Air fryers may be great at cooking chips and nuggets for the kids, but there are plenty of other fuss-free family staples they can make – if you put your mind to it.

Sam and Dom Milner of RecipeThis have released 140 simple, straightforward recipes in their new cookbook Air Fryer Easy Everyday.

This no-frills beginner’s guide includes instructions for both basket and dual air fryers, which anyone can follow, regardless of experience. Here are four recipes to try at home.

20-minute herby canned potatoes

I hadn’t eaten a canned potato in more than 20 years, yet here I was, trying them in the air fryer after a reader asked for them. I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious this simple staple tasted, and now I have a pantry stocked with canned potatoes!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 x 540g can potatoes
• ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ½ tsp dried parsley
• pinch of dried rosemary
• pinch of garlic powder
• extra virgin olive oil spray
• salt and black pepper

METHOD

1. Drain the potatoes, then gently place them onto a piece of kitchen paper/paper towel. Let the potatoes sit for 5 minutes to soak up the extra moisture.
2. Very gently place the potatoes into a bowl; try not to be heavy-handed as the potatoes are pre-cooked and preserved in water and can break easily. Add the olive oil, herbs and garlic powder and season with salt and pepper. Mix with your hands until the potatoes are well coated.
3. Tip the potatoes into the air fryer basket/drawer and spread them out. Set the temperature to 180C and cook for 15 minutes. When the air fryer beeps, the potatoes will be almost golden. To create a crisper texture, spray the potatoes with olive oil, increase the temperature to 200C and air fry for an extra 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 2

Butternut squash for everything

Butternut pumpkin is so versatile. It can be transformed from simple roasted pumpkin to a puree, a mash, or a curry sauce, with some simple hacks.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 medium whole butternut pumpkin
• extra virgin olive oil spray
• ¼ tsp dried parsley
• salt and black pepper

METHOD

1. Cut a slice off the base of the butternut pumpkin to make a flat, stable surface, then stand it up and slice through it lengthways to create two halves. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds.
2. Spray the flesh of the butternut pumpkin with olive oil, then sprinkle with parsley and season generously with salt and pepper.
3. Place the butternut pumpkin halves in the air fryer basket, or if using a dual, place a pumpkin half in each drawer. Set the temperature to 180C and cook for 40 minutes, or until the butternut flesh is fork tender.

Serves 2

Cheese and tomato impossible quiche

A frittata is a quiche without any pastry, whereas an impossible quiche is a quiche with a fake pastry. You add flour to the quiche filling, then as the quiche cooks the flour drops to the bottom, creating the structure of a pastry crust. It’s called “impossible” because when you make it for the first time, your brain is saying “that is impossible”!

INGREDIENTS

• 5 large eggs
• 120ml full-cream milk
• 2 spring onions
• 7 cherry tomatoes
• 85g/ grated cheddar cheese
• 2 tsp dried mixed herbs
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 125g self-raising flour
• salt and black pepper

METHOD

1. Crack the eggs into a mixing jug, pour in the milk and mix with a fork until combined.
2. Chop the spring onions into small chunks and halve the tomatoes. Add the spring onions, tomatoes, grated cheese and dried herbs to the jug, season with salt and pepper and mix well. Stir in the flour and mix again, making sure no flour is stuck at the bottom or down the sides.
3. Pour the mixture into a 20cm loose-based pie tin – or a similar size that fits your air fryer. (We divide the mixture between two 10cm pie tins in the dual air fryer). Carefully, as it will be full, transfer it to the air fryer.
4. Set the temperature to 180C and cook for 20 minutes, then decrease the temperature to 160C, cover with foil to avoid overbrowning on top, and cook for a further 10 minutes, or until a thermometer probe comes out clean. Allow it to sit in the air fryer basket to cool a little as the air fryer cools down, as then it’s easier to remove from the air fryer. Serve the quiche warm or cold, though in our house we like it cold and to take with us for picnic food.

Serves 6

Simply the easiest cauliflower cheese

We have some simple tricks to make this creamy cauliflower cheese even easier. Combining frozen cauliflower with a leftover vegie cheese sauce, this is perfect for Sunday dinners, the festive season or just a simple dinner side dish.

INGREDIENTS

• 675g frozen cauliflower florets
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
• 1 recipe quantity Bits ‘n’ bobs cheese sauce (see below)
• 85g grated mature cheddar cheese, for sprinkling
• salt and black pepper

METHOD

1. Place the frozen cauliflower florets into the air fryer basket/drawer and spread out so that they cook evenly. Set the temperature to 180C and cook for 15 minutes.
2. When the air fryer beeps, transfer the just-cooked cauliflower to a silicone pan or casserole dish with handles. (If using a dual, you can use two smaller dishes and cook one in each drawer.) Sprinkle the herbs over the cauliflower and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the cheese sauce and sprinkle grated cheese over the top.
3. Place the dish into the air fryer basket/drawer, set the temperature to 180C and air fry for 10 minutes, or until the cheese sauce is heated through and the cheese on top has melted.

Serves 4

Bits ‘n’ bobs cheese sauce

INGREDIENTS

• 6 medium tomatoes
• 3 medium carrots
• 1 medium zucchini
• 225g butternut pumpkin, peeled and deseeded
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 garlic bulb
• 1 x 150g pack cream cheese (garlic and herb if available)
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 240ml full-cream milk, plus extra if needed
• salt and black pepper

METHOD

1. Quarter the tomatoes and peel and slice the carrots. Slice the zucchini into 1cm slices and then into quarters. Peel the butternut pumpkin and chop it into 2cm cubes. Put all the vegetables in the air fryer drawer, removing the crisper plate first. Add the olive oil and parsley, and season generously with salt and pepper. Mix well with your hands until the vegetables are well coated with the oil and seasonings.
2. Slice the top off the garlic bulb, exposing the cloves at the top. Spray with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Wrap tightly in foil and place in the air fryer on top of the vegetables. Set the temperature to 180C and cook for 30 minutes.
3. Remove the foil-wrapped garlic and shake the air fryer drawer to rotate the vegetables. Unwrap the cream cheese and place over the vegetables. Sprinkle half the basil over the cheese and air fry at the same temperature for a further 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, pour the milk into a blender or food processor. Squeeze the soft flesh out of the garlic head, discarding the papery skin, and add it to the blender. When the air fryer beeps, tip the contents of the air fryer drawer into the blender – including any juices that have collected – and add the remaining basil. Pulse until you have a creamy sauce, adding a little extra milk if it’s too thick.
5. If freezing, pour the sauce into large 240ml freezer cubes (or into small freezer-proof boxes) and allow to cool before adding the lid and freezing.

Makes 4 freezer cubes

Basket sauce: Combine the ingredients in a mixing bowl, then divide it between two silicone containers that fit your air fryer (ours are 20cm) and cook one at a time, following the same time and temperature as mentioned above. I will usually do the garlic bulb in one batch and the cheese in the other.

Bits and bobs: You can mix and match vegetables you have in, but try to balance naturally starchy vegetables, such as root vegetables, with vegetables with a higher water content, such as tomatoes or zucchini. If you just add watery vegetables, your sauce will be too thin, and with too many root vegetables, it will be too thick.

SAUCE SUGGESTIONS

Use the sauce as your base for:

Cheese sauce – add 225g/2½ cups grated cheddar cheese

Tomato sauce – swap the milk for a 400g passata

Mexican-style sauce – swap the milk for 400g of salsa

This is an edited extract from Air Fryer Easy Everyday by Samantha Milner and Dominic Milner, photography by Dan Jones, published by White Lion Publishing, $35.