How to cook with an air fryer: Tips and easy recipes
There are so many great things you can make in an air fryer but this home dupe of a McDonald’s classic is one of the best we’ve seen.
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Australians love kitchen gadgets. From our national Nutri-Bullet obsession to the religion of the Thermomix, there doesn’t seem to be a piece of electrical wizardry we’re not excited to welcome into our kitchens.
Of all the popular appliances we’ve made room for in our cupboards – from sandwich presses to pie makers – few have made a bigger impact than the air fryer.
Even if you haven’t invested in your own air fryer, chances are you’ve heard how amazing they are from a recent convert.
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Air fryers are everywhere, and while critics say they’re nothing more than a small, benchtop convection oven (technically true…), its many uses make us glad we found room for it in our homes.
As well as offering a speedier, more cost-effective way of heating up small meals like nuggets, pies, and leftover chicken, the air fryer provides plenty of exciting (and advanced) cooking opportunities.
To unlock the air fryer’s full potential, remember:
• Oil isn’t your enemy. Even though the air fryer is marketed as a healthy cooking alternative, without a little splash or rub of oil you won’t see the same crisping, browning or satisfying crunch as you do when frying by more conventional means (try our chip recipe below for a great example of the difference a splash of oil can make).
• Preheat your oven. Like the full-sized oven in your kitchen, the air fryer only starts cooking once its chamber has heated properly. Save cooking time – and get better results – by running the air fryer for 3-4 minutes while you’re prepping your food.
• Don’t overcrowd the basket. An air fryer works by circulating hot air around your food. The more densely you pack your basket, the less room the air has to circulate and the soggier your food will turn out.
• Turn, flip or toss your food. Pull out the air fryer basket at least once during the cooking time to rotate or shake up what’s inside. This will help ensure every edge gets the crunchifying heat it deserves.
Want to take your air fryer further? Try these simple but amazing recipes.
PERFECT CRUNCHY AIR FRYER CHIPS
There’s nothing like a hot chip straight from the fryer, all golden and crunchy and covered in delicious chicken salt. It’s possible to get almost exactly the same result by dropping frozen chips into your air fryer, but you’ll need to follow a few (very simple) extra steps.
Ingredients
• 450g (1/2 a bag) frozen chips or fries
• 1 tbsp vegetable, canola, rice bran or grapeseed oil
• Chicken or plain salt to serve
Method
Don’t try cooking too many chips at once. Roughly half a bag of frozen chips is the limit, depending on your air fryer model and the brand and style of chips. Overfilling the air fryer basket will result in soggy chips.
Before cooking, toss the chips in a bowl with a tablespoon of vegetable oil, rice bran oil, grapeseed oil or any flavourless oil that won’t break down when heated (avoid olive oil).
Preheat your empty air fryer for 3-4 minutes at 180C before adding the chips to the basket. Cook the chips at 180C for 10-15 minutes, or until crispy and golden.
Pause your air fryer every four or five minutes to give the chips a good mix around the basket, ensuring that every edge and side of every chip gets plenty of heat.
When they’re crisp and golden, throw the chips into a bowl, toss with chicken or plain salt, and serve.
AIR FRYER ‘MCDONALD’S’ HOT APPLE PIE
With a crisp, bubbly pastry shell and warming spiced apple insides, this recreation of the classic McDonald’s Hot Apple Pie is quick, easy and perfect for the air fryer.
Ingredients (makes 10 pies)
• 4 slices puff pastry
• Tin of ‘pie fruit’ apple slices
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• Vegetable oil
• White sugar (for dusting)
Method
Transfer the tinned apple to a bowl and combine with the nutmeg, cinnamon and brown sugar. Stir well.
Cut each sheet of puff pastry in half down the centre, then each half into three equal rectangles.
Preheat your empty air fryer by running it at 180C for 3-4 minutes.
Pile approximately two tablespoons of the apple mixture into the centre of the rectangle, leaving at least .5cm of pastry clear on each edge. Use a brush to run a thin line of beaten egg on each of the edges, then top with another pastry rectangle. Press down the edges well with the back of a knife or the tines of a fork.
Repeat with remaining pastry and apple, keeping any finished pies in the fridge until you’re ready to cook.
Use a pastry brush to gently coat the top surface of each pie with the oil, then air fry for 10 minutes at 180C. Sprinkle over a little sugar and serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
AIR FRYER MAC AND CHEESE RECIPE
This is our favourite air fryer trick and the ultimate one bowl recipe. Everything, including the pasta, cooks at once, resulting in both creamier mac and cheese and fewer dishes to deal with afterwards.
Ingredients (serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side dish)
• 1 cup uncooked macaroni
• 1 cup full cream milk
• ½ cup cream
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• ¾ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp freshly ground pepper
• 2/3 cup grated/shredded cheese (we used a mix of cheddar, mozzarella and parmesan but any melty cheese will work)
Method
Preheat your empty air fryer by running it at 180C for 3-4 minutes.
Combine all ingredients except the cheese in a heat-proof (metal or glass) bowl that fits into the basket of your air fryer. Stir well.
Cook in the air fryer for 5 minutes at 180C. Stir well, then cook for another 5 minutes at the same temperature.
Add the cheese to the bowl and stir well until you see the cheese start to melt. If the cheese melts into a lump, keep stirring until it’s distributed through the milky sauce.
Cook for another 5 minutes, or until the mac and cheese is golden brown on top and the pasta is cooked to your liking.
Optional: Add a sprinkle of seasoned breadcrumbs over the pasta for the last three minutes of cooking for an extra crunchy top.
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Tristan Lutze
Tristan Lutze is a recipe creator, restaurant reviewer, and food and travel writer. As well as News.com.au, he contributes to Delicious, Qantas magazine, Gourmet Traveller and Broadsheet, and is a regular guest on ABC Radio. He shares his farming and culinary adventures on Instagram at @tristancooksandeats.
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