Air Fryer Cajun fries in a bowl.

Crispy Air Fryer Spicy Cajun Fries

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Martin (Dad What Cooks)
By Martin (Dad What Cooks) Created October 13, 2024 Updated December 10, 2025

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Go for that five guys Cajun spiced fries flavour with my Crispy Air Fryer Spicy Cajun Fries recipe. These are quick to make in your Ninja Foodi and can be on your plate in 30 minutes. A great alternative to regular chips.

In this post I show you how to turn a regular potato into a batch of tasty air fryer made Cajun chips. You can use a premade Cajun seasoning or make your own.

Air Fryer Cajun fries in a bowl seasoned.

Get the Cajun flavour with a few spices and an air fryer.

This is a bit of a spin off the regular air fryer Foodi chips and works really well with a tasty California Guacamole burger.

Contents

Ingredients

This is such a simple dish and literally has only 3 ingredients. They are quite healthy too as cooking fries in the air fryer uses way less oil that a regular deep fat fryer.

Ingredients for Crispy Air Fryer Cajun fries.
  • Cajun seasoning
  • Potatoes
  • Vegetable oil

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

The process is very similar to regular chips in the air fryer as per my other post. However the special thing about these fries is the spicy Cajun seasoning.

Raw potatoes peeled and unpeeled.
  1. Step 1: Peel the potatoes - aim for 3 potatoes per 2 people for an average amount of fries.
Slicing potatoes into fries.
  1. Step 2: Slice the potatoes lengthways and then along. Aim for 0.5cm wide pieces (think McDonalds fries size).
Chips soaking in salt water to get rid of starch.
  1. Step 3: Soak the chipped potatoes in 1.5 litres of water with 1 teaspoon of salt stirred in. Soak until ready to cook, ideally more that 30 minutes but can be just a few if you are in a rush. This step helps get rid of starch.
Drying out cut fries on kitchen roll.
  1. Step 4: Pat dry on kitchen roll or a tea towel. Make sure to dry off as much water as possible to help make the fries extra crispy.
Raw chipped potato seasoned and oiled.
  1. Step 5: In a dry bowl, put the fries in and then add 1 tablespoon of oil. Stir around to cover all the fries and then tip in 1 tablespoon of Cajun seasoning. Mix this around until all the fries are covered.
Ninja air fryer at 200C for 20 minutes.
  1. Step 6: In your pre-heated air fryer, cook on air fry mode on the roasting tray at the bottom for 20 minutes at 200C.
Fries cooked in an air fryer.
  1. Step 7: Half way through cooking, check the fries and give them a shake around to even out the cooking.
Air Fryer Cajun fries in a bowl seasoned.
  1. Step 8: After 20 minutes, the fries will be ready. Pat down with a little kitchen roll to remove excess oil and serve.

Aim to serve as soon as possible to them coming out of the air fryer. If they sit around for too long the fries could lose their crispness.

Making Cajun Seasoning

As the pictures show, I have made my own Cajun seasoning in a batch and store it in a spare spice jar. You can buy pre-made Cajun seasoning but you might find you already have the majority of the ingredients if you have a well stocked pantry.

To make a seasoning from scratch the ingredients you need are:

  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoon white pepper (ground)
  • 2 teaspoon onion powder

Then mix them altogether and store in an airtight dry container. The recipe for these fries calls for 1 tablespoon of the completed mix.

Top Tip

Keep the size of the fries as similar as possible when chopping them. This will ensure all the fries are cooked equally during the time in the air fryer.

Substitutions

The Cajun seasoning can be swapped out for different types of spices or seasons.

  • BBQ - go for a meaty BBQ flavour seasoning for a lighter taste.
  • Lemon Chicken - to get that Nando's flavour, try swapping the seasoning for lemon chicken flavour
  • Salt and Pepper - simple salt and pepper flavours will work well with these fries too.

Variations

There are a few twists you could try with these fries.

  • KFC style - following my KFC style seasoning post, try adding the KFC coating to the fries instead of the Cajun seasoning.
  • Chinese style - add garlic, chili pepper and a teaspoon of Chinese five spice for a salt and pepper style flavour.

Equipment

The key to this dish is the air fryer. My Ninja Foodi 15 in 1 offers me a large range of versatility on what and how I can cook. I'd recommend checking out the range that Ninja do (other air fryers are available of course). Find out more details here about what types are for sale.

Storage

These fries are best eaten once cooked, they don't really store too well. If you want to prepare the chips in advance however that will work. Keep them in water and then when ready, dry them off and add seasoning before cooking as per steps 4 and 5.

FAQ

Why are my fries are soggy when I air fry them

If you soak your fries when raw for at least 30 minutes, this will remove a lot of the starch from them and end up with a crispier batch of fries. Also make sure that you dry them off fully after taking them out of the water before putting the oil on them.

Lastly, don't pack too many fries in the air fryer and try to cook them all at once. This will cause an excess of steam and therefore make them soggy.

Looking for other sides like this? Try these:

Pairing

Some ideas to serve these fries along side:

The Recipe

Air Fryer Cajun fries in a bowl.

Crispy Air Fryer Spicy Cajun Fries

Cook these spicy fries in your air fryer.
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Course: BBQ, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: American, Spanish
Keyword: air fryer fries, cajun, Crispy Air Fryer Spicy Cajun Fries, quick chips
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 2 portions
Calories: 316kcal
Author: Martin (Dad What Cooks)
Cost: £1

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 3 Potatoes
  • 1 tablespoon Cajun spice mix
  • 1 tablespoon Vegetable oil

Instructions

  • Peel the potatoes and slice them into thin fries shapes. Think McDonalds type fries size.
    3 Potatoes
  • Place the peeled and chipped fries into a bowl of cold salted water to soak for a few minutes (30 minutes or more works best but 10 minutes will be fine).
  • Drain the fries and then set them out on some kitchen roll or a tea towel to dry
  • Place back in the now empty bowl and tip in the oil and the Cajun mix. Mix thoroughly so the spice mix sticks on all the fries.
    1 tbsp Cajun spice mix, 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
  • Cook in the air fryer on 200℃ for 20 minutes. Shake half way through cooking.

Notes

The salt water can be made by adding 1 teaspoon of salt to 1.5 litres of water. This should be enough to cover the potatoes.

Nutrition

Calories: 316kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.04g | Sodium: 22mg | Potassium: 1425mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 1730IU | Vitamin C: 63mg | Calcium: 46mg | Iron: 3mg

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