If you succumbed to peer pressure recently and bought an air fryer, there’s a strong possibility it’s gathering dust in the back of your pantry.
Air fryers became a fad a few years ago when they burst on the scene claiming to magically make fried food without any oil ― or in some cases, maybe just a teaspoonful. Rather than submerging French fries in a vat of boiling oil, for example, you toss your potatoes in the air fryer’s basket and give them just a spritz of oil while the contraption’s rapid air technology blows hot air around the food, producing a crispy, browned exterior and a tender interior. It’s really quite remarkable.
The machine does have its limitations, though. You can’t make your favorite battered fried foods in the air fryer, because the batter will drip right through the holes in the basket and melt completely off your food, limiting the machine to breaded fried foods.
But one common misconception about air fryers is that they only make foods you’d think of as “fried.” While the fryer lends a perfectly crispy texture to foods that are typically fried in oil ― think Buffalo cauliflower, fried chicken, French fries, falafel ― its convection technology also makes a perfectly moist meatloaf, for example, or the most tender maple soy-glazed salmon you can imagine.
Below, we’ve gathered 15 of our favorite food bloggers’ recipes for the air fryer. Dust off your machine and check them out now.
(The Philips Airfryer claims to be “the original Airfryer,” costing around $220, but there’s a slew of options from all different brands and price points on the market now.)