With just three ingredients, these Taco Potatoes (taco fries) bake up crisp on the outside, fluffy in the middle, and loaded with irresistible taco flavor that everyone loves. You’ll be making these on repeat!
When I say easy, I really mean it. You only need three pantry staples to turn ordinary potatoes into something crave-worthy and fun.
They’re perfect for movie night snacks, for game day, or for warding off after-school munchies. Taco Fries are easy to make and SO affordable.
They’re a great side on Taco Tuesday and the hit of any taco bar spread. Skip the tortillas and build a mouthwatering Taco Bowl with these scrumptious Taco Potatoes as the base.
Serve them with tacos, burgers, Turkey Avocado Sandwiches or Hotdog Pigs in a Blanket. They’re a flavorful complement to lots of your family’s favorite dishes.
Whether you serve them as a side, a snack, or the base for loaded taco fries, they’re guaranteed to disappear fast. They’re super popular around our house — and I bet they will be in your house, too!
Ingredient Tips and Info
- Potatoes – I have made these with peeled russet potatoes, skin-on yellow potatoes, and both red and yellow baby potatoes — all with excellent results. Baby potatoes are certainly the easiest, but cutting down the larger potatoes is so much cheaper, at about half the price.
- Taco Seasoning – If you have a favorite taco seasoning brand, then you can definitely use it. I do hope you’ll try these with my homemade taco seasoning, though. It’s whole food ingredients, gluten-free, has no MSG, preservatives or fillers, and it adds a uniquely “cheesy” flavor to your favorite taco dishes.
- Avocado Oil – or the cooking oil of your choice. Avocado oil has a very high smoke point, so I always choose it for this recipe.
Let’s Talk Tools for Taco Fries
Air Fryer Racks
An Oven-Sized Air Fryer Rack [affiliate link] is not something I ever imagined myself using. However, that was based on a lack of knowledge.
I have avoided countertop air fryers because I can’t prepare enough of anything for our large family in just one cooking session.
Then I got a Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro [affiliate link]. It’s a convection oven/toaster oven/air fryer all-in-one. I ended up using it more than my oven. It was a daily-use appliance, and it came with an air fryer rack that could hold enough food for a larger family in a single cooking session, so that everyone could eat together.
Air Fryers vs True Convection Ovens
When we moved, I bought a new range, and it came with a True Convection oven that can air-fry. It also arrived with a sheetpan-style air fryer rack, similar to my old Breville countertop oven.
I’m not gonna go into detail, but I recently made a mistake that destroyed that induction range with True convection oven. Oy! I had to get a whole new range. My very generous husband replaced it with what I had already been loving and using. What a blessing! Again, it has True Convection and an air fry setting. It also came with another large air fryer rack for ovens [affiliate link].
Guys, I use those air fryer racks multiple times a week. I’ll be the first to admit that range ovens don’t always achieve the same shatteringly crisp air-fried food that smaller air fryers do. The countertop models have such small heating areas that they heat more efficiently and quickly.
That being said, if you are careful to get a range that has True Convection, not just a fan in the back, you will be shocked at the crisp textures you can achieve in that bigger space with the air fryer setting.
Convection vs True Convection
All convection ovens have a fan at the back to help distribute heat more evenly throughout the oven.
It still has the visible broiler element at the top of the oven, and in newer models, another element is under a panel at the bottom of the oven to make cleaning easier.
A True Convection oven, however, has a third heating element coiled around the fan behind the back wall of the oven. This heats the air before it’s blown into the oven and helps to keep oven temperatures more consistent.
The air that’s being circulated is already hot when it enters the oven which results in even heat, faster cooking times and crispier results.
They all work!
These scrumptious Taco Potatoes will come out perfectly using an air fryer on your countertop, a convection oven or a true convection oven with an air fryer setting.
As a matter of fact, though you may need to set the timer for a few minutes longer, if you use an air fryer rack like the one above, you’re still going to get outstanding results in a regular oven. I’ve tried these out on all settings!
The oven-sized air fryer rack [affiliate link] is definitely the secret to crispy exteriors and fluffy interiors on these delicious taco fries!
It even comes with a baking sheet to place on the bottom rack of the oven if you think what you’re cooking may drip while air frying. (I use that for roasting Cornish hens and whole chickens, or making Air Fryer Chicken Cordon Bleu. It keeps the bottom of my oven clean,)
What to Serve with Taco Fries
Deliciously craveable taco fries are great on their own. Try dunking them in Avocado Ranch Dressing. Or pair them with other taco night favorites, like
- Mexican Street Tacos
- Chicken Street Tacos
- Easy Ground Beef Tacos
- Creamy Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas.
Taco Potatoes can also be the easy gluten-free base for delectable taco bowls or salads.
Top them with
- Ground Beef Taco Meat
- shredded Southwest Chicken
- Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Beef
Now add your favorite taco toppings like sour cream, grated Cheddar and my easy pico de gallo, to make one of our best quick-and-easy taco-night dinners: Taco Bowls. They’re scrumptious! And friend, cheap and easy were never more popular. Everyone will love them!
How to Make Taco Potatoes
- Preheat the oven to 425° on the air fry, convection or standard oven roast/bake setting on your oven.
- Cut potatoes into bite-size chunks, home fry wedges or French fry shapes. This recipe works with peeled or unpeeled potatoes, though we tend to prefer skin-on for crackly crisp results.
- Toss the cut potatoes with avocado oil and taco seasoning.
- Spread the coated potatoes evenly in a single layer on an oven-sized air-fryer rack. (You can use a baking sheet if you don’t have an air-fryer rack. Spray the tray, but don’t use parchment as it holds the moisture and prevents crispy outsides. If using a baking sheet, you may want to flip the potatoes half way through roasting. The air fryer rack eliminates the need for that.)
- Air fry or roast the taco potatoes for 25 to 40 minutes at 425°. Timing will depend on your oven, the settings you’ve chosen and the size of your potato chunks. When they’re done, the potatoes will be fork-tender when poked with a fork and have crispy exteriors.
Whether you use them as the base of a full Mexican dinner, a scrumptious side dish or a craveable, poppable snack/appetizer, this easy three-ingredient recipe for Taco Potatoes will be a favorite of everyone you share them with.
I’m so excited for you to try them and work them into your meal rotation of easy, affordable meals that deliver on flavor. Enjoy, my friend!
The Recipe
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Taco Potatoes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Three-ingredient simple, craveable flavor, affordable, and easy. Use my homemade taco seasoning, and these crispy-on-the-outside, tender and fluffy inside Taco Potatoes are also gluten-free. They’re a perfectly poppable snack, a flavorful side dish or a hearty, delicious base to taco bowls and salads. A budget-friendly recipe that you’ll make over and over again!
Ingredients
- 3 lbs. yellow potatoes, skin on, cut into bite-sized chunks
- 2 Tablespoons avocado oil
- 3 Tablespoons taco seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425° on the air fry, convection or standard oven roast/bake setting of your oven.
- Cut potatoes into bite-size chunks, home fry wedges or French fry shapes. This recipe works with peeled or unpeeled potatoes, though we tend to prefer skin-on for crackly crisp results.
- Toss the cut potatoes with avocado oil and taco seasoning.
- Spread the coated potatoes evenly in a single layer on an oven-sized air-fryer rack. (You can use a baking sheet if you don’t have an air-fryer rack. Spray the tray, but don’t use parchment as it holds the moisture and prevents crispy outsides. If using a baking sheet, you may want to flip the potatoes half way through roasting. The air fryer rack eliminates the need for that.)
- Air fry or roast the taco potatoes for 25 to 40 minutes at 425°. Timing will depend on your oven, the settings you’ve chosen and the size of your potato chunks. When they’re done, the potatoes will be fork-tender when poked with a fork and have crispy exteriors.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Main Dish, Beef, Taco Night
- Method: Stovetop, Oven, Air Fryer
- Cuisine: Mexican-American
About Glenda
I believe cooking from scratch doesn’t have to be complicated and that YOU can do it. My simple recipes, tutorials, and cooking tips will help you get weeknight dinners on the table with less stress. Forget takeout or the drive-thru. Let me show you how to make homemade easy. Read more...
