Ideas for Crinkle Cut Fries

In case you’re wondering about using sweet potatoes or other veggies, you can make crinkle cut fries out of just about anything. You can make your own butternut squash zig zags using the crinkle cutter tool by peeling and de-seeding a butternut squash before cutting. I like baking butternut squash zig zags with the garlic parmesan seasoning in the recipe card below.

You can also check out my spicy air fryer sweet potato fries if you need some more seasoning ideas for your crinkle cut sweet potato fries.

What to Serve with Your Crinkle Cut Fries

For the burgers you see in photos, I made smash burgers with 96% lean ground beef. To make your own, divide a pound of ground beef into 4 pieces and form small balls. Don’t over handle, though! Heat a large skillet with a tiny bit of oil or cooking spray and place a ball in the pan.

Use a spatula to press each ball as flat as possible, dragging the sides to create lacy edges. Add salt and pepper, cook for a few minutes, flip, add American cheese slices, and finish cooking for a minute or two until the cheese melts and the burgers are cooked through.

If you’re a fan of In-N-Out burgers, you’ll want to check out my macro friendly double doubles using this method.

If you wanted some non-burger options, check out my air fryer chicken nuggets, pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches, or buttermilk baked chicken tenderloins.

Whatever you end up pairing your fries with, I’d love to hear about it. Be sure to come back and leave a recipe review or comment letting me know what you thought about the fries. You’ll find the printable recipe card below. Enjoy!