What to cook in an air fryer? (what's your favourite recipe?)

after much musing I got an air fryer.  I got the toaster oven version so it takes a bit of finagling recipes to make them work.  But it's also amazing.  Crunchy, oven-roast potatoes in 18 minutes!  How delicious is that? (a lot!)

The problem I'm having now is figuring out what to cook next.  The library has so many amazing cookbooks that it's hard to know what to try.  

For those of you who have an air fryer, what is your favourite recipe?  

bonus points - what's your favourite air fryer cookbook?  

Problem is I have "new favorite" just about every month.  This past month, I finally got pizza to work well in my air fryer over (Cuisinart TOA60)  using a 3 step process:

1)  Make dough.   2 c. bread flour, 1 c. warm water + 1 tsp sugar + 1 tsp. dry yeast, dash of salt, and source of pan grease.  Bread flour is placed into a bowl (that will fit into air fryer) and mixed a bit with dash of salt.  Warm water is mixed with the sugar and yeast and allowed ~ 10 min. to 'proof', then dumped into flour.  Just before starting the knead, the air fryer is adjusted to lowest heat setting and started for 5 min. on 'bake'.  Kneading now commences for ~ 6 min.   When done with the knead, make dough into a ball, return to the bowl with towel or lid cover, place into warmed air-fryer and let dough rise.  (If still want more warmth, kick on the timer for an additional 2-3 min. which should warm the bowl and chamber.)  Dough is ready when double in size.

2)   Grease baking sheet with oil/grease of choice.  Press out half of the dough ball per pizza into the pan (for thin crust, -- for thicker crust use the whole ball.  Extra dough can be frozen or pre-baked and stored for later).  Place in lower rack position in air-fryer and pre-bake crust for 8 min. at ~325 F.  Prepare toppings during this time.  I usually have some sort of marinara sauce left over from some project.  When the crust is done with the pre-bake, brush with olive oil, then add sauce to your preference.  Follow with toppings of choice.  Note....after measuring the slots for the racks that came with the oven, I bought third-party pans as shown below and they have worked great!

3)  Place assembled pizza into top rack position in air fryer. Set on 'bake' for 10 min. at 350 degrees F.   If top is not crispy enough when done, do 5 min. more with setting on 'air fry'.
Done!!
[Basically, for our air fryer, 'bake' uses the bottom heating element, 'air bake' uses the bottom element plus the higher fan speed, and 'air fry' uses the top element plus high fan speed.  I've never yet used the 'broil' setting, which I assume uses the top element and only the low fan speed.]

You are so right about the finagling with time, temperature, settings, etc. but after a while you get it down to a few settings used most often.   Happy baking/frying/toasting, r!

I got my air fryer for Christmas Dec 2021.

At the same time, I got a french fry cutter.

I loved the air fryer for french fries.

The air fryer also made the very best burger patties. Cooking the burger patties went real fast like one minute.

I think the only other item I cooked was chicken leg quarters.  I was not impressed.  

Anne Miller wrote:I got my air fryer for Christmas Dec 2021.

At the same time, I got a french fry cutter.

I loved the air fryer for french fries.

The air fryer also made the very best burger patties. Cooking the burger patties went real fast like one minute.

I think the only other item I cooked was chicken leg quarters.  I was not impressed.  

Do you have times and temperatures that work well for you?  Most of the french fry recipes I've found so far are for frozen or coated fries.  

I am sorry since I no longer have the air fryer, I returned the cookbook along with the air fryer.

It seems that both the french fries and the burger patties used a high temp like 400 or 425.

The burger patties used a broil setting.  I put them in and immediately took them out, done.

I would guess 20 minutes for the french fries.

My air fryer was like the one you bought, the toaster oven look.

The air fryer came with two basket-type trays.  I put the french fries in the basket, and sprayed them with olive oil. Cooked for maybe 10 minutes, took the basket out and flipped the potatoes into the other basket, and put them back in for another 10 minutes.

I hope this helps.

My two recipes. Chicken is fresh. Beef is frozen solid. Both done within 20 minutes. My room temperature varies between 26C and 30C. Your results may vary.

thanks to this and other related threads I have just acquired an air fryer oven (after years of saying "maybe....", the toaster oven we use every day finally died and I figure even if we don't like the air fryer function, we still need a toaster oven).
I've had it for a few days and so far I have made beet chips and crouton-type things for fattoush salad, and my daughter made crackers (?) out of ham (? sounds horrible, was absolutely jaw-droppingly amazing).
I got a library book out (air fryer cooking for dummies or smth similar) but most of the recipes are for things we haven't eaten in years and maybe have to think about again; a lot are for cakes and such, which seems odd, I guess I will need to explore. the ideas above are helpful and appreciated. I especially have missed roasted veggies (the price of gas has been so outrageous over the last two years that I only turn on the oven when I'm making our bread every other week), and it seems like the air fryer is perfect for that.

A question: I read that foil shouldn't be used because the oil should be 'blown around"-- if I were to make chicken wings, for example, does the fat melt and get everywhere? Does the oven have to be cleaned constantly? I feel like a dope asking this but I'm not clear on what has to go in the basket and what has to go in the pan.

Tereza Okava wrote:A question: I read that foil shouldn't be used because the oil should be 'blown around"-- if I were to make chicken wings, for example, does the fat melt and get everywhere? Does the oven have to be cleaned constantly? I feel like a dope asking this but I'm not clear on what has to go in the basket and what has to go in the pan.

For my oven air fryer, the oil pan is right at the bottom but it is very shallow.  I fit the mesh just above it. My chicken wings are in a separate stainless steel bowl about 1.5 inches deep. I note that this retains the juices and oil from escaping so cleaning is minimal compared to the air fryers with drawers. A cake pan that fits just right will eliminate any cleaning of the interior BUT it should not cover the exhaust.

Healthy-ish vegan snack/meal that can be consumed as finger food if you're so inclined. Not really a recipe, more like a process.

Take a one pound bag of fresh baby carrots.  Cut chunks of bigger carrots from your garden would also work obviously, but you want pieces no more than half as thick as the brussel sprouts to make the roasting time work. Store baby carrots (which of course are actually just chunks of mature carrots that have been mechanically abraded to a uniform smaller finger size) are sized perfectly.

Dump them in a mixing bowl.

Take a one-pound bag of frozen brussel sprouts.  Dump them in too.

Add a small amount of your preferred cooking oil. I use olive oil; any oil would do.  By "small amount" I mean a tablespoon or less.

Stir well, adding your favorite spice mix as you go. I use table salt plus whatever is handy: taco seasoning, poultry seasoning, or one of those KC Masterpiece spice bottles intended for steak.  Use plenty of salt and spice.

Put the seasoned veg into your air fryer. Mine has two racks (like an older-fashioned convection oven) so I split them evenly and swap the two racks halfway through. If you have the basket type, you'll want to shake/stir more frequently. If your air fryer has a temp adjustment, max it. Then cook for twenty-five minutes. That's enough to fully roast everything to overdone browned perfection, which is how I like my roasted vegetables. Adjust cooking time to your taste.

Enjoy!

I just bought this accessory.

Yesterday i did broccoli (Dan's recipe, essentially, 10 min in the basket) and i precooked veggies for a stirfry that are supposed to be fat-fried (for this https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/di-san-xian-chinese-sauteed-potato-eggplants-and-green-peppers/ ), each for 10 min. Potatoes were amazing, eggplant was okay (i think i like my eggplant a bit squishier than crunchy). But fast and easy.

I have 15 guests for lunch tomorrow and am thinking i might do a repeat of the potatoes, with the stirfry sauce.
I also determined that besides the basket, i have a basket-like grill i bought to cook mochi over a charcoal fire that will fit in the airfryer on a rack, so i could potentially do twice as much. 15 people eat a lot of potatoes....

My toddler wasn't eating vegetables for awhile. Then I learned that she would try almost anything that came out of the air fryer, so we've been using it a lot lately. 350F is my go-to temperature. Most recipes call for higher, and the preset temp on mine is 390F, but I was burning too much that way.

Beets are a favorite. So are carrots and parsnips, though I usually steam those 2 a bit before air frying them. Otherwise, I tend to burn them before they're soft enough for my family's liking. If I was cooking just for myself, I'd skip the steaming. I used a mandolin to make thin slices of the beets, carrots, and parsnips.

Shoestring zucchini is another favorite here. I use a mandolin to get long thin pieces and then a knife to cut them smaller -- about 2" by 1/8" or less.

Diced potatoes or sweet potatoes are awesome.

Leafy chips worked ok, once I figured out how to weigh them down with the grate so they didn't blow all over the place. Many people use kale for this, but many types of greens can be used.

Aside from veggies, I like air fried Italian sausage. I tried baked goods, but they browned too much on top before they were cooked through. I don't understand why there are so many baked goods recipes for the air fryer, but those writers seem to know something that I don't.

The air fryer can be great once you figure out your favorites! Until then, it can be a little frustrating.