Ninja Foodi Air Fryer Baked Potatoes

Air fryer baked potatoes are so amazing! With crispy skins on the outside and a soft tender inside it’s the perfect side dish or dinner stuffed with chili! If you want to make Ninja Foodi baked potatoes these directions work too.

Ninja Foodi Baked Potatoes

Whether you serve potatoes in the air fryer with dinner or make them your main dish you’ll never make them another way again. Our favorite meal is to stuff them full of chili with cheese on top. Talk about a super cheap meal that warms you all over and reminds me of my childhood.

We live in Idaho so yes we know a lot about potatoes. 😉 As far as this goes we are going to focus on Russets because when you think of baked, those are what you picture. For years we only made pressure cooker baked potatoes, but then this happened.

Cook time below refers to them, medium size is always what I recommend. Air frying is the way to go! Let us know what you think after your first batch. 😉

Ninja Air Fryer Baked Potato

I still love potatoes in a smoker but you can get that same crispiness in a fraction of the time using your Cosori, Foodi or other brand. Here are a few questions you might have before you get started;

This is the machine I have, seen below. It’s actually a pressure cooker and air fryer so you can do both functions. It is the original first version that came out so it may look just a bit different if you bought yours recently. I guess I could upgrade but this works just great so I don’t see the need. Biggest difference is mine is larger.

This is what you’re going to need to pick up in order to get started. You don’t need a lot really. The biggest tip for success is drying the outside of the skin after you rinse and remove the outer debris. For that you can use a kitchen towel or a few paper towels.

How to Get Crispy Baked Potatoes in Air Fryer

The more dry you can get the outside the crispier the potato skins will be, and that is the ultimate goal right?? Then coat with oil well and coat with salt especially if you want to make air fryer potato skins with them. Best salt you can use is sea salt which is bigger than what you have on your table so you pack on the flavor and dry out the outside a bit better.

What happens if you don’t wrap potatoes in foil?

The outsides will get really really crispy, that is the way we like them to be. If you just want a little crisp then wrap with aluminum for 3/4 of the time, remove, spray with oil and add salt. Then continue at this time so the insides are mostly done but you are just adding a little crisp. We prefer without foil the whole time when air fried.

1. Russet potatoes – all similar sized potatoes so they get done at the same time, medium is best
2. Coarse sea salt
3. Olive oil
4. Air fryer basket 
5. Favorite toppings if you’re loading them up
   1. We love pressure cooker chili 

Literally that is it, other than your air fryer. So quick and easy with about a 40 minutes cook time. Any brand will do. If you’d rather slice them and make air fryer french fries those are good too, especially for little hands that love everything finger food related.

Why do you need to use olive oil to make baked potatoes in the air fryer?

It allows the skins to really crisp up. Using really good EVO adds great flavor to the skins as well. Olive oil allows the salt to really stick to the potato skin and is a healthier version than vegetable or canola but those are options as well. I always always have olive on the counter next to the stovetop and a gallon of it in the pantry. Yes, I use it that often. It offers a great flavor and is great for your heart as well.

Do you put salt on potatoes before cooking?

Yes, use the larger chunks called sea salt. It’s larger than table salt, thus not coating the entire skin. Sea salt has a great flavor to it, you can find it in pink and/or truffle versions occasionally too that are “fancier” and super yummy. Salt also dries out the outsides more too so you get that crispy crunchy texture like the restaurants do.

What is the best potato for baking?

To start, you need to choose the best type of potato. We live in Idaho so a bag of russet potatoes are easy to find, and in fact are the best for baking! They are a high starch potato that will lend a light, mealy texture. Yukon Gold have thinner skins and red are more firm so they may take a bit longer to get tender.

Baked potato toppings

I mean everyone has their own favorites right?? If you are up for a few new suggestions to change up your meal planning here are some that we think of right away.

1. 5 ingredient Crockpot chili
   1. Instructions for pressure cooker and slow cooker above
2. Pressure cooker broccoli
   1. Pair with a homemade cheese sauce
3. Sour cream and bacon bits
4. Salsa for a really low fat and gluten free meal

Should baked potatoes be wrapped in foil?

Do not wrap potatoes in aluminum foil for baking in an oven or in an air fryer. Foil holds in moisture and steams the potatoes, resulting in a “boiled” taste and texture. In an oven you’ll need to turn the potatoes over halfway through the baking time, it isn’t necessary using this method though.

How to Bake Potatoes in Ninja Foodi

You can use any brand machine you have though. Want a sweeter side? You can follow the same basic directions to make a few Sweet potato in the air fryer with butter and cinnamon and sugar too.

1. Wash your potatoes and dry them off with a few paper towels.
2. Poke around each one with a fork.
3. Liberally rub olive oil on each one (so much that they’re kinda’ dripping).
4. Sprinkle coarse salt all over each one.

Then place each one into your air fryer basket so they’re not overlapping. This is important so the skins really get nice and crispy all the way around.

1. Set temperature to 400 degrees for 35 minutes, then check by poking in the middle with a fork or knife.
2. If they aren’t tender enough in the middle, set timer for another 5 minutes and check again.
   1. cook time will vary depending on how large your taters are but 40 minutes is about average.

Depending on the size of your potatoes timing will vary slightly from 30 minutes to 45 for large potatoes. 400 degrees works perfectly for all sizes. 

Want to make them twice baked potatoes once you’re done?? You totally can. Just slice in half, scoop out the insides and add all the goodies. Mash it all together, fill back into the skins and air fry for a few minutes until the top cheese is melted.

Can you reheat a potato in an air fryer ?

Absolutely, not just fresh but you can reheat baked potato in Ninja Foodi air fryer too. Seriously the best way to do it so it gets warmed but the skins get nice and crispy again as well. Then fill with things like broccoli and cheese, chili, or dice up and make a hash out of it in a skillet.

You can even skin them and make a batch of creamy air fryer mashed potatoes if you’d rather. These may be a game changers for your family too.

Looking for other easy Ninja Foodi air fryer recipes? We have a bunch of other ideas you will thoroughly enjoy right here, let us know which are your favorites.

• These air fryer Hasselback potatoes really rock with cheese and bacon
• Air fryer kale chips and air fryer zucchini chips are great snacks
• Our air fryer tater tots are so good too

Print recipe with nutritional information below to keep on hand. Let us know what you think of this method of making an easy air fryer baked potato in the comments below! But wait, there’s more to try this week too!

If you have little ones at home, I always loved making everything bite sized! Like that too? Try roasting potatoes in air fryer with little ones like these! Mixed with some seasonings, olive oil and diced onions they’re full of flavor and faster to get tender.