These air fried potato peels are a hot & crispy snack. Nosh on them while you wait for dinner to finish. A tasty way to make sure food doesn’t go to waste!

Since so many holiday foods are only improved by a pile of potatoes next to them, this is the time of year when the potato peeler gets a workout.

Truth be told, when I’m making mashed potatoes or mustard mashed potatoes just for myself, I usually leave the skin on. I like having a little extra texture, and the “homemade” quality that the peels give. Plus, there are nutrients in the peel that I don’t want to skip.

(I only buy organic potatoes, and so I’m not concerned about pesticides in the peels. There’s a reason potatoes are a member of the 2020 Dirty Dozen.)

However, I know there are some people in my extended family who would prefer their potatoes without any speckles of peel. Plus, there is something extra smooth and whippy about peel-less mashed potatoes.

That doesn’t mean you should let those peels go to waste. Air fry them!

I got the idea for frying the peels when I was scrolling through my Instagram feed recently. A friend mentioned that his wife preferred potato dishes sans peels. He fries the peels in oil to avoid wasting them.

Since I choose the air fryer whenever I possibly can, it seemed like a good time to put it to the challenge. Plus, I’ve been making vegan baked potato soup. So I happened to have some peels at the ready.

There’s really only one problem with these air fried potato peels. They taste best straight out of the air fryer. Now, that’s not an issue at all if you’re only planning on eating them. However, if you want to photograph them for a blog, that’s when the problems crop up.

I started snacking on them… just to make sure they were done, right? And before I knew it, I had to grab a smaller bowl for the photograph, and then a smaller bowl, and then a smaller bowl until it was getting kind of ridiculous.

Actual picture from that shoot:

So the next day I peeled more potatoes, just so that I could take pictures of them for you… And then eat them again. You’re welcome.

Top air fried potato peels with any of the following:

A clove of garlic, minced and sautéed in oil until fragrant
Chopped & browned seitan bacon
Grated non-dairy cheese
Non-dairy cream cheese (This is good for dipping too!)
Green onions

Or just eat them on their own or with ketchup.

📖 Recipe