The air fryer can handle much of what your oven, grill and stovetop have traditionally done. Air fryers typically cook food faster than other appliances, and there’s rarely much cleanup to manage. That’s great for getting food on the table faster, but it also means you can dry out dinner or overcook meat and vegetables if you air-fry carelessly.
Million of recipes have already been written with the air fryer in mind. But what about the ones that haven’t — your old favorites, the dog-eared cookbook classics, the family recipes passed down before the air fryer existed? Those don’t have to stay oven-only.
Considering the speed and simplicity the air fryer offers, your instinct may be to move any and every recipe to it. Before you do, heed the advice of Andreas Hansen, founder and CEO of Fritaire air fryers. Whether the recipe you’re considering for the air fryer is roasted, baked or fried, Hansen walked me through all the adjustments and considerations needed to adapt it for the air fryer.
Here’s what you should know.
1. Reduce temperature and time
From roasted Brussels sprouts to roasted duck to air fryer brownies, your air fryer will first and foremost do it faster than your oven can. “It’s called an air fryer because it circulates the heat faster, so that means that things brown faster,” Hansen says.
With fast-moving heat and a smaller cooking chamber, an air fryer cooks faster than most of the appliances in your kitchen.
Air fryers with windows or glass bowls provide visual cues that help you gauge when something is done. However, for drawer-style air fryers, where you don’t want to constantly interrupt the cooking process to check progress, start by lowering the temperature and the timer for the recipe.
“I would reduce the temperature by 20 to 25 degrees to keep things from drying out too fast,” says Hansen. And even with a lower temperature setting, assume your dish will be cooked through in much less time, so set a timer or adjust your expectations accordingly. “You also have to reduce the cook time by 20 to 30%,” Hansen says. So if your recipe calls for a 425-degree oven and 30 minutes of cooking time, the air fryer equivalent would be 400 degrees and around 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Reduce volume and leave space
Consider your air fryer’s capacity and adjust the recipe volume if necessary (or be prepared to cook in batches) to ensure there is enough room for it to work as intended.
Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may need to reduce the recipe volume or cook in batches.
“The most important thing about an air fryer is that you want the heated air to get on every surface,” says Hansen, “so you need to avoid overcrowding.” For something like meatballs, for example, you’ll be able to accommodate a lot fewer than you would with a sheet tray in your oven or even in a large sauté pan. With dishes such as roasted vegetables, some air fryer recipes require shaking partway through to ensure even air circulation, or flipping larger items partway through the cooking process. (Fritaire comes with a tumbler basket to preclude the need for shaking.)
Consider, however, whether the ingredients in your recipe are sturdy enough to withstand shaking without breaking down. If not, leaving space for every surface to benefit from the air is critical. Also good advice, no matter the cooking method: Hansen says that anything being cooked at the same time in the air fryer should be cut to a uniform shape and size.
Overcrowding the basket is a common mistake.
3. Manage moisture
Due to the air fryer’s rapid hot-air circulation, foods can dry out more quickly than with conventional cooking methods. Therefore, factor this into the air fryer recipes you’re considering. “Air frying removes more of the moisture from the surface of what you’re cooking,” says Hansen. “So adding a marinade, brine or light oil coating actually helps to improve the texture.”
A little extra time marinating goes a long way when adapting a recipe from the pan to the air fryer.
This is also a cue to consider using the air fryer for favorite recipes that already include a marinade, brine or saucy coating, such as barbecued chicken pieces or sturdy vegetables. Naturally moist vegetables like zucchini and eggplant can benefit as well, since the air fryer’s drying effect helps improve their texture. Your nonna’s old-world eggplant parmesan recipe? Air-fryer gold.
4. Frying considerations: Swap in breading for batter
Be cautious with wet batter, which tends to spill and spread more in the air fryer basket.
Your air fryer really shines when it comes to reheating already fried foods, but actually frying in one requires a few important considerations.”Air does what oil usually does,” Hansen explains. “Just like something submerged in oil, the heat touches everything.” Air has its limitations, though.
Wet batters, such as those used for fried fish or onion rings, can be tricky in an air fryer, as the batter itself may slide or blow off before it has a chance to brown and solidify. If you’re going to attempt it, make sure your batter isn’t runny and that you’ve coated your items with as little as possible.
Breaded fried items, however, are excellent candidates for the air fryer, especially when the base ingredient has a naturally high fat content, and you’re looking to reduce the overall calorie load compared with conventional frying. Chicken thighs, for example, release their own fat during cooking, helping the coating turn golden brown and crispy.
A light spritz of oil is great for certain recipes.
It isn’t so much about adapting your recipe as about maintaining good habits, whether you’re deep-frying or air-frying. “Your items should be dry to begin with,” says Hansen, so the coating adheres easily, whether you’re giving chicken or cauliflower a flour-egg-breadcrumb dredge or opting for one that includes a dunk in buttermilk or yogurt.
And don’t skimp out on the oil altogether for great air-fried results. A light spritz of oil — not non-stick spray — on the breadcrumb or cereal coating will ensure the kind of texture and flavor that doesn’t make you feel like you’re compromising on the fried vibe.
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