The Healthiest Way To Cook Crispy Potatoes

They say home-cooked meals are healthier than store-bought ones. However, this doesn't necessarily apply to everyone's favorite crispy potatoes. You may know how to make the crispiest fries at home, but the cooking method you use might be doing more harm than good to your health. Traditionally, crispy potatoes are cooked by deep frying in oil. This method can drastically increase the potatoes' calorie and fat content as it involves a large volume of cooking oil. There is also the issue with acrylamide formation, a potentially carcinogenic compound that forms when starchy foods are cooked at high temperatures.

Oven baked is considered a healthier alternative to deep fried, but it's also been found to cause similar issues. More often than not, a liberal amount of oil is needed to ensure a crispy, golden brown result is achieved in the oven. Plus, the long exposure to high heat in baking has likewise been found to promote acrylamide formation, albeit at lower levels than deep frying.

Considering how both methods make crispy potatoes relatively unhealthy, many people are turning to a newer cooking process to reduce the downsides without ruining the texture of the dish. Air frying is a modern method of frying using hot air to cook food. And since the process requires little to no oil, it's touted as the healthiest way to cook crispy potatoes. Just make sure you're shaking the basket halfway through for the crispiest air fryer fries.

Given all the attention air frying has been getting from the health-conscious community, it begs the question: Do air fryers deserve the hype? Significant research has been done which suggests that cooking with less oil cuts down the risk of many health problems, including heart disease and cancer. Air frying without oil has been found to cut calories by 70% to 80%, with one study discovering it can lower the acrylamide found in fried potatoes by 90%.

That isn't to say there haven't been other studies which contradict this healthy air fryer narrative. For example, a recent study published in Frontiers in Nutrition found that fries baked in the oven form less acrylamide than they do with the air fryer. In fact, the study found the highest acrylamide content in fries made with the air fryer; even more than what was found in deep fried fries. The authors pointed out that the difference in acrylamide levels produced from all three cooking methods was "not statistically significant" and that further investigation was needed to confirm their findings.

If you're more worried about acrylamide than calories and fats, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends lowering your intake of fried potato products, such as french fries and potato chips. If you're not ready to give them up entirely, you can soak the raw potato slices in water for 30 minutes before frying or roasting them to reduce acrylamide levels. Cooking them slowly at lower temperatures and stopping the process once they've turned golden yellow will also help.